What is Direct Instruction?

We're going to say the equation for 64. Back in ready position. 65 for 64. This way of teaching is controversial, but it works. When I came to this school, I didn't know math or reading. Don't get ahead of me. Get ready. Freeze! I host a podcast called Sold a Story. It's about what happens when deeply held beliefs about teaching and learning conflict with evidence. Rule two, we ready? Ready! Direct instruction is a teaching method that has been largely rejected by the education system, even though decades of research show students learn more when they're taught this way. Get ready. Hey. It's technical teaching, but I also just say it's magical. I've taught hundreds of kids how to read, and there's very few kids it doesn't work for. Now, don't get tricked. I'm going to point to the sounds. You say them. Get ready. Eek! Eek! Eek! Goodbye, Eek! Direct instruction was created in the 1960s by a man who didn't start out as a teacher, but he became fascinated by how children learn and how to teach them. If you start off with seven and you get less, you get five less, and you get more, you get six more, and you get less, you get one less, you're gone out. Siegfried Engelmann is giving these children of poverty an intellectual cram course. For two years, two hours a day, they will be force-fed words and ideas. My seat isn't mine. My back's too much. My tummy's too much. My feet aren't. Here we go. Direct instruction makes some people uncomfortable. Get ready! SIT! It's fast-paced, intense, with lots of repetition. YES! Here are five things to know about how it works. Everybody say, I'm smart. I'm smart. The kids answer in unison on a signal from the teacher. Which pot is he going to cook in? Get ready. The solid pot. We want to be really efficient with the instructional time that we have, and so we have to have a signal so they know when to answer. Three, two, one. Paint! Yes, paint. Good job. The students aren't just listening to a teacher explain things. They're constantly practicing. We pay close attention to if a student is coattailing, is what we'll call that, answering after the rest of them. But the entire lesson isn't kids answering in unison. Individual turns, individual turns. You never know who I'm going to call. Mia! Kids have to be ready to be called on at any time. Spell this word. Get ready. S-A-I-G We're going to slow it down a little bit. When a kid makes a mistake, the teacher corrects it right away, so mistakes don't become habits. Get ready. S-A-N-G What word? Third. Cheng. Good job. That was a lot of work. Ready? Go! Seven times seven equals forty-nine. Eight times six equals forty-eight. Four times seven equals twenty-eight. They're little kids and they're learning to repeat information and they're such little sponges at this age that it's like that's the time to really drill those things that they need to be able to do. The purpose of all this repetition is to build the knowledge kids need to think and make connections. Hold up your hand off of the app. That word is yours. That word is yours. Let's start this over again. We keep getting better and then we can make it faster and then we can move on to other lessons. The bicycle costs $192. How much does a skateboard cost? The scripts are one of the most controversial aspects of direct instruction. They tell teachers exactly what to say. I was not a fan at first. I don't think many teachers like the idea of sticking to a script. Think about a rectangle that has sides that are the same size. But I think an experienced DI teacher can really bring the script to life. You guys are killing it. The scripts are the result of years of research and development. The examples, questions, and explanations have been tested and refined to help kids learn what the lesson is designed to teach. Five is right. Nine plus how many equals 14? Nine plus five equals 14. Siegfried Engelmann's direct instruction is hard to find in schools today. You're most likely to see it in special ed or in charter schools like this one. But research shows it works well in all kinds of schools for all kinds of kids. Yes! Ooh, they're getting trickier. Landon! 85% of my students are English language learners. Almost all of them speak another language at home. I have a student right now that came in, and I think she could identify like three sounds on the first day of school. And she's reading 110 words per minute now, and is a fluent reader, like, and it's what, been seven months? So, it works. Give your partner a high five and say, pleasure doing business with ya! Pleasure! It stands the test of time. I've been here 20 years, and I continue to watch kids be successful. It makes me feel more comfortable, and the easier it is, the more I can do it faster. E. Whole word. Yeah. I just worked hard, and then I became super good. Anything else? In Season 2 of Sold a Story, we investigate what happened to direct instruction. Go to your podcast app and follow Sold a Story.