Elements of a Lesson Closure Foundation Transcript
Chapter 1: Introduction
Transcript:
Most teachers value the time they have with their students and want to use as much of that time for instruction as possible.
But, teaching new content and skills from bell to bell is not necessarily a best practice. Students need time at the end of instruction to process information and make sense of everything they’ve learned.
In this module we are going to focus our attention on how to make the most of the last few minutes of a lesson. We will take a close look at three elements of an effective lesson closure and specific strategies that incorporate these three elements.
So, what is lesson closure, and why is it important? Simply put, closure is any activity used to wrap up the learning that occurred (Bailey, 1990). Educational scholar LuOuida Phillips states, “Closure helps kids know what they learned, why they learned it, and how it can be useful” (Phillips, 1987, p.37).
Our brains need time to organize the new information we’ve learned to determine its application to what we already know. By providing time at the end of a lesson for students to reflect, they are more likely to remember and understand the content and skills (Bloomquist, 2010). Research has actually shown that having quality lesson closure leads to higher scores on assessments (Bloomquist, 2010).
As teachers we cannot assume that students have internalized the material we taught. Therefore, it is important to take time at the end of lessons to reflect on the learning with our students.
There are three elements of an effective lesson closure that we are going to focus our attention on. Lesson closures should summarize what was learned, check for understanding, and transition to future instruction (Willen, Bosse, Hutchinson, & Kindsvatter, 2004; Reese, 2014; Webster, Connoly, & Schempp, 2009).
Chapter 2: Summarize Learning
Definition
Transcript:
The first element of a lesson closure is having students summarize what was learned. It is unrealistic to assume students will be able to remember every detail from a lesson. Working with students to summarize important skills and content from the lesson helps them clarify the meaning of the instruction and determine its significance (Rife, 1988). During summarization you are trying to help your students discard trivial information and mentally organize what is important (Rife, 1988).
Example B is the more effective use of summarization. In example B Mr. Abernathy gives students the opportunity to determine what is most important about the case and discuss that with a partner. In example A students are only taking away knowledge of one or two Supreme Court justices’ opinions. Although valuable information, it does not help students grasp the overall importance of the lesson. Due to Example A’s closure, students may forget who won the court case and why.
The second element of a closure is to check for student understanding. An effective check for understanding is any method used to verify that students are learning the desired skills, content, or behavior. The check for understanding should be aligned to the objectives of the lesson.
Checking student understanding should take place throughout the lesson, but doing so at the end is also important. While summarization allows students to make sense of what they learned, a check for understanding allows teachers to make sense of what students have learned. In some cases the summarization could be a check for understanding as well. For example, this could occur when students summarize on their own, or with a partner, and then share out to the class.
A common way to check student understanding at the end of the lesson is through the use of an exit ticket. Exit tickets are a question, or a set of questions, designed to yield data on what students have learned (Lemov, 2010). Exit tickets require students to write the answer to the question or questions on paper and turn it in before the end of the lesson. This way the teacher has data on every student.
Similar to summarization, simply using one of these strategies does not guarantee an effective closure. Think about what data you want to gain from the check for understanding and why.
Let’s take a look at two examples of a teacher using check for understanding during the closure of her lesson.
Check for Understanding
Transcript:
Read the two examples and click on the one that you think is more effective. Press submit when you are ready to hear feedback.
Example B is the more effective use of a check for understanding in a closure. In example B Ms. Honeycutt directly aligns the exit ticket to the lesson objective. She can read over the exit tickets and use them to determine who in her class was able to master the key content. In example A, Ms. Honeycutt asks a thought-provoking question, but it is not aligned to the lesson objective.
The third element of a closure is transitioning students to future instruction. Transition helps students make connections between the lesson and the greater goals of the class. (Willen, Bosse, Hutchinson, & Kindsvatter, 2004).
Students need to make connections between what they are learning in the moment with what they will learn in the future. It is a good practice for your lesson closure to link directly with what is being taught in the next lesson. The band Semisonic explains this nicely in their song Closing Time: “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” (Wilson, 1998).
Example A is the more effective example of a transition to future instruction. Both of these options successfully link the lesson with what students will learn tomorrow, but example A also builds anticipation about the upcoming lesson. Students may not know who Emily Bronte is, so telling them that they will read her poetry will probably not mean anything to them. In option A Ms. Wyatt adds some suspense by letting the students know that the poet they will read is unique and different.
It is possible to have a successful closure without incorporating all three of these elements. However, including all of them should increase the likelihood that students will understand and remember the content and skills. There is no right or wrong order for using these elements. For example, you can check for understanding before summarizing what was learned if it works better for the lesson.
Closure is an important component to any lesson, but some teachers neglect to use it or leave enough time for it. Executing an effective lesson closure is like going to the gym. We all know it is a good thing to do, but sometimes things just get in our way.
Take a moment to look at some reasons why teachers fail to implement the closure from their lesson, even when it was part of the original plan. (Bailey, 1990)
The last few minutes of a lesson should be saved to provide some conclusion to the learning experience for your students. Students need time to think about what they learned, why they learned it, and how future lessons will build on it. When you summarize what was learned, check for understanding, and transition to future instruction, your closure will be more effective. In the resource section you will be introduced to a document that provides relevant strategies and grade-level specific examples for each element.
