Have you ever moved into the modelled instruction of your lesson only to find students looking flat, disengaged or simply not interested to learn?

Or perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering why students struggle to connect today’s learning with something they’ve already been taught.

Often, the problem isn’t the new content.

It’s what happens immediately beforehand.

Activating Prior Knowledge is one of the most important parts of an explicit teaching lesson, yet it’s also one of the most misunderstood.

Many teachers unintentionally treat it as a quick revision activity or confuse it with Daily Review, when the two actually serve very different purposes.

I recorded a short audio training to unpack where Activating Prior Knowledge fits within an explicit teaching lesson, why it’s so important, and how a simple instructional routine can better prepare students for new learning.

If you’re using explicit teaching in your classroom, I think this training will give you a different way of thinking about one of the most important transitions in your lesson.

Not yet a member of the Structured Teaching Portal?

This audio training is included as part of the Structured Teaching Portal.

If you’ve been thinking about joining, you’ll get access to this training, the full instructional coaching library, classroom resources and ongoing support.

👉 Join the Structured Teaching Portal today.

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I have always believed that Term 3 is the hardest stretch of the school year.

It’s not necessarily because it’s the busiest on paper, or because the calendar is packed with more events than usual. It’s because Term 3 is where the collective tiredness finally catches up with us.

By the time July and August roll around, the fresh excitement of a new school year has long faded into distant memory. The mid-year winter break never feels quite long enough to truly reset. The winter bugs are doing the rounds, student restlessness is peaking, and teachers everywhere are running on empty.

Yet, day after day, teachers keep showing up. They step into their classrooms and give everything they have to ensure their students succeed.

Because that is what teachers do.

The Hidden Load of Explicit Teaching

When you are delivering explicit, intentional lessons, every single session requires an immense amount of energy. In any given sixty-minute block, you aren’t just talking—you are managing a high-frequency loop of action and response.

You are constantly scanning the room, tracking eyes to ensure active participation, and maintaining tight behavioural boundaries. You are delivering precise instructional steps, checking for understanding (CFU) every few minutes, and monitoring student work to gauge real-time data. You are adjusting your lessons as you go based on that feedback from the mini whiteboards, providing immediate corrective support, and managing the working memory load of thirty different children at once.

You are making hundreds of tiny, rapid-fire decisions that nobody outside the room ever notices. That intense, hyper-aware connection is exactly what makes our impact so incredibly rewarding.

It’s also exactly why our cognitive load is so completely drained by the final bell.

The ‘Later’ Trap

I think one of the biggest mistakes we make in education is believing we have to wait until the holidays to look after ourselves.

We fall into the trap of bargaining with our own well-being. I’ll rest later. I’ll slow down over the weekend. I’ll make time for myself during the holidays.

But “later” doesn’t magically appear during a busy school term. The workload doesn’t pause just because we are tired.

Over the years, I’ve realised that waiting for a two-week break to rescue you isn’t a sustainable strategy. Instead, it’s the tiny, intentional boundaries you create throughout the week that make the biggest difference to your longevity.

It looks like taking your actual lunch break instead of working straight through it. It looks like stepping outside into the fresh air for just five minutes, soaking in the sun, drinking enough water while you teach, going for a short walk after the final bell, or putting your phone away a little earlier at night.

None of these things will magically reduce a heavy workload. They won’t shorten your marking pile or eliminate data entry. But they do help you protect the personal energy you need to keep showing up without completely burning out.

The Power of Small Routines

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received came from a Head of Curriculum I worked with. He told me to leave my laptop charger at school.

His thinking was simple: if you bring your laptop home, you only have whatever battery life is left. Once it dies, you’re done for the evening. No plugging it in at the kitchen bench. No telling yourself you’ll “just finish one more rubric.” The decision is made for you. It’s a powerful boundary that forces you to work smarter not harder and reminds you that you’ve done enough for one day.

Another non-negotiable routine for me is moving my body for twenty minutes every single day. I’m not chasing a fitness goal; I’ve simply learnt that movement clears the heavy cognitive load that builds up after hours of intense teaching and problem-solving.

Alongside those boundaries, I’ve also come to appreciate a few small, physical rituals—like a quick spritz of a hydrating facial mist during the afternoon slump, hydrogel eye patches on tired mornings, or a nourishing lip mask before bed.

