Moving from a 40-minute to a 60-minute format can be destabilising, especially if continuity feels disrupted when we see our students fewer times in a week.
Most of us see the benefits of 60-minute periods, but we may need to adapt how we plan our lessons to maximise learning. Below are a few models you can explore when planning/executing your lessons.
Model A: I Do- We Do -You Do (aka “Gradual release of responsibility”). As the name suggests, this model structures the lesson in 3 steps:
- 1. I do (10-15 minutes). Teacher introduces a new concept/procedure to the students. The ideal here is that you model the type of thinking that happens as you make sense of the new concept/apply the new procedure. Speak aloud as you tackle the problem: let students see you “perform thinking aloud” (remember, they are novices, not experts, in the discipline) so they can understand the thinking process involved. If you need more than 15 minutes to explain/model a new concept, consider whether the learning objectives should be broken down/scaffolded to support learning, or whether you should frontload the knowledge by assigning for homework a video or a document (see Model C: Flipped Classroom).
- 2. We do (10-15 minutes). Teacher works through a similar task with all students. They write as they work and may think aloud through the steps or considerations, strengthening their understanding. The teacher monitors to determine whether to separate a group for targeted teaching or move on to step 3.
- 3. You do (20-30 minutes). The next segment of the class should allow for students to practise their new learning in small groups/pairs. The teacher moves around the classroom to listen/gauge understanding from students. If the teacher is satisfied with the progress of the majority, he/she assigns an individual task to complete. He/she could use the product of this first practice as a formative assessment to plan groupings for the next lesson. The homework would connect with this new learning to consolidate the knowledge and skills.
This article provides a clear and detailed description of this model, including differentiation when the lesson involves procedural vs conceptual learning.
Model B: Focus on autonomous work
- 1. Introduction (5-10 minutes). If the knowledge (and skills) have already been presented/frontloaded, the teacher begins by clearly stating the goal of the lesson, articulated as a skill to be practised that will apply the knowledge studied. (Note: Keep the goal visible all period so students can refer to it in the final reflection.)
- 2. Stations (40-45 minutes).
- Option 1. Give students options for how they will practice the skill: 3-5 options for different activity types, different experiments, different groupings, different creative products, etc. Invite students to sit in designated areas of the room depending on their choice. The stations will naturally bring together students who share an interest; the teacher can then decide if students will be sub-divided into smaller groups. Give the groups a handout that states the goal, describes their specific task, and preferably includes an assessment rubric or checklist to clarify expectations.
- Option 2. Create stations with concrete tasks that you want all students to do (e.g. an exercise in labelling, one in organizing sequentially, one in brainstorming answers to a question, one in retrieving facts, one in correcting mistakes, etc.). If all tasks are similar in difficulty/duration, these smaller groups of students will rotate from station to station in order to work collaboratively on each task. Set your timer to play an alarm to remind all groups to move on to the next station.
- 3. Wrapping up (5-10 minutes). Depending on the nature of the tasks, the teacher may use the final minutes to allow for questions, do a gallery walk, set up a display for another group/lesson, schedule presentations of their products, take photos/video to upload to the shared drive, explain the reflection to be done next lesson or for homework, etc. The goal is that students leave recognising that the time dedicated in stations was worthwhile and will contribute towards their learning in the future. (Note: it may be necessary to use two periods to complete more ambitious products. In that case, it is recommended that the teacher use the same format, with a shorter introduction on the second lesson—avoid leaving students ‘hanging’ from one lesson to the next—and a clear “wrap up” at the end of the first lesson to articulate how the second lesson will be utilised.)
Model C: Flipped classroom
- 1. First retrieval (10-15 minutes). Allow students time to remember what they watched/read for homework, and to share their reflections, reactions, questions (e.g. think-pair-share, bullet points on a note card, brain dump, etc.).
- 2. Checking for understanding (10-15 minutes). Before moving students toward higher-order thinking around the material encountered for homework, consider posing questions that help you differentiate those who struggle with understanding from those who are ready to move on to application, synthesis, analysis and evaluation. One such way would be to pose zero-stakes “hinge questions” that apply common misconceptions around the topic. One or two of these extended to all students (using whiteboards or note cards) could help you separate the class into groups to determine (a) those who need you to work with them and “re-teach” the material, (b) those who need additional practice as a group to fine-tune their understanding and (c) those who can move on to a challenge. (For additional tips, watch how Dylan Wiliam explains the importance of designing useful questions.)
- 3. Groups (20-25 minutes). Depending on the answers to the “hinge questions” posed in the second part of the class, the teacher can create groupings: some students working directly with the teacher, others working collaboratively to strengthen their understanding, and a third group working independently for an additional challenge.
- 4. Closing (5-20 minutes). Bring the group together to consolidate understanding. How do you need to prepare them for the next lesson— does something need to be completed for homework? Does this connect to previous learning for this unit? Do you need to introduce the next essential component? Are they getting ready for an assessment? Closing format will depend on where you are in the unit and what you want students to be thinking about as they leave. But again, being intentional in those last few minutes will ensure that students leave with a sense of achievement and satisfaction about their work in class.
Model D: “Traditional” Plus
- 1. Warm-up activity (5-10 minutes). This could be a question for students to discuss with neighbour, a prompt to write about, a practice question to attempt individually, a review/reflection on the homework (e.g. selecting the most difficult question to work through together)—something to help students “arrive” at the lesson.
- 2. Instruction + practice activity (40-45 minutes). This could take the format of our “traditional lessons”.
- 3. Exit ticket (5-10 minutes). Consolidate knowledge (whether from that lesson, from a previous lesson or from a previous unit—think about the benefits of distributed practice/interleaving!) by giving them a task such as (a) an individual problem to solve, (b) “Headlines” activity to summarise a big idea from the lesson, (c) a “brain dump” of everything learned, (d) a sentence to answer the essential question from the warm-up, (e) a question to pose regarding the unit, etc. (Consider these formative assessment suggestions.)
60 minute periods allow for well-rounded lessons that provide more of an “immersive experience” in your discipline. If you would like to discuss more ideas for your groups (for example, changing “modality” from lecture to collaborative activity to audiovisual material to formative evaluation), let’s schedule a chat!
