Practicing & Deepening Knowledge of New Content

Ideally, once the teacher has introduced the knowledge, they can devote time to helping students practice their new skills or deepen their understanding of the information.  We know this as looking for errors, looking for similarities and differences, and practicing during the out-of-class time.

STRATEGIES FOR PRACTICING & DEEPENING KNOWLEDGE:

• teacher engages students in a brief review of the content
• teacher asks students to review & revise notes they have taken on the new content
• teachers use grouping in ways that help students deepen their understanding or move toward fluency*
• when appropriate, the teacher assigns homework that helps students deepen their understanding or move toward fluency*

*Deepening their understanding applies to ‘declarative knowledge’, which includes details, sequences of information, generalizations, and principles.  Think of it as this knowledge can be declared.

Examples of practicing/deepening understanding when the content is information-based (declarative) are:

• teacher engages students in activities that require them to examine similarities & differences, such as comparison activities, classification activities, metaphor actives, and analogy activities
• teacher engages students in activities that require students to examine their own logic regarding the new content or the logic underlying the presentation of the new content

*Moving toward fluency applies to ‘procedural knowledge’, which includes skills, strategies, and processes.  Think of this knowledge as being able to demonstrate a process.

Examples of practicing/deepening understanding when the content is process-based (procedural) are:

• teacher involves the students in practice activities that are appropriate to their level of development toward fluency

Sources:

Magana, S., & Marzano, R. J. (2013). Enhancing the Art & Science of Teaching With Technology (Classroom Strategies) (Illustrated ed.). Marzano Research Lab.

Ormiston, M., DeCarlo, S., Raymond, S., Kowalski, G., & Gonzalez, J. (2017). NOW Classrooms, Grades 3–5: Lessons for Enhancing Teaching and Learning Through Technology (Supporting ISTE Standards for Students and Digital Citizenship) (New Art and Science of Teaching). Solution Tree Press.