None of these things solve the systemic workload challenges of teaching. But together, they create quiet, intentional moments that remind you to look after yourself, too.

Because I genuinely believe we teach better when we remember that we are people first, and teachers second.

That’s exactly why I wanted to put together something practical for teachers heading into what I believe is the toughest term of the year.

A Little Something for Your Term 3 Toolbox

If you’re feeling a little flat heading into this term and want to bring a few of these comforting moments into your own school week, I’ve put together the Teacher Term 3 Essentials Pack featuring three products I regularly reach for during busy weeks.

Inside the kit, you’ll find:

• 🤍 Hydrating Facial Mist: Helps combat the dry, stripping effects of classroom heaters and air conditioning, giving you an instant shot of moisture and a quick afternoon refresh between lessons.

• 🤍 Eye-V Hydrogel Eye Patches: Helps visibly reduce puffiness and brightens dark circles, offering immediate relief for those tired reporting mornings when the alarm goes off far too early.

• 🤍 Moisture-Lock Lip Mask: Helps deeply hydrate, repair, and soothe severely chapped, dry lips after a long day of constant talking, instructing, and projecting your voice.

To help, I’ve put this all together for you in one spot so that you can easily grab a kit for your desk drawer or bathroom vanity, and so that you can pocket the savings while looking after your wellbeing this term.

I’ve also been able to secure a small discount, so if you’ve been thinking about refreshing your own routine, you’ll save 6% off the standard retail price.

If you’d like to check it out, you can find the Teacher Term 3 Essentials Pack here

Note: To access the discounted Preferred Customer pricing, you’ll be prompted to create a quick account. SmartShop is enabled by default, but you can edit or cancel future deliveries at any time, so you’re never locked in.

Recently, I have been receiving this question a lot:

“My students switch off and disengage during the lesson introduction. They lose interest as soon as we go through the Learning Intention and Success Criteria. What can I do about that?”

If you’ve ever felt the same way, you’re certainly not alone.

The lesson introduction is one of the most important parts of an explicit teaching lesson, yet it’s often the part we rush through or unintentionally turn into something students simply sit and listen to.

The good news is that student disengagement during this part of the lesson usually isn’t caused by the Learning Intention or Success Criteria themselves.

It’s caused by how we introduce them.

In this week’s audio training, I unpack some simple instructional adjustments that can make your lesson introductions more engaging, purposeful and effective without adding anything extra to your planning.

This is a paid audio training for members of the Structured Teaching Portal. Upgrade below to access the full training.

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This week I’ve been talking about one simple idea.

Explicit teaching isn’t about following a PowerPoint.

It’s about making instructional decisions while you’re teaching.

One of the clearest examples of that is check for understanding.

Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most misunderstood parts of an explicit teaching lesson.

I recorded a short audio training to unpack the two biggest mistakes I see teachers making with check for understanding and why they have such a significant impact on lesson delivery. Listen below 🔽🔽🔽

If you’re using explicit teaching in your classroom, I think this training will give you a different way of thinking about one of the most important parts of the lesson.

Get the School Holiday Special!

This audio training is included as part of the Structured Teaching Portal.

Until Monday 12pm, you can join the annual membership for 24% off, or less than $97 (normally $127).

If you’ve been thinking about joining, now is the perfect time to get access to this training, the full instructional coaching library, classroom resources and ongoing support before the price returns.

👉 Join the Structured Teaching Portal for less than $97.

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Yet one of the biggest influences on lesson success is often overlooked.

Student routines.

You can have a well-structured lesson, a strong explanation, and carefully sequenced examples. But if students do not know how to participate during different parts of the lesson, instruction becomes less effective.

Students need to be taught how to learn within the lesson structure.

Why Classroom Routines Matter

When we think about classroom expectations, many of us immediately think about behaviour.

However, instructional routines are different.

Instructional routines help students understand what successful participation looks like during learning.

For example:

• What should students be doing while the teacher is modelling?

• What should partner talk sound like?

• How should students participate during guided practice?

• How should students use success criteria during independent work?

These behaviours are rarely automatic.

They need to be taught, practised, and revisited throughout the year.

The Problem with Generic Expectations

Many classrooms display posters that encourage students to:

• Be respectful

• Be responsible

• Be safe

While these messages are important, they often fail to provide students with clear guidance during learning.

