Classroom Chronicles: The 16 Elements of Explicit Instruction.   

When it comes to helping students make the most academic progress, one of the most effective approaches teachers use is explicit instruction. This teaching method is clear, structured, and purposeful. It’s called explicit because the learning isn’t left to chance, teachers guide students, step by step, with direct explanations, clear demonstrations, and plenty of supported practice. 

Explicit instruction involves carefully designed scaffolds that help students build confidence as they learn. Teachers explain the “why” and “what” of new skills, model exactly how to do them, and then provide guided practice and feedback until students are ready to succeed independently. 

Educational researcher Rosenshine (1987) described explicit instruction as “a systematic method of teaching with emphasis on proceeding in small steps, checking for student understanding, and achieving active and successful participation by all students.” 

Element #3 – The Fine Art of Breaking Things Down (Without Falling Apart Yourself). a.k.a. Break down complex skills and strategies into smaller instructional units. 

Chunking and sequencing learning is an element of explicit teaching. It involves chunking learning into manageable components to reduce cognitive load demand on students’ working memory. Sequencing those chunks in a logical progression supports students to incorporate new information into their mental model, or schema.  When it is retrieved from long-term memory as a schema it takes up less space in the working memory. Teachers sequence the next pieces of learning to add to the schema. This is how students can learn highly complex concepts successfully. 

Have you ever shown your child how to spaghetti bolognaise and found them tipping in the pasta before the water boils or the bolognaise is cooked? Congratulations!  You’ve met the third element of explicit instruction head-on: breaking down complex skills and strategies into smaller instructional units.   Some lessons simply can’t be learned in one pot.

In teaching, this means we don’t just throw the whole task at students and hope something sticks. Instead, we break big skills and concepts, like writing a persuasive essay or solving a multi-step mathematical word problem, into bite-sized, learnable steps.

Element #3 - What It Is:  Learning in Manageable Bites

Breaking down complex skills means teachers carefully sequence learning, so students build success one step at a time.

Like teaching someone to eat an elephant (not literally — no elephants were harmed during the writing of this metaphor) you don’t start with the whole thing.   You take one bite at a time.

Teachers take a big learning goal, like writing a persuasive text or understanding fractions, and slice it into smaller, more chewable chunks.  Teachers:

• Determine what smaller skills are needed to progress towards achieving the final outcome
• Model the first skill first (show what “good” looks like)
• Guide students through learning the skill
• Practise together.
• Then let them try it solo — but only when they’re ready.
• All the while checking for understanding before moving to the next skill or concept
• Then we do this all again with the next skill until….. we can write a whole persuasive essay!

Teachers model each step, give students guided practice, and check for understanding before moving on.

So, when you hear your child say, “We did only one sentence of one paragraph today,” don’t panic — that’s actually progress!  It means the teacher is focusing on mastery not mystery.

What It Isn’t (a.k.a. Common Missteps)

Let’s clear up a few myths, because “breaking it down” doesn’t mean just doing less or making it easier, nor sadly does it mean we’re about to bust out a remix from the 80s on a boombox (though some of us could – fluro leg warmers and all!).

Here’s what this element isn’t:

Chunking and sequencing activities rather than knowledge and skills. 

• It’s not just putting tasks in order (“First worksheet, then colouring!”). It’s about sequencing the thinking and skills students need to be successful.   That is, good teachers carefully sequence what students learn, not just what they do.

Using existing programs, units or lesson plans without responding to evidence and data about students.

• Just because a lesson worked for last year’s class doesn’t mean it fits this year’s. (It’s like serving leftovers from 2024 and hoping no one notices.)

Moving on to new information without checking for accurate understanding from students.

• If half the class is still saying, “Wait, what’s a fraction?” while the teacher is saying, “Now let’s multiply these fractions with different denominators!”, then we’ve built the next 3 floors before the foundation’s even set so, watch out for cracks!

Reducing the expectations for students when learning is new and complex.

• We don’t make the task smaller or easier — we make it learnable by making it clearer and chunking it into manageable parts.   Students still climb the mountain; we just give them proper hiking boots and a good trail map.

In Summary

Breaking complex skills into smaller instructional units isn’t slowing learning down — it’s setting it up for success.   When chunks are taught in a logical sequence of small steps, it helps students build on what they already know, understand and can do, and retain.

So next time your child’s teacher says, “We’re working on just one part of the process today,” you can smile knowingly and say, ““Ah yes — Element 3. Because even rocket scientists started with paper planes.”

Wow — it's hard to believe we're already welcoming Term 4! Time seems to be absolutely flying by, and we have such a jam-packed term ahead of us. This past week has been filled with fun and engaging learning experiences.

In Mathematics, students have been using hands-on materials to solve practical problems involving addition and subtraction to 20, while also practising their skip counting to 120. These concepts have been explored through interactive games and group discussions about the different strategies they used and why they got their answers.

In English, we’ve been focusing on writing simple sentences using high-frequency words and learning how to improve our writing by adding adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. We’ve also been exploring the imaginative texts, identifying their key features and using story mountains to map out the structure of The Rainbow Fish.

Inspired by this, in Design and Technologies, students have been designing and making sea-themed puppets with moving parts. It’s been a creative and exciting start to the term, and we can’t wait to see what’s to come.

