MARZANO – WHAT WORKS IN CLASSROOM INSTRUCTIONNine Essential Instructional Strategies

1. IDENTIFYING SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

- helps with understanding and analyzing Teacher can present similarities and

differences followed by a discussion OR Teacher can ask students to present

similarities and differences on their own Graphic Organizers : Venn Diagram or charts

to compare and contrast, or classify items

2. SUMMARIZING AND NOTE TAKING

SUMMARIZING Promotes greater comprehension Students analyze a subject and pick out what is

important Teacher needs to provide guidelines

NOTE TAKING Note taking is important for learning Review and revision of notes should be

encouraged

3. REINFORCING EFFORT AND PROVIDING RECOGNITION

REINFORCING EFFORT Teachers should show the connection between

effort and achievement Share stories or keep a log of weekly efforts and

achievements PROVIDING RECOGNITION

Recognition is effective to promote effort Find ways to personalize recognition Pause, Prompt, Praise

Pause to discuss problem Prompt with specific suggestions If student’s performance improves, offer praise

4. HOMEWORK AND PRACTICE

HW should extend learning outside the classroom

Should be relevant and purposeful Teachers should try to give feedback on

homework to maximize effectiveness Establish a consistent HW policy Focus practice on difficult concepts both in

and out of class

5. NONLINGUISTIC REPRESENTATIONS

Knowledge is stored in 2 forms : linguistic and visual

Nonlinguistic representations stimulates and increase brain activity

Incorporate words and images Use physical models and physical

movements

6. COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Has a positive effect on overall learning Keep groups small and don’t overuse this

strategy

7. SETTING OBJECTIVE AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK

SETTING OBJECTIVES Provides students with a direction for their

learning Should be adaptable to students KWL

PROVIDING FEEDBACK Feedback is important to the learning process Use rubrics Keep feedback timely and specific Make sure feedback is corrective in nature

8. GENERATING AND TESTING HYPOTHESES

Have students make predictions based on general rules (deductive reasoning)

Students should be able to explain their hypothesis and conclusions

Ask students to build something with limited resources and explain what worked and what didn’t work

9. CUES, QUESTIONS, AND ADVANCE ORGANIZERS

Helps students use what they already know about a topic to enhance further learning

Pause briefly after asking a question Vary the style of advance organizer used –

tell a story, skim a text, create a graphic organizer