A student may know they are expected to be respectful, but do they know what successful participation looks like during an I Do lesson?

Do they know how to engage during partner talk?

Do they know how to use success criteria to improve their work?

Instructional routines make these expectations visible and actionable.

The Routines That Support Structured Teaching

The classroom routines pack I recently created focuses on the specific routines students encounter throughout a structured lesson sequence.

These include:

Our Lesson Routine

Helping students understand the flow of a lesson and where they are in the learning process.

How to Succeed During I Do

Supporting students to listen, focus, and engage while new learning is being introduced and modelled.

How to Succeed During We Do

Clarifying expectations during guided practice and shared learning.

How to Succeed During Partner Talk

Teaching students how to participate in meaningful academic discussions.

How to Succeed with Mini Whiteboards

Establishing routines that maximise participation and checking for understanding.

How to Succeed During You Do

Supporting students during independent practice and application.

How to Use Success Criteria

Helping students use success criteria as a learning tool rather than simply a checklist displayed on the board.

How to Review Your Learning

Encouraging reflection and consolidation at the end of a lesson.

Teaching Routines Is More Important Than Displaying Them

A poster alone will not change classroom behaviour.

The most effective classrooms explicitly teach routines.

This involves:

• Explaining the routine

• Modelling the routine

• Practising the routine

• Providing feedback

• Revisiting the routine regularly

Just as we teach academic content, we need to teach students how to participate successfully during learning.

Free Classroom Routines Posters

👉Get the free Structured Teaching Student Routines Pack here

To support teachers implementing structured teaching practices, I have created a free Classroom Routines Poster Pack.

The pack includes classroom posters designed to support:

• Lesson routines

• Guided practice

• Partner talk

• Mini whiteboards

• Success criteria

• Independent learning

• Reflection

🎧Listen to the practical audio training below that walks through:

• How to introduce instructional routines at the beginning of the year or term

• Which routines to prioritise first

• How to explicitly teach classroom participation expectations

• How to use the posters throughout your lessons

• Common mistakes that reduce effectiveness

• Strategies for building routines that become automatic over time

Read more

Many teachers display routines. Very few explicitly teach them.

The most effective classrooms treat routines like any other skill — explicitly taught, practised, and refined over time.

Because here’s what’s actually draining you: it’s not the teaching. It’s the constant reminders. The repetition. Bringing students back to looking at the front, listening to the speaker, having nothing in their hands. Over and over. All day.

That’s what leaves you overstimulated by 3pm. That’s what makes you walk through your front door and withdraw from your family, your friends, your own life — because you’ve got nothing left.

This training changes that.

🎧Listen to the practical audio training below that walks through:

• How to introduce instructional routines at the beginning of the year or term

• Which routines to prioritise first

• How to explicitly teach classroom participation expectations

• How to use the posters throughout your lessons

• Common mistakes that reduce effectiveness

• Strategies for building routines that become automatic over time

Read more

🎧 Listen to the voice note below where I unpack the idea that explicit teaching is teacher-centred

One of the most persistent misconceptions in education is the idea that explicit teaching is inherently teacher-centred.

In many cases, I think this misconception has developed because explicit teaching has become confused with presentation-centred teaching.

Teachers are increasingly being told they need more slides, more animations, more worked examples embedded into PowerPoint presentations, and more content delivered from the front of the room.

The result is often a lesson where the teacher spends most of their time clicking through a presentation and talking to a screen.

That is not explicit teaching.

That is presenting. The irony is that this version of explicit teaching often appears teacher-centred because the teacher is interacting more with the presentation than with the students.

Good explicit teaching looks very different.

True explicit teaching is responsive. It requires the teacher to constantly gather information about student understanding and adjust instruction in real time.

A teacher delivering explicit instruction is not focused on getting through their slides.

They are focused on what students understand, what they are struggling with, and what support they need next.

This is why explicit teaching is far more student-centred than many people realise.

The teacher may be leading the learning, but the lesson is constantly adapting to student needs.

What Student-Centred Learning Really Means

A student-centred classroom is not defined by who is doing the talking.

It is defined by whether instructional decisions are being made in response to student learning.

Good explicit teaching is highly responsive because the teacher is continuously monitoring understanding throughout the lesson.