This term, 2A has launched into our Science unit Save Planet Earth! We are exploring Earth’s valuable resources and learning to distinguish between renewable and non-renewable ones. Students have been thinking of practical ways we can all help conserve these resources and enjoyed watching a video full of real-world ideas.

Our class tomato plant is also helping us revise what we learned in Term 3 about the needs of living things. We’re making sure it has everything it needs to grow strong and healthy while we investigate different types of soil and how they provide essential nutrients for plants. There’s plenty of exciting hands-on learning ahead!

In English this term Year 3 will be completing a novel study on the book Kumiko and the Dragon by Briony Stewart. Through this novel study, students will build their understanding of narrative texts and how authors use language and illustrations to portray characters, settings and mood.  The Children are really enjoying the book so far and are very interested in the different dragons.  We have started to explore literary devices such as, similes and metaphors which are used extensively throughout the book.

In Year 4, students are thoroughly enjoying Design and Technology.
Last term, they designed, constructed their own pinball machines, and had a wonderful time bringing their creative ideas to life. Through this project, students developed their understanding of how different materials and forces influence movement and function. They also examined how engineers design and test products to meet specific needs.

The pinball project links perfectly with our science unit this term, “Fast Forces,” where students will explore how pushes, pulls, and other forces affect the movement of objects. They will experiment with games to observe forces in action, collect and interpret data, and learn how scientific knowledge helps us understand the impact of our actions.

It promises to be an exciting term filled with hands-on learning, creativity, problem-solving and collaboration.

Diving into The Callers

This term in English, 5A has been completely hooked on The Callers by Kiah Thomas. This captivating fantasy adventure explores a world where some people have mysterious “calling” powers, the ability to influence others in extraordinary ways. The story follows a young character as he navigates family expectations, shifting loyalties, and the challenges that come with such power.

Students have been eager to dive deep into each chapter, exploring fascinating characters, vivid language, and clever literary devices. They are also sharpening their writing skills by learning how to craft clear, compelling summaries using our Five Finger Summary strategy. Through this, they break down the who, what, when, where, why, and how of each chapter, incorporating key quotes from the text.

It’s been fantastic to watch their confidence grow, their ideas come alive in thoughtful discussions, and their excitement to uncover what happens next. If your child loves fantasy or has ever imagined having a special power, The Callers is sure to capture their imagination.

Curriculum Corner – A Look Back Before We Zoom Ahead

It’s always tricky to write curriculum news this early in the term. So, instead of gazing into the crystal ball, let’s take a little stroll down memory lane as we begin our very last term of Aspley State School (insert either a tearful emoji or a happy dance emoji—your choice!).

This year has been a whirlwind of learning—fast, furious, and jam-packed. In HASS, we discovered how Australia became the nation it is today through Federation and migration. We’ve debated how our country is governed, met some interesting characters (also known as Prime Ministers), and even had a peek over the fence at our neighbours in South-East Asia.

Science was an adventure in itself! We explored changes of matter, finding out which ones are reversible (like melting ice cream) and which ones are not (like when that ice cream mysteriously disappears). We also dabbled in electricity—don’t worry, all circuits were built safely, with no hair-raising experiments… unless you count the bad jokes. Natural disasters then rocked our classroom (figuratively, not literally), as we investigated volcanoes, earthquakes, and the impact these events have on communities. And to finish, we turned our eyes to the skies—collecting and interpreting weather data. (No, the state of your child’s bedroom was not considered a natural disaster, although it could be argued otherwise!)

Maths this year has been a rollercoaster of discovery (and yes, sometimes a head-scratcher). We’ve mastered fractions, decimals, and percentages—so don’t be surprised if your child suddenly starts calculating the exact savings at the Boxing Day sales. “Mum, that’s not 30% off, that’s only 27.5%!” You’ve been warned.

We’ve also tackled area, perimeter, and angles—so students can now tell you precisely how much carpet you’ll need for the living room and the degree at which you should tilt your TV for optimum viewing. Handy, right?

Prime and composite numbers made their grand appearance (who knew numbers had personalities?), and we crunched through statistics and timetabling like pros.

Maths: it’s not just about the numbers—it’s about surviving sales season, measuring the backyard for a new pool, and making sure the family timetable runs smoother than a freshly sharpened pencil.

In English this year, we’ve been busy turning pages and filling them too! Students have read and written all sorts of texts—short stories, persuasive speeches (look out, Santa, they’ve got their arguments ready!), biographies, and narratives that could rival a Netflix plot twist.

We’ve also explored true-life stories about people’s experiences arriving in Australia. These gave us a chance to step into someone else’s shoes—no small feat, especially if they were thongs or gumboots.

From convincing speeches to heartfelt storytelling, English has stretched our imaginations, sharpened our pencils, and given us the superpower of words (great responsibility included).

So as we step into Term 4, one thing’s certain: this year has been busy, brain-stretching, sometimes laugh-out-loud, and always rewarding. And if the first three terms are anything to go by, we’re in for an exciting finale!

Parent Survival Tip: Stock up on snacks, sharpen your pencils, and brace yourself—because if your child starts correcting your fractions, rewriting your shopping list into a persuasive essay, or explaining angles while hanging the washing, it’s just evidence that all this learning has truly stuck.