Students understand and retain more when we prepare their brains for new learning:

• Hook students with a novel experience.
• Use an advance organizer to preview what students are going to learn.
• Activate prior knowledge, leading students to make connections between what they already know and what they are about to learn. Include real-world connections*.
• Help students understand why the new learning is important to them personally.

When students have little prior knowledge about a topic, build background knowledge, either with the whole class or frontloading for a small group.

During direct instruction, anchor important ideas and instructions visually, verbally, and in writing. The brain stores information in different locations depending on how it was received, so when you introduce new learning using multiple modalities, students are more likely to remember complex information.

Cue students to focus on the most important information, whether you are presenting information orally, in writing, or both. Mention critical concepts several times, varying your explanations and examples. When you see that some students do not understand key ideas, try another approach.

Pause at natural junctures to let students make sense of new information using the chunk and chew method. Vary modalities, so that students might think silently, discuss with a partner, make notes, sketch a new concept, or add to a collaborative web document. Model for students how to select and summarize main ideas and important details.

Regulate the amount, speed, and vocabulary of your teacher talk to ensure you do not give more input than students are able to process. Modulate your voice and use relevant hand gestures, incorporating total physical response when appropriate. Provide a synonym when using new academic vocabulary.

Provide additional scaffolds to students as needed to ensure they have full access to new learning (either frontloaded or during direct instruction). Scaffolds include relevant videos, native language resources, PowerPoint slide handouts, manipulatives, outlines, and partially completed notes.