Guided Practice
Overview
Spending time with new content helps move concepts and ideas into Long-term Memory. While this may seem like an old idea, research confirms that working many practice problems really is an important part of learning math. Through guided practice, learners rehearse, rework, elaborate, summarize, and question new content, leading to sufficient rehearsal for deeper learning.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how this teacher uses guided practice to teach fractions. The gradual release into independent practice gives students a sense of confidence in their own skills.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
Adaptive technologies can provide personalized guided practice for learners, helping a teacher support learners of all levels in the classroom. Watch an explanation of one such product, LearnSmart.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Repetition Strategies
Continual use of foundational skills with different problems reinforces a conceptual understanding of math skills.
Daily review strengthens previous learning and can lead to fluent recall.
Practicing until achieving several error-free attempts is critical for retention.
Having students verbally repeat information such as instructions ensures they have heard and supports remembering.