This includes:

• Quick checks for understanding throughout the lesson

• Engagement norms and instructional routines

• Questioning and discussion

• Monitoring student responses on the mini whiteboards

• Adjusting explanations when confusion emerges

• Providing additional modelling when required

• Offering immediate feedback

• Increasing or reducing support based on student performance

These are all student-centred practices because they place student learning at the centre of every instructional decision.

The teacher is not following a script.

The teacher is responding to evidence.

Why Some Students Struggle When We Skip Explicit Teaching

The challenge with many discovery-based approaches is that they often assume students already possess the knowledge and skills required to engage successfully with complex tasks.

Many students do not.

Some students are still developing foundational knowledge.

Others may have gaps from previous years.

Some may simply be encountering a concept for the first time.

When these students are asked to independently solve problems, investigate concepts, or complete project-based learning without sufficient background knowledge, they can quickly become overwhelmed.

The issue is not the project.

The issue is the missing foundation.

Students cannot successfully apply knowledge they have never been taught.

This is why explicit teaching remains so important.

It provides students with the foundational skills, vocabulary, concepts, and procedures they need before asking them to work independently.

Once students have developed that foundation, richer learning opportunities become far more accessible.

This is where many people misunderstand explicit teaching.

Explicit teaching is not the destination.

It is the bridge.

When students have mastered the necessary knowledge and skills, teachers can gradually release responsibility and provide opportunities for inquiry, problem-solving, project-based learning, and independent application.

The difference is that students are no longer guessing.

They have the tools they need to succeed.

How to Apply This in Your Classroom

Understanding why explicit teaching is student-centred is only the first step.

The real challenge is translating these principles into daily classroom practice.

That is where lesson structure, instructional routines, guided practice, and feedback systems become critical.

If you are looking for practical support, the Structured Teaching Portal includes the exact frameworks, lesson templates, audio trainings, and classroom resources I use to help teachers implement explicit teaching effectively.

Continue Reading:

• Daily Review Tips for Retention

• Skill Development in Explicit Teaching

Explicit Teaching Resources:

• Explicit Teaching Daily Slides Bundle

• Guided Practice Activities

• Response Cards Resource

Brolga Education
Created by Trudy Mayo — explicit teaching coach & curriculum specialist.
500+ lessons written in explicit instruction | 1k+ teacher subs

I help teachers plan & deliver clear lessons | Simplifying explicit instruction that engages & drives progress🌟

💌 New here? 📚 Follow on Instagram for daily tips & behind-the-scenes: @brolgaeducation

It's the last few weeks of term and your students are checked out.

Energy is low, behaviour is escalating, and it feels like the structure you built all term is unravelling. So you loosen the reins. You simplify. You let things slide because it feels easier than fighting it.

But here's what I've learned from delivering over 500 explicit lessons: the end of term is not when you drop your routines. It's when you lean into them harder than ever.

Your instructional routines are not just a teaching tool. They are your most powerful behaviour management strategy, especially when students are dysregulated, overstimulated, and counting down the days.

Predictability calms. Structure settles. And when students know exactly what's coming next, they regulate faster and push back less.

In today's voice training inside the Structured Teaching Portal, I'm walking you through exactly how to use your existing instructional routines as your end-of-term behaviour strategy, what to hold tight on, what you can simplify, and why the teachers who keep their structure to the last day are the ones who start Term 3 without rebuilding from scratch.

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Creating lesson slides from scratch every day can quickly become very time consuming.

Most teachers already have enough to think about without constantly rebuilding learning intentions, success criteria, check for understanding activities, morning meeting slides and classroom organisation tools.

The Explicit Teaching Slides Bundle provides more than 90 editable Canva slides designed to support lesson delivery, classroom routines and organisation.

Unlike a basic lesson template, this bundle gives you a complete collection of reusable classroom slides that can be used throughout the school year.

Access this resource inside the Structured Teaching Portal

Already a member of the Structured Teaching Portal? Your download is available below ⬇️

Looking for the Free Explicit Teaching Lesson Template?

You may already have downloaded my Free Explicit Teaching Lesson Template Slides.

That free resource provides a simple lesson structure for explicit teaching, including:

• Learning Intentions

• Success Criteria

• Link to Prior Knowledge

• Concept Development

• Check for Understanding

• I Do

• We Do

• You Do

• Review

The Explicit Teaching Slides Bundle goes much further.

