A Teacher's Guide to DI

The following instructable will guide teachers through some of the basic steps of a direct instruction (DI) lesson. 

Direct Instruction is a systematic, skills-oriented teaching methodology.  Direct instruction is often characterized by carefully scripted lesson plans which break skills down into small units, with each individual unit as part of a logical sequence of lessons, and taught explicitly to students.  Other characteristics include, ability grouping, emphasis on pacing and efficiency of instruction, frequent assessment, and embedded professional development/coaching.  The direct instruction methodology was developed by Siegfried Englemann and Wesley C. Becker of the University of Oregon.  Their research was funded by the largest federally funded research program in education called Project Follow Through.  The results gleaned from PFT and the vast majority of subsequent research gave strong empirical support of the effectiveness of DI in classrooms and with a wide range of students.

Step 1: Orientation (Anticipatory Set)

This initial step is crucial for the success of a direct instruction lesson.  Here, the teacher grabs the attention of the students, explains the learning objective, ties it to prior-knowledge, and builds their motivation for learning.

Englemann describes using basic instruction to teach lessons by keeping materials simple and direct.

Comments

[jenniferwestover]

Nicely done!

[poofrabbit]

I've been noticing a lot of direct instruction guides, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say you are all in the same class with the same professor? :)

[kmose734]

You would be correct. haha

[poofrabbit]

I thought that might be the case, I think it's a pretty neat project and a great place for you guys to find new resources. :) Keep up the hard work!