What is it?
Direct Instruction is the explicit teaching of a subject matter where students passively learn through lecture or demonstration. With this, teachers should be detailing each step or idea within the subject to make sure that students understand. It is also helpful to discuss what is going on in the teacher's head while explaining the concept as students may be wondering what they should be thinking about while working through the problems.
When to use it?
Direct instruction can be used in most settings, including whole class down to 1-on-1. This support should be used when students need to be re-taught the information needed in class, when they do not understand or remember one or more steps, or it can be used when pre-teaching content the students will see in their classes.
Who to use it with?
This can be used with all students, especially when used in a 1-on-1 setting. Some students do not learn well with direct instruction if they prefer kinetic learning supports, but generally this support works with most students. Because it is a break down of each step and what the students could be thinking through them, it helps give students a thought process to work with if they were unsure of one before.
How to Progress Monitor?
This can be monitored through their work on the assignments that have had direct instruction over the content, as well as through grades, any relevant probes, and general knowledge of the student through narrative data.
Implementation:
This is most likely the easiest of the 10 supports to implement as it is similar to most teaching styles. It involves lecture and walk-throughs, which are some of the most common ways teachers conduct their classrooms. Teachers can use whiteboards/chalkboards, Smartboards, or projectors to present the information to students, though now with blended learning becoming more prevalent, presenting the information on computers/iPads could work as well.
Here is a 1-on-1 setting where the teacher is using direct instruction to teach the student about sentence structure. Having the student close to the board with a whiteboard of his own to work on helps him stay engaged as the teacher walks through each type. In a larger classroom, certain students may need to sit closer to the board to help them pay attention and receive more help than other students.
Citations:
Brozo, W. G., & Flynt, E. S.. (2008). Content Literacy: Motivating Students to Read in the Content Classroom: Six Evidence-Based Principles. The Reading Teacher, 62(2), 172–174. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.www2.lib.ku.edu/stable/20203098
Burns, M. K., & Ysseldyke, J. E. (2009). Reported prevalence of evidence-based instructional practices in special education. The Journal of Special Education,43(1), 3-11. doi:http://dx.doi.org.www2.lib.ku.edu/10.1177/0022466908315563
Graham, S. & Harris, K.R. (2016). A Path to Better Writing: Evidence-Based Practices in the Classroom. The Reading Teacher, 69(4), 359–365. doi: 10.1002/trtr.1432
Burns, M. K., & Ysseldyke, J. E. (2009). Reported prevalence of evidence-based instructional practices in special education. The Journal of Special Education,43(1), 3-11. doi:http://dx.doi.org.www2.lib.ku.edu/10.1177/0022466908315563
Graham, S. & Harris, K.R. (2016). A Path to Better Writing: Evidence-Based Practices in the Classroom. The Reading Teacher, 69(4), 359–365. doi: 10.1002/trtr.1432