Guided Practice

Overview

Spending time with new content helps move concepts and ideas into Long-term Memory. Through guided practice, learners rephrase, elaborate, summarize, recall, and question new content, leading to sufficient rehearsal for deeper learning. Breaking down content into smaller chunks and allowing reading and writing practice in between (formally spaced practice) help students learn about the topic as well as practice expressing their thinking.

Use It in the Classroom

Learn how this sixth grade teacher uses the "I do, we do, you do" model to teach reading comprehension. She first models a think-aloud, then allows students to practice this strategy in pairs, and finally lets them practice this on their own. By encouraging the students to take ownership of the content while providing structure and support, she helps them become better readers and writers.

Teachers can facilitate guided classroom practice by asking questions that require learners to rehearse, process, and recall the new material. This practice bolsters students' Speed of Processing by supporting their abilities to retrieve stored information from their Long-term Memory.

Design It into Your Product

Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.

Adaptive technologies can provide personalized guided practice for learners, helping a teacher support learners of all levels in the classroom. Watch an explanation of one such product, LearnSmart.

For new material to be internalized and stored in learners' Long-term Memory, developers must facilitate this rehearsal and recall process. For example, they can embed reflection questions and additional explanations or examples as learners practice and retrieve the material.

View References

Resources

Below are additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.

Cognition & Memory

Topic that includes cognitive science theories about how the brain processes information on Digital Promise's Research Map

Development of Expertise

Subtopic that explores factors that lead people to become experts on Digital Promise's Research Map

Distributed Practice

Digital Promise blog on distributed practice and how it has been shown to improve learning

Importance of Guided Practice

The value of guided practice and suggestions for implementing it

Research-Based Strategies

Summary of strategies highlighting the importance of guided practice

Results from Guided Practice

Read about the gains students are making with guided practice