View this material in a Google Doc: Five Types of Instructional Activities
Objective: To provide a deliberate progression of instructional activities from which all students can learn in remote and hybrid environments.
The estimated activity time is 30–45 minutes.
Watch This Video
In the NYSED’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework, the second principle is high expectations and rigorous instruction. The bullet below is part of the student expectations for this principle:
- Advocate for varied ways of learning that accommodate the diverse learning styles and interests of those in the class community.
Watch this video about the Five Types of Instructional Activities in Remote and Hybrid Learning that provide students with various ways to engage in the learning process.
Stop and Think
(Key: T — Teachers, SL — School Leaders, DL — District Leaders)
Use the reflection questions below to guide your thinking as you design instructional activities for your remote and hybrid learners:
- In remote and hybrid learning environments, how can you curate a landscape of opportunities for academically rigorous learning? (T, SL, DL)
- What current instructional activities do your remote and hybrid students engage in? (T)
- Are the audio, visual, and kinesthetic tools in your remote and hybrid learning environment representative of your learners’ cultural context? (T)
- In remote and hybrid learning environments, what do you see as the greatest challenge to incorporating the five types of instructional activities? (T, SL)
Read This e-Text
In a remote and hybrid learning environment, a large part of a student’s day needs to involve “tackling instructional activities.” For the greatest results, start with thinking through how we learn when our brains do it successfully … and selecting activities to support that understanding. Below are the five types of instructional activities and ideas for how you can incorporate them into remote and hybrid instruction for your learners.
Skip to: Learning | Practice | Application | Assessment | Reflection
Activity: Learning
Description
Provides initial opportunity for remote and hybrid students to learn skill or content. These should be engaging, interactive activities that guide students to grapple with learning and construct understanding.
How can you use this in your instruction?
- Screencast
- How-to sheet
- Virtual learning center
- Interactive website
- Virtual small-group mini-lesson
Implementation for Equity
- Inspire and empower students — this can only be done effectively if you know your student population well and can gauge what resonates with them.
- Present learning opportunities that are meaningful and relevant to the student population.
- Provide learners with multiple outlets to access the learning. Provide learning opportunities in multiple equitable ways.
Activity: Practice
Description
Provides opportunity for remote and hybrid students to practice a skill or concept previously learned. Repetition of skills is important for building fluency. Through practice, the new neural pathways that were created in the learning process will be strengthened.
How can you use this in your instruction?
Students should be:
- Drafting
- Creating
- Calculating
- Sketching
They should show you what they know, but still have access to learning activities when they need repetition and/or some guided help.
Implementation for Equity
- Establish structures for remote and hybrid learners to practice their learning using different modalities, such as audio tools, visual aids, and kinesthetic activities.
- Provide opportunities for remote and hybrid learners to practice their learning multiple times before attaching a grade to their learning.
Activity: Application
Description
Helps remote and hybrid students move beyond acquisition, and to support retention, we need to plan additional categories of instructional activities.
After engaging in learning and practice activities, remote and hybrid learners should apply the learning to new situations. Through this process, students come away with a deeper understanding of the content/skill.
How can you use this in your instruction?
- Students solve a different problem from the ones used in learning and practice.
- Students apply the learning to real-world problems and challenges. This can be a written sample, a science lab analysis, or a free response question.
Implementation for Equity
- Design application situations that are relevant and authentic to your remote and hybrid learners. This is a great opportunity to make connections to the community or cultural background of your remote and hybrid students.
- Organize learning and practice activities to be accessible while working on application activities.
Activity: Assessment
Description
Self- and peer-assessment is a powerful step toward retention and teaching your remote and hybrid learners to take charge of their own learning. Ask learners to complete an assessment or an activity and use criteria for success to determine how well they are doing in their learning journey. This provides an opportunity for remote and hybrid learners to self-assess (or peer-assess) their understanding of a skill or concept based on the criteria for success.
How can you use this in your instruction?
- Exemplars
- Answer keys for self-check
- Rubrics to lay out criteria and expectations
- Checklists to self-assess and peer-asses
Implementation for Equity
- Establish structures for remote and hybrid learners to connect with their peers for feedback.
- Provide former student models for students to use as a reference, if applicable.
Activity: Reflection
Description
Encourage remote and hybrid students to pause and reflect on what they’ve learned, how they will use it, and what more they want to learn. Metacognitive reflection fosters students’ self-awareness and knowledge of how they learn best.
How can you use this in your instruction?
Ask metacognitive questions such as:
- What was difficult about this task?
- What was easy?
- What will you try next time?
- Who can I ask for help?
- Am I on the right track? How do I know?
- What could I have done better?
- What worked well?
- How can I use this strategy again and in another subject?
Implementation for Equity
- Provide sentence starters or templates for remote and hybrid learners.
- Establish a culture of safety and value around making instructional mistakes.
- Design multiple means of self-reflection for remote and hybrid learners to choose from.
- Empower remote and hybrid students to connect with their peers and share their reflection process.