A Typical Lesson

Different lessons require different structures and these may be subject to change within lessons depending on assessment within each session. Such structure is subject to teachers’ own professional judgement within the lesson.

The following items are the format of standard lessons at Hayfield Lane Primary:

REVIEW- opportunity for children to connect to prior learning from previous learning. The connection to prior learning (and comparable themes within curriculum areas) is drawn attention to by teachers and staff/children recall previous learning with links explained by pupils. This helps to ensure that items are retained by children in the longer term.  Each unit has been crafted to ensure that underlying connections can be explicitly made-these are called the ‘schema’. Examples of this are evident in the DAILY REVIEW which provides opportunities to recap concepts and address misconceptions from formative assessments.

EXPLAIN- teachers then explain the small step teaching point, previous gaps and deeper understanding elements of the lesson – we call these our LEARNING STARS. These are the criteria for the children to work to, with the 3 star aspect being a deepening of understanding aspect. 1 star is the gap in knowledge from previous journeys for the class. These are progressive and enable children to build to a final outcome. Within this section, misconceptions from formative assessments are discussed with children.

MODEL-Pupils are given a variety of high quality examples via teacher modelling. The modelling of the example also requires lots of active practice of the pupil. In these mini ‘chunk and chew’ active elements, children are able to develop critical thinking and collaborative learning aspects which are then embedded further by the class teacher. They are given time to verbalise and refine their thinking in collaboration with others.  Quality worked examples are created and added to the classroom working walls to support learning across sequences of lessons. Misconceptions are also addressed.

APPLY-  This is the element of the lesson where pupils/collaboration partners begin to undertake the task set. Additional scaffolds and methods of support within this aspect- working wall support, manipulatives, targeted support will be used to allow children to succeed.

DEEPEN- throughout the lesson teachers build in opportunities for children to problem solve and reason about their learning. The star grids are used to examine how effectively the children have met the intended outcome. DEEPENING LEARNING is present in the REVIEW, EXPLAIN, MODEL and APPLY stages.