It includes multiple slide options for each phase of instruction, as well as classroom management, organisation and classroom culture templates.

Think of the free template as your lesson structure.

Think of this bundle as your complete classroom slide library.

What Is Included?

Inside the Explicit Teaching Slides Bundle you will find more than 90 editable Canva slides, organised into practical teaching categories.

Explicit Teaching Lesson Slides

Build clear, structured lessons using:

• Lesson title slides

• Learning Intention slides

• Success Criteria slides

• Link to Prior Knowledge templates

• Concept Development slides

• Vocabulary instruction templates

• Check for Understanding slides

• I Do templates

• We Do templates

• You Do templates

• Lesson Reflection slides

• Review Our Learning slides

• Reasons for Importance slides

• Lesson expectations slides

Classroom Community Slides

Support positive classroom culture with:

• Welcome Back templates

• Meet the Teacher slides

• About Me templates

• Teacher KWL activities

• Class Rules templates

• Rewards and Consequences displays

Morning Meeting and Wellbeing Slides

Create predictable classroom routines with:

• Morning Meeting templates

• Good Morning slides

• Daily Check In activities

• Feelings Check In slides

• Daily Affirmations

• Behaviour Focus templates

• Weekly Focus slides

• Question of the Day

• Quote of the Day

Classroom Organisation Slides

Keep classroom systems visible and organised using:

• Weekly Goals templates

• Weekly Overview slides

• Weekly Jobs displays

• Daily Timetable templates

• Weekly Timetable templates

• Literacy Rotations

• Mathematics Rotations

• Reading Rotations

Every slide is fully editable in Canva.

How These Slides Support Explicit Teaching

One of the biggest mistakes teachers make is rebuilding lesson slides from scratch every day.

Effective explicit teaching relies on consistency.

When students become familiar with lesson structures and classroom routines, they can focus more of their attention on learning and less on navigating changing expectations.

This bundle helps establish consistent routines across your classroom while reducing planning time.

Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Clearly communicate what students are learning and what successful learning looks like.

Concept Development

Introduce new vocabulary, concepts and examples using structured teaching templates.

I Do, We Do, You Do

Guide students through the gradual release process with dedicated slide layouts for each phase of instruction.

Check for Understanding

Collect formative assessment data throughout the lesson and identify misconceptions before they become learning gaps.

Reflection and Review

Provide opportunities for students to reflect on learning and consolidate understanding.

Classroom Routines

Create predictable systems for morning meetings, wellbeing check-ins, behaviour expectations, setting up instructional routines and classroom organisation.

Rather than spending time designing slides, you can focus your energy on teaching.

Why Teachers Choose the Explicit Teaching Slides Bundle

Teachers use this resource because it:

• Saves hours of lesson preparation

• Creates consistency across lessons

• Supports explicit teaching routines

• Reduces planning overwhelm

• Provides ready-made classroom routines

• Supports student engagement

• Makes lesson delivery more efficient

• Helps establish predictable learning environments

• Can be adapted across year levels and subject areas

Many teachers use these slides as the foundation for their classroom presentations throughout the year.

Who This Resource Is For

This resource is suitable for:

• Primary classroom teachers

• Secondary classroom teachers

• Graduate teachers

• Learning support teachers

• Intervention teachers

• Instructional coaches

• Curriculum leaders

• Schools implementing explicit teaching approaches

The templates can be adapted across a wide range of curriculum areas and classroom settings.

How to Use the Slides Bundle

Step 1: Duplicate the Canva File

Create your own editable copy of the resource.

Step 2: Select the Slides You Need

Choose the templates that fit your lesson, classroom routine or organisational system.

Step 3: Add Your Lesson/Learning Content

Insert:

• Learning intentions

• Success criteria

• Examples

• Guided practice activities

• Independent practice tasks

• Classroom information

while keeping the overall structure intact.

Step 4: Build Consistent Routines

Use the templates regularly so students become familiar with expectations and classroom systems.

Step 5: Reuse Throughout the Year

Duplicate and adapt slides for new units, lessons and classroom routines.

Fully Editable in Canva

All slides are designed in Canva, allowing you to:

• Edit text

• Change colours

• Update fonts

• Add school branding

• Duplicate pages

• Adapt templates for different year levels

• Create subject-specific versions

The structure is already done for you.

Simply customise the content to suit your classroom.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many slides are included?

