Designing and Delivering Instruction From a Textbook

[Or Developing Your Own Materials]

1. Examine the section of text you plan to teach; for example, 10 pages on Romantic poetry, or a section on the Persian Wars, or five pages on the parts and functions of somatic cells.

a. Now look at the standard course of study. http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/

Does your textbook cover all that the scs says you have to teach?

b. Also examine research and expert opinion, and your own knowledge.

General

http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/

http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/global/index.cfm

http://www.education-consumers.com/

Specific Subjects

Finn, Julian, and Petrilli. The State of State Standards. Fordham Foundation, 2006.

Walter Russell Mead. The State of World History Standards. Fordham Institute, 2006.

http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=356

Sandra Stotsky. The stealth curriculum: Manipulating America’s history teachers. Fordham Foundation, 2004.

Diane Ravitch. A consumer’s guide to high school history textbooks. The Fordham Institute, 2004.

David Klein et al. The State of State Math Standards Fordham Foundation, 2005.

http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=338

http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/

http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/math/math.html

Sandra Stotsky. The State of State English Standards. Fordham Foundation, 2005.

http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=337

Paul R. Goodman et al. The State of State Science Standards. Fordham Institute, 2005.

Here are sources for big ideas relevant to the Persian Wars, and the relevance of the Persian Wars to current world events--- again, it is totalitarian east vs. democratic west; an enemy that seeks world domination; the conflict (within the U.S.) between Jeffersonians who want to reason with the enemy, and Jacksonians, who want to annihilate the enemy.

Walter Russell Mead on the Jacksonian tradition. [If you were a history major, you might know this one. It would enable you to compare values and dispositions (to action) and life circumstances common to a large segment of the American population and the ancient Greeks.

Victor Davis Hanson

http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson071905.html

http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson020806.html

http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson102304.html

Winston Churchill. War speeches.

2. Do your resources suggest strands of knowledge that you will weave together to help your students to GET and to retell the story (in a history course, for example)? Knowledge strands might include:

Timeline of events
Persons
Groups (families, political parties)
Social institutions
Culture (values, beliefs)
Technology
Geography
Big ideas to be gained (lessons, big pictures).

Now that you know the strands, you can design instruction so that all of the important KINDS of information are covered. For example, you may have to add content on culture or technology to what is in a textbook.

3. Do these resources suggest “big ideas” to organize the whole unit; e.g., in history?

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Curriculum%20%20%20Big%20Ideas.doc

Soldiers who are fighting to defend land, tribe, family, and polis (political unit) fight harder and are more willing to die for the good of the whole, than soldiers who are either slaves or mercenaries.

When character (e.g., manhood, womanhood) is defined by the universalistic civic virtues of duty, honor, courage, and the welfare of the whole over the person, a greater proportion of the polis is willing to fight, and soldiers fight with greater courage and selflessness, than when character is defined by the particularistic values of the individual and group.

Superior weapons, armor, and battle tactics can enable a smaller force to defeat a larger one.

Soldiers who have a stake in the polis (they own land and they vote) fight harder than soldiers who are slaves or mercenaries.

To defeat an enemy so that he stops, you must destroy his ill to fight. This is done more through destruction of infrastructure (food, housing, communication) than through destruction of life.

4. Do these resources suggest the need for additional content; e.g., on weapons and armor, child-rearing, geography?

5. If you don’t have a useable text, or if your text does not cover all that is important, get on the web and google subject matter. For example, your textbook only has one paragraph on the Persian Wars, but YOU know that it was one of the most important events in western history, and the paragraph does not cover what the scs requires (e.g., historical challenges to democracy). So, google “Persian Wars.”

Download a sample of materials that you think will cover all the strands in the topic; e.g., maps, events leading up to the Wars, culture of Persia and Greece (e.g., from texts on poetry and religion), weapons and battle tactics, political organization (monarchy vs. independent city states).

Include images that you can turn into Powerpoint presentations; e.g., to show maps, or weapons and armor.

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/persian1.ppt

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/greekalphabet.doc [Ancient Greek alphabet]

http://www.lingvosoft.com/Greek-English-Dictionary/  [Translates English words into ancient Greek.]

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Iliadbeginning.doc [Beginning lines

of the Iliad]

http://wiredforbooks.org/iliad [Recitation of beginning lines of the Iliad]

http://www.princeton.edu/~clip/ [Another version of Iliad---female rhapsode]

http://www.mikrosapoplous.gr/plato/plato00.htm [Plato in Greek and

English]

http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/plat.htm [On Plato]

http://www.mikrosapoplous.gr/xenophon/anb1d10.htm [Xenophon’s

Anabasis (The March Up-Country) in Greek and English]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabasis_(Xenophon) [About Xenophon’s

Anabasis.]

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7849/poets.html

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/POLIS.HTM

http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kal/agm/ [Ancient Greek instruments, music]

http://homoecumenicus.com/ioannidis_sappho_aphrodite.htm [Poem of Sappho.]

