High Impact Teaching Strategies

Example 2: Year 8 – Humanities

After introducing a History research project to a Year 8 Humanities class, the teacher recognised most students were struggling with bibliography writing skills which had been addressed in Year 7 but obviously needed revision. In response, the teacher planned a lesson that used explicit teaching to scaffold students’ knowledge and competence in how to reference sources consulted during their research. The teacher commenced the review lesson by presenting the learning goals and success criteria, taking time to establish students’ prior knowledge and connecting that knowledge to the new project. A class discussion followed about how students can find information for their research projects from many sources, such as the internet, books and television programs. The teacher then explained the importance and function of taking notes from each source during the research phase. She used explicit teaching to show students how to reference various information sources. The teacher modelled notetaking and bibliography writing, pointing out key features of each and how they related to achieving the learning goals and success criteria. She then provided students with source material examples so they could practice creating their own references. As the teacher monitored students’ progress, she ensured they had opportunities to seek feedback. The review lesson was concluded by checking for understanding, again modelling aspects of referencing as required, and asking her students to provide further examples necessary. In the next History lesson students returned to the research project. They applied their knowledge from the review lesson, along with the skills they had worked on. The teacher checked students’ progress as they worked in class, making sure they recorded source information correctly. For this Year 8 class, explicit teaching was effective in scaffolding student learning, and ensuring all students had the skills necessary to complete the research project in line with the learning goals and success criteria.