The bundle contains more than 90 editable Canva slide templates.

Is this different from the free Explicit Teaching Lesson Template?

Yes.

The free lesson template provides a simple lesson structure.

This bundle includes multiple lesson slide options, classroom culture resources, morning meeting templates, wellbeing slides, organisational tools and classroom management supports.

Can I edit the slides?

Yes. Every slide is fully editable in Canva.

Are the templates suitable for primary and secondary classrooms?

Yes. The templates can be adapted across year levels and subject areas.

Do I need Canva Pro?

No. The templates are designed to be easily editable and customisable.

Get the Explicit Teaching Slides Bundle

The Explicit Teaching Slides Bundle is included inside the Structured Teaching Portal.

Members gain access to a growing library of explicit teaching resources, templates, professional learning and instructional supports designed to simplify lesson planning and delivery of explicit teaching.

Join the Structured Teaching Portal to access this resource and the complete resource library.

Join the Structured Teaching Portal

About Brolga Education

Hi 👋 I’m Trudy, a Lesson Design and Instructional Coach.

I help teachers plan and deliver clear lessons by simplifying explicit teaching and creating practical systems that save time while improving instructional delivery.

If you are looking for explicit teaching resources, lesson templates, classroom slides, guided practice supports and professional learning, you’re in the right place.

Related Explicit Teaching Resources

Teachers who use this resource often also access:

• Response Cards for Explicit Teaching

• Daily Review Scheduler for Teachers

• Modelling & Worked Example Pack

• I Do, We Do, You Do Traffic Light Posters

• Explicit Teaching Masterclass: Lesson Planning & Delivery

Already a Member?

Click below to access your resource.

Click the image below to access the Explicit Teaching Slides Bundle

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Guided practice in explicit teaching is often described as the bridge between modelling and independent practice.

While that description is accurate, it doesn’t fully capture why this phase of the lesson is so important.

Many teachers spend significant time planning their learning intentions, success criteria, worked examples and independent tasks. Yet the success of the lesson is often determined by what happens in between.

Guided practice is where students begin applying new learning while support is still available. It is also where teachers gather the information they need to determine whether learning is actually taking place.

Unlike many other parts of a lesson, guided practice cannot be completely planned. It requires teachers to respond to student thinking in real time, adjust instruction when misconceptions emerge and make ongoing decisions about when students are ready for greater independence.

This is what makes guided practice one of the most powerful and challenging phases of explicit teaching.

What Is Guided Practice in Explicit Teaching?

Guided practice is the phase of an explicit teaching lesson where students begin applying a newly taught skill or concept with teacher support.

It sits between the teacher modelling phase (I Do) and independent practice (You Do).

During guided practice, students are no longer simply observing. They are actively responding, practising, discussing, explaining and applying their learning while the teacher provides feedback, clarification and additional support where needed.

Many teachers think of guided practice as a collection of activities. Whiteboards, partner talk, graphic organisers and collaborative tasks are all common examples.

However, guided practice is not defined by the activity being used.

It is defined by what the teacher is doing.

The teacher is monitoring understanding, checking for misconceptions, providing feedback and gradually releasing responsibility as students demonstrate increasing competence.

Why Guided Practice in Explicit Teaching Is So Important

Guided practice provides students with the opportunity to apply the new skill before being expected to work independently.

Watching a worked example is not the same as applying a skill.

Students often appear to understand during modelling because the cognitive load sits largely with the teacher. Once students are required to complete the thinking themselves, misunderstandings can quickly emerge.

Guided practice provides a supported environment where those misunderstandings can be identified and addressed before students move into independent work.

This phase also allows students to strengthen accuracy, consolidate new learning and build the meta-cognitive foundations required for successful independent application.

Without sufficient guided practice, teachers often discover gaps in understanding too late, when students are already working independently.

Guided Practice in Explicit Teaching Is Formative Assessment in Action

One of the most important purposes of guided practice is formative assessment.

As students respond on mini whiteboards, explain their thinking, participate in partner discussions and work through examples together, teachers are continuously gathering information about what students understand and where additional support may be required.

This information allows teachers to make instructional decisions while the lesson is still happening.

A misconception can be addressed immediately.

An additional example can be provided when needed.

A skill can be retaught before students begin practising errors independently.

Teachers are not simply delivering content during guided practice.