Other materials from the internet

Selections from The Histories, Herodotus.

http://www.parstimes.com/history/herodotus/persian_wars/polymnia.html

See 6.104 and following, on Marathon http://www.parstimes.com/history/herodotus/persian_wars/erato.html

See 7.201 and following, on Thermopylae. http://www.parstimes.com/history/herodotus/persian_wars/polymnia.html

http://monolith.dnsalias.org/~marsares/warfare/index.html#greeks

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/PERSIAN.HTM

http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/Mediterranean/PersianWars.html

http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/Mediterranean/Sala mis.html

http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/persian/

http://lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics/lectures/history/PersianWars/persianwars.shtm

http://www.ualberta.ca/~csmackay/CLASS_110/Persian.Wars.html

http://www.metrum.org/perwars/

http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_time_persianwars.htm

http://www.ualberta.ca/~csmackay/CLASS_110/Arch.Greece.html

http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~warfare/Lectures/lect04.html

http://www.classics.und.ac.za/projects/democracy/armour.htm

6. Examine the materials---both in the textbook and the supplementary materials.

Look at small sections in a chapter or internet document.

What are the main KINDS of things (information) you want students to learn regarding the different strands—persons, places, etc.?

Information/knowledge of:

Facts

Lists

Concepts/vocabulary

Rules: statements of how things are related, connected, caused.

Models (diagrams) and theories (a set of rules in a sequence) that explain something. [These are routines---routines for accomplishing a task. Each connection in a diagram or each statement in a theory is a STEP.]

In a history course, you want students to be able to tell a captivating and edifying story.

Underline the information in the materials and/or take notes. Label them as to type of knowledge, so that you know HOW to teach each one.

7. Think of one or more objectives for the information in each chunk. What do you want students to DO after the information is presented? [Note that when you ask students to RESPOND to the information that you just gave them from the chunk, or the information that they just read, it is the TEST/CHECK portion of instruction.] Here are examples of objectives for a chunk. Students will:

a. Repeat a single fact, list, verbal definition, or rule that was just presented or was presented earlier. (acquisition)

“The Persian Wars were fight between 490 and 479 BC.” (single fact)

“Artifacts consist of pottery, bones, tools, and clothing.” (list)

“Granite is an igneous rock consisting of quartz, feldspar, and

mica.” (verbal definition of a higher order concept)

“Simile is a figure of speech that involves comparison of unlike

things, using the words as or like.” (verbal definition of a higher

order concept)

“When rulers violate a society’s norms of fairness, it sets in motion a processes of opposition.” (rule = principle, proposition, law, or generalization)

b. Identify examples and nonexamples: (acquisition)

“Is this granite?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?” (This follow up question requires that students use the definition to justify their answer.)

“Because it consists of mica, feldspar, and quartz.”

“She is a tough cookie. Is that a simile?”

“No.”

“How do you know?”

“It compares unlike objects, but is does NOT use like or as.”

“Correct! It compares unlike objects, but is does NOT use like or

as. So it is NOT a simile.” (verification)

c. Solve problems using a routine.

For example, you just modeled the steps in the FOIL routine---which is a small chunk in a math text.

[Remember, you do each step at a time and you TELL students what you are doing, and why = explicit instruction for them/self- instructions for you. Make sure that students write the example with self-instructions on note cards.]

d. Students, in pairs, review their note cards (e.g., vocabulary) and test each other---

and count correct answers. [fluency or retention]

e. Students work a series of problems; e.g., worksheet.

f. Students, in pairs, review note cards on facts. They work fast (for 3 minutes) and count correct responses per minute (rate).

[fluency]

g. Students write an essay describing an historical event. They use big ideas, facts, concepts, etc., presented earlier. [strategic integration.]

8. Arrange the materials (paragraphs, sections, chapters) in the textbook and/or supplements in a logical sequence.

You don’t have to follow the sequence in a textbook. Some sections might be better if they came earlier or later.

Nor do you have to cover everything.

Cover DEEPLY Acquisition of new knowledge, generalization to new examples, fluent use of knowledge, retention) with the most important information. The less and the deeper, the more students will acquire, use, and retain.

9. Add scaffolding.

Check this…

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/How%20to%20Use%20These%20Documents.htm

a. Make a syllabus for the whole course.

Week/topic/tests

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/wholecoursesyllabusUSHistory.doc

b. Make weekly chart, with column for each day: topic, vocabulary/big ideas with objectives, activities/projects, tests. Review each day to prepare class.

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/CivicsTimelineFal07.xls

c. Make glossary that accompanies weekly chart. Hand out right before use; e.g., when reading chart for the day or week.

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Glossary%20for%20D%20o%20I.doc

d. Make guided notes that accompany daily column on weekly chart.

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/guidednoteshistorycourse.doc

e. Make handouts that list what to review. State WHAT to know for each item; that is, objectives.

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Testreviewnotes2.doc

f. Teach students to make the format for, and to use Cornell note taking.

