Dear Reader,

Welcome to week 2 of our January challenge focused on the planning principle of 'Teach less, teach depth'. Last week we looked at Cognitive Load Theory and the cognitive science that tells us students can only handle small amounts of new information. We learnt that in order to move information into long term memory, students need lots of opportunities for recall and retrieval - put simply, they needs lots of time.

This week we are going to delve into the approach we recommend for teaching less. Next week we will identify blockers to teaching less and suggest how you can overcome them.

Read on for:

• A framework for teaching less: 'Declutter' your units using an 'Essential Idea'
• Application task: Create an essential idea for your next unit
• Online catch up: Jan 25 @ 7.30pm - Registration is required: please send through your questions!
• Opportunities for PD: Embedding Literacy Course starts Feb 5

Can you relate?

Less than one week of holidays left!! How are you feeling about going back to school? I always get to a point in the break where I start to feel a bit nervous. It's when I haven't started planning yet, but I've started thinking about school. The 'To Do' lists start forming in my head and honestly, normally the dread starts to set in. Are you feeling that now?

Teaching is an exhausting job. It's all consuming. So it's not a wonder if you don't feel completely pumped to start it all again for another year.

We know the feeling of exhaustion and overwhelm and we believe that a lot of it is caused by teaching practices that are not founded on cognitive science, are not that effective, and therefore cause you and your students stress. The solution is to align how you teach with how the brain learns.

Teaching less is not only better for students, but it gives you as the teacher breathing room and more time to do what you love, spend time with your students helping them understand your subject. In this email we explore how we recommend teaching less.

How to teach less: The Essential Idea

At Literacy for Learning, we propose a simple framework to help you teach less, but teach depth. We suggest grounding each unit in one essential idea.

What is an essential idea and how does it work?

An essential idea is one overarching idea that a unit is focused on. It draws all the threads of knowledge in a unit of work together and helps us streamline what we teach, removing what is unnecessary.

In English or literacy, an essential idea may be derived from the text/s that are being studied, whereas in Humanities and Science, the essential idea may be one idea about a period in history, or one idea about evolution - it will be the overarching story of the unit.

We propose going deep on one essential idea, rather than only surface level on many because it allows our students to make connections between related ideas and the real world, and build towards thinking critically about them.

The concept of an essential idea is simple enough to understand, but when you first start out it can be tricky to master. We will discuss essential ideas more on Thursday night, or if you want to truly understand how essential ideas work and have a chance to craft some for your own units, join us for our February course.

The 'Essential Idea' in practice

This year my year 8 English class will kick off with a unit on Tim Winton's 'Blueback.' This is a lovely Australian text and explores lots of ideas around environmentalism, growing up, connection to land and water, family, grief and many other themes.

Before I learned about the L4L method, I would have likely covered all of these! Perhaps starting with a week on Tim Winton for context, then reading the book aloud in class and discussing each of these ideas as they came up. Students might complete a one-pager, or write a book review at the end examining the themes and characters.

Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with this approach, but the focus is not intentional or cohesive. If I want to build knowledge that is transferable and give enough time for students to move it from their working memory to their long term memory, I need to focus on less.

How my units have changed

Now that I am intentional about teaching less, we won't read the whole book aloud in class, I won't spend the week on Tim Winton, and I won't cover ALL of the amazing, rich ideas that the text offers us.

Instead, I have chosen one essential idea: people can feel strong connections to places that are important to them.

Students will watch sections of the film, read and analyse passages from the text that show this idea, explore how the protagonist, Abel, is connected to place - in this case, the ocean, and look at real world examples of how people feel connection to places, such as how First Nations peoples feel strongly connected to country. At the end of the unit, students will write about a place they feel connected to.

By choosing this one idea, I streamline the ideas we will cover and I have a sorting tool to test if an activity or passage is worth spending precious instructional time on. I am able to explicitly teach vocabulary that relates to this idea and build knowledge of the idea logically and sequentially.

This means linking the ideas together into a web of interrelated ideas, which helps with recall and retention. For example, we might examine the grief that Abel feels about his father’s death, through the lens of how it makes him feel closer to the ocean (which is where his father died).

This is a big shift in thinking for many of us. It was for me! But I encourage you to give it a go and see for yourself the difference it can make for you and your mental load, and for students in your class.

How to develop an essential idea

There are a few core ideas to keep in mind.

The essential idea should be:

• Simple enough that you can write it in a sentence or two (max)
• A statement or question (a question can be great for subjects like history)
• Oriented towards the knowledge you are teaching (not the skills)
• An abstract idea that you can relate to the real world with examples to build knowledge and cultural capital

Example Essential Ideas

• English: Even when we feel powerless, we can take action.
• History: Was Australia ‘the lucky country’ at the turn of the 20th Century?
• Science: Does evolution always improve the survival of a species?
• Food: Foods can heal us
• Primary literacy block: Different jobs that help our community become a better place

Application Task

If you are teaching English or literacy:

1. Choose a text that you will be teaching eg. Blueback
2. If you have taught it before, choose one theme that you would normally cover (or with a new text, read/watch it looking out for ideas that you find interesting or even just Google the text to see what themes come up) eg. Abel’s connection to home and the ocean
3. Write a statement or question that explores the theme and can be related to the real world eg. people can feel strong connections to places that are important to them.

If you are teaching a content subject like Hums, Science etc:

1. Choose a unit eg. the Industrial Revolution
2. Head to the curriculum and choose one of the main curriculum descriptors eg. Different experiences and perspectives of individuals or groups and how ideas, beliefs and values changed during the significant events of the Industrial Revolution (VCHHK131)​
3. Do some research! What's the story you want to tell/lead your students towards through this unit?
4. Write a statement or question that explores the idea in the descriptor that can be related to their lives eg. Did everyone benefit from the technological advancements of the Industrial Revolution?

Learn more with us online: This Thursday 25 January 7.30pm

Join us on Zoom on Thursday 25 Jan at 7.30pm to discuss all things Cognitive Load Theory and the concept of teaching less to teach depth. We will discuss essential ideas and share what we are working on with our classes, giving opportunities for everyone to share (if they want to!), give feedback and support each other.

We want to develop a community of like minded teachers, support each other in this challenging and fantastic job, and spread the word about the science of learning. We hope you will join us! Register below to be sent the Zoom details. You can also stay updated by RSVPing to the Facebook event here.

Please send through your questions so we can answer them!!

I want to join the Zoom chat

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Opportunities for PD - Embedding Literacy for Learning Course starts Feb 5

If you would like to learn more about the Science of Learning and how to embed it in your teaching practice, please join us for the next intake of the Literacy for Learning 'Embedding Literacy' Course starting on Feb 5. The course will provide you with:

• a sequenced, evidence-based methodology for improving critical thinking through reading and writing based on the Science of Reading and Learning
• content that can be applied to any student and is effective for students with learning disabilities, low literacy needs and/or are learning English as an additional language.

More Info on the L4L Feb Course

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If you have enjoyed this second edition of the January challenge, please share it widely with your friends and colleagues! They can sign up here.

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