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Sometimes no matter how well you plan, your mini lesson may not land the way you envisioned. Many factors could be at play but regardless you’re left with a mini lesson that needs to be retaught. The first thing you want to do is look over your template and try to pinpoint where in the lesson you saw students start to lose focus or understanding of the lesson. Then think back to your original objective and ask yourself: What was the original … [Read more...] about My Mini Lesson Was A Bust…Now What?

In the last two blog posts we talked about the structure of the mini lesson and the point/purpose of a mini lesson. Today I’d like to talk to you about some Dos and Don’ts of a mini lesson. Like anything else that we do sometimes just having the framework is enough for us to take off running, but sometimes we need a little more information to make sure we are going in the right direction. Here are my top do's and don'ts when planning a mini … [Read more...] about Mini Lesson Do’s and Dont’s

In my last blog post I talked about my journey to a mini lesson format. You may be wondering what the point of a mini lesson is. The mini lesson serves to help you, the teacher, deliver only the content that is most essential to get the student practicing the skill you just taught. In the traditional format of a lesson plan I used to believe that I could not finish the lesson until I felt like students had mastered it. This is an … [Read more...] about The Purpose and Point of a Mini Lesson

When I was in college I learned about the flow of a lesson plan, you might have too. I made sure that my lessons had a hook, a direct teach, guided practice and independent practice. I felt like I mastered that and even made sure that I tried to hit most of the modalities of learning. One thing that I completely missed was timing. My lessons were too long and students would be “done” with my lesson before I was done delivering it. Enter the … [Read more...] about What is a Mini Lesson Anyway?