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/CornellNoteSystem.pdf

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/CornelNotesPlain.pdf

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/CornellNotesGraph.pdf

g. Powerpoint presentations

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/persian1.ppt

10. Introduce each section by having students read the guided notes with you. Call on individuals to read SOME of the chunks/objectives to get them involved. [This does not apply as much to math texts with naïve students.]

“Gordon. Number 6, please.”

11. Initially, teach students HOW to find, state, and respond to (i.e., perform the objective)---using, model-lead-test/check/verification.

a. Read an objective from the guided notes and show them how to find the relevant chunk of information in the text.

b. Read the chunk in the text (or in the web materials that you project on the screen or that you’ve handed out). Emphasize the information relevant to the objective. Remind students to take notes on cards.

“The Persian Wars were fight between 490 and 479 BC.” [Model]

[??Maybe use lead. “Say that fact with me….”]

Test. “What’s our new fact?” Or, “What are the dates of the Persian Wars.” [Immediate acquisition test. Stating that fact is the objective.]

Verification. “Yes, 490 to 479 BC are the correct dates of the Persian Wars.

[Look at 7 above for other “tests” to see if they met the objective, and if your instruction was effective.]

[Correct any errors using simple error correction format. Basically, model---test---retest later.]

c. Repeat with the next chunks.

d. After four or five chunks, and at the end of the section, review and test EVERYTHING YOU COVERED. [Delayed acquisition test.]

“Let’s review. Persian Wars. Tell me the dates….”

“490 to 479 BC.”

“Yes, 490 to 479 BC.” [verification. Let’s them hear the information one more time.]

“Who was the Persian king during the first invasion….?”

“Darius.”

“Yes, Darius. Excellent for remembering that fact.”

“Who was Persian king during the second invasion…?

“I’ll say the name of a battle, and you tell me the date. Marathon… Thermopylae…. Artemesium…. Salamis… Plataea…”

“How many Greeks fought…?

“What Greek city states fought at Marathon”…?”

“Why did the Spartans arrive late at Marathon…?

12. When it seems that students get the routine (# 11 above), have THEM do the reading and YOU test after each chunk, and later after a series of chunks. [delayed acquisition test]

T. “What’s the next objective on our guided notes?”

S. “Identify main features of the Battle at Marathon, page 176.”

T. “Everybody, read page 176. Jane, you read out loud. I’ll ask questions and you all take notes on the answers. Jane, go.”

J. “”In September of 490 BC a Persian armada of 600 ships disgorged an invasion force of approximately 20,000 infantry and cavalry on Greek soil just north of Athens.

T. “Everybody. What was the date?”

S. “September, 490 BC.”

T. “Write it.”

T. “An armada is a fleet of ships. How many Persian infantry and cavalry?”

S. “20,000.”

T. “Correct, 20,000.”

T. “Everybody. Where did they land?”

S. “Just north of Athens.”

J. “Their mission was to crush the Greek states for supporting the Ionian Greeks to the east, who had revolted against Persian rule.”

T. [Show Ionian colonies on map.] “What had the Ionian Greeks done?”

S. “Revolted against Persian rule?”

T. “Why did the Persians invade?”

S. “Because the Greeks helped the Ionians.”

“To crush them as punishment.”

J. “Athens mobilized 10,000 hoplite warriors to defend their territory. The two armies met on the Plain of Marathon twenty-six miles north of Athens. The flat battlefield surrounded by hills and sea was ideal for the Persian cavalry. Surveying the advantage that the terrain and size of their force gave to the Persians, the Greek generals hesitated.

J. “One of the Greek generals - Miltiades - made a passionate plea for boldness and convinced his fellow generals to attack the Persians. Miltiades ordered the Greek hoplites to form a line equal in length to that of the Persians. Then - in an act that his enemy believed to be complete madness - he ordered his Greek warriors to attack the Persian line at a dead run. In the ensuing melee, the middle of the Greek line weakened and gave way, but the flanks were able to engulf and slaughter the trapped Persians. An estimated 6,400 Persians were slaughtered while only 192 Greeks were killed. [Show slide of battle.]

Then give a review/delayed acquisition test of everything you taught and tested above.

You can also ask generalization and probe questions.

“What might have happened if the Greeks lost at Marathon?”

“Why do you think the Greeks won so easily?” [This leads to later chunks on weapons and armor, phalanx combat, Greek virtues, and Greek independence.]

http://qa.perl.org/phalanx/history.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoplite

13. Later still, students can both read, ask questions, and do Powerpoint presentations.

14. Make sure to cover not just acquisition of new knowledge, but also fluency, generalization, and retention.

a. Fluency. Fast question and answer on facts and definitions. Fast worksheets. Teacher-class, peers.

b. Generalization. Have students apply concepts and rule and theories/models to other situations.

“How are the Spartans like the Marines?”

“How does the Greek panoply compare with the modern infantry panoply?”

“Compare the reaction of many Americans to the attack on 9/11 to the invasion of Greece by Darius I.”

c. Retention. Cumulative review (weekly at least) of what was covered earlier, with emphasis on more recent information.

15. Make sure to have discussion and to develop assignments that strategically integrate much of the information learned.