Farrell's Elements of Lesson Design

  Farrell’s Elements of Lesson Design emphasizes independent practice engaging with text. Next, guided practice is used, followed by: check for understanding, modeling, application, and more application followed by independent practice to begin the next lesson.  I have not adopted this style of lesson planning; several challenges for my students would have to be overcome. 

My current students have several learning styles, and this model does not describe how to cater to multiple learning styles. My current students also read independently on many different reading levels, and multi-level texts are not always readily available. One-third of my current students also require oral administration of at least some portion of the text, and during the periods during the school day when a teacher’s aide is not available, it can be challenging to provide that accommodation to multiple students at one time.

Another challenge to making this model work involves selecting engaging text that addresses the written curriculum, aligning it with the taught curriculum. I currently teach fifth-grade English Language Arts and Reading, and many of our standards are “big-idea” standards, such as identifying text structures, identifying point-of-view and its traits, and how to summarize text. I routinely use text as a real-world launch pad to locate and study each of these standards, but if I am understanding Farrell’s design correctly, text that explains each of these standards would also be required. Engaging, multi-level text that addresses these standards is difficult to obtain.

Science would be more suited to the use of text as described by Farrell. Students are often naturally drawn to science curriculum, and they should have background knowledge from prior grades. Many science texts are engaging due to photographs that accompany the text. Also, the subject matter lends itself to the “application” step because the last piece of a science lesson can easily become the first piece of the next lesson. 

Determining whether this model better aligns written curriculum, taught curriculum, and assessment depends upon the subject. Elementary ELAR in Texas is not a good fit, in my opinion, but Science in Texas might be. 

The indicators that matter most to me in evaluating classroom effectiveness are classroom management, engagement, and relevant, focused materials. For example, classroom management to me means that students may be talking to one another in groups, but the side discussions are kept to a minimum, and students are speaking at an indoor level. The teacher is able to regain the attention of the class easily, using an attention-getting strategy that has been taught and practiced. Engagement means that students are attempting the task at hand, and they understand what is expected. The use of relevant, focused materials means that students are spending most of the instructional time covering objectives that will be most useful and important to their school careers, and to life after formal education ends. For instance, finding the main idea, summarizing, and finding text evidence should receive more classroom time than hyperbole.