They are actively assessing, interpreting and responding to student understanding in real time.

In many ways, guided practice is where teachers determine whether their instruction is having the desired effect.

What Happens When Guided Practice in Explicit Teaching Is Missing?

When guided practice is rushed or insufficient, difficulties often appear during independent practice.

Students may become off task, avoid the task altogether or repeatedly seek assistance from the teacher.

Behaviour concerns may begin to emerge.

Work completion rates may decline.

Teachers may find themselves reteaching concepts that appeared to be understood only minutes earlier.

These challenges are not always the result of behaviour, motivation or effort.

Often, they indicate that students required additional supported practice before being expected to work independently.

Guided practice exists to identify and address these issues before responsibility is fully released.

The Key Features of Effective Guided Practice in Explicit Teaching

Effective guided practice is highly responsive.

Rather than moving mechanically through a predetermined sequence, teachers continuously adjust based on the evidence students provide throughout the lesson.

Several features are commonly present in effective guided practice.

Immediate Feedback

Students receive feedback while practising a skill on their mini whiteboards. Errors are identified and corrected before they become established.

Participation From All Students

Teachers gather responses from every learner rather than relying solely on volunteers (using the mini whiteboards!). Teachers may randomly choose students to share their answers, once all of the boards and responses have been scanned. This provides a more accurate picture of whole-class understanding.

Multiple Opportunities to Respond

Students repeatedly apply the skill through speaking, writing, explaining to a partner and how they got their answer.

Strategic Scaffolding

Support is provided when needed and gradually removed as students demonstrate increasing success. Scaffolded practice may appear with the steps to complete a skill, problem pairs or faded guidance.

Responsive Reteaching

When misconceptions emerge, teachers pause, clarify, model again and provide additional examples before continuing. Teachers may also work with small groups of students who struggled during the full-class guided practice, providing more scaffolded examples.

Why Guided Practice in Explicit Teaching Is Difficult to Deliver

Guided practice is often one of the least understood aspects of explicit teaching.

Learning intentions can be planned.

Success criteria can be written.

Worked examples can be prepared.

Independent tasks can be selected.

It is a responsive instructional process.

The strongest guided practice occurs when teachers are prepared with a range of examples, scaffolds and instructional routines that can be used flexibly depending on student needs.

Strengthening Guided Practice in Explicit Teaching

Understanding the purpose of guided practice is an important first step.

Implementing it effectively requires a deeper understanding of the routines, structures and instructional decisions that support successful learning.

If you would like practical support with planning and delivering guided practice, the Guided Practice Deep Dive inside the Structured Teaching Portal provides step-by-step guidance, instructional routines, differentiation strategies, planning supports and editable templates designed specifically for the We Do phase of explicit teaching.

The resource is designed to help teachers move beyond simply understanding guided practice and begin delivering it with greater clarity, responsiveness and confidence.

What to Read Next

• Explicit Teaching: An Overview

• 15 Quick Checks for Understanding in Explicit Teaching

• Guided Practice Examples: 8 We Do Activities for Explicit Teaching

Brolga Education
Created by Trudy Mayo — explicit teaching coach & curriculum specialist.
500+ lessons written in explicit instruction | 1k+ teacher subs

I help teachers plan & deliver clear lessons | Simplifying explicit instruction that engages & drives progress🌟

💌 New here? 📚 Follow on Instagram for daily tips & behind-the-scenes: @brolgaeducation

🎧 Listen to the voice note below where I unpack some of the misconceptions, tensions and deeper conversations around explicit teaching and lesson slides.

I have been thinking a lot lately about why so many teachers feel exhausted delivering explicit teaching.

Not exhausted by teaching itself.

Exhausted by the preparation.
The scripting.
The pressure to pre-plan every sentence, every worked example and every possible student response before students even walk into the room.

And I do not think this happened overnight.

Somewhere along the way, explicit teaching became associated with highly polished slide decks, perfectly sequenced click-through examples and lessons that feel more like performances than responsive instruction.

I do not think that was ever the intention.

Because at its core, explicit teaching is actually meant to reduce cognitive load for both students and teachers through clarity, consistency and carefully sequenced instruction.

The irony is that many teachers now feel more cognitively overloaded than ever trying to implement it.

I think part of the reason is that structure and scripting have slowly become confused with each other.