Planning & Learning Targets
A 7th-grade Spanish teacher opens class stating, "Today we are describing daily routines using reflexive verbs," posts the success criteria scale, and checks student progress against the scale throughout the period.
What is "Identifying Critical Content from the Standards"?
After a teacher demo in 7th-grade Spanish, students work in pairs to practice introducing themselves using target vocabulary, monitor each other's pronunciation, and repeat until fluent.
What is "Helping Students Practice Skills, Strategies, and Processes"?
During independent problem-solving in 7th-grade Math, the teacher pauses the class and directs students to turn to their shoulder partner to explain why their strategy worked while their partner asks one question.
Interaction & Engagement
As 8th-grade PE students enter the gymnasium, they immediately report to their assigned squad lines, begin dynamic stretching, and check the daily workout board without verbal reminders.
What is "Establishing and Acknowledging Adherence to Rules and Procedures"?
At the end of class, 8th graders update their digital data trackers, answering: "What learning target did I meet today?", "Where am I on the performance scale?", and "What is my target goal for tomorrow?"
What is "Using Formative Assessment to Track Progress"?
Following an exit ticket in a 7th-grade Special Education Resource Room, the special educator analyzes IEP-goal tracking data and sorts student work into performance tiers to plan target interventions for the next day.
What is "Using Formative Assessment to Track Progress"?
In an Inclusion (ICS) Math class, the special educator guides students with learning disabilities to use a Graphic Organizer to compare two-step equations and multi-step equations, identifying similarities and differences in solution steps.
What is "Helping Students Examine Similarities and Differences"?
To launch an OpenSciEd unit on weather, the teacher projects a video of a sudden hail storm on a hot summer day and asks students to post initial questions to the class Driving Question Board (DQB).
What is "Using Engagement Strategies"?
6th-grade General Music class opens with a two-minute rhythm retrieval activity where students clap a 4-beat syncopated rhythm pattern from memory without looking at the board, followed by a quick peer accuracy check.
What is "Reviewing Content"?
In an Inclusion classroom during small-group rotation, the co-teacher guides students needing executive function support through graphic organizers and sentence stems to chunk complex reading passages.
What is "Helping Students Process New Content"?
In 8th-grade PE, after watching a student execute a volleyball bump, the teacher says, "Your platform was solid, but let's bend your knees before contact to get more lift. Try it on the next toss."
What is "Providing Feedback and Celebrating Progress"?
8th-grade General Music students analyze two arrangements of the same piece (a classical orchestral version vs. a modern jazz adaptation), evaluating how changes in instrumentation, tempo, and rhythm alter the mood and intent.
What is "Helping Students Engage in Cognitively Complex Tasks"?
In 8th-grade PE, the teacher stops a basketball scrimmage, projects video footage of a fast break, and asks: "Who can explain why opening the passing lane worked here?" and "How would our defense adjust if they set a screen?"
What is "Using Questions to Help Students Elaborate on Content"?
In a Special Education ELA class, students review self-monitoring checklists after receiving feedback on their multi-paragraph essays to highlight areas where they revised their claim and added supporting evidence.
What is "Helping Students Revise Knowledge"?
During an OpenSciEd Scientists Circle, the teacher kneels at eye level, enforces talk moves ("I agree because...", "Can you clarify..."), and encourages reluctant speakers to share their ideas without pressure.
What is "Establishing and Maintaining Effective Relationships in a Student-Centered Classroom"?
Before starting a 2D perspective drawing, a 6th-grade Art teacher shows examples of 1-point vs. 2-point perspective artwork and asks students to predict how horizon lines change depth perception.
What is "Previewing New Content"?
In an OpenSciEd investigation on bath bombs, 7th-grade students build a gas-trapping setup, collect data on mass changes, and write an error analysis explaining discrepancies between predictions and results.
What is "Helping Students Examine Their Reasoning"?
After reading The Outsiders, 8th-grade ELA students engage in a structured debate answering "Is society or individual choice more responsible for the conflict between the Greasers and Socs?" using text evidence.
What is "Helping Students Engage in Cognitively Complex Tasks"?
6th-grade Art students rotate through color theory stations to experiment with color mixing, apply monochromatic schemes on practice sheets, and refine techniques based on peer feedback.
What is "Helping Students Practice Skills, Strategies, and Processes"?
In 7th-grade General Music, during a digital composition lab (MusicFirst), the teacher establishes high expectations by assigning baseline targets to all students while providing customized rubrics to ensure every learner achieves growth regardless of prior musical background or IEP accommodations.
What is "Communicating High Expectations for Each Student to Close the Achievement Gap"?