Guided Practice
Overview
Opportunities for students to practice skills in context, with teacher support and also independently, helps to 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.
Example: Use This Strategy 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.
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.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Repetition Strategies
Daily review strengthens previous learning and can lead to fluent recall of information and application of skills.
Increasing how much and how frequently students write improves both their writing quality and content knowledge.
Practicing until achieving several error-free attempts is critical for retention.
Students build their confidence, strategy use, and comprehension by reading and rereading multiple texts.
Having students verbally repeat information such as instructions ensures they have heard the information and supports remembering, particularly for those students who struggle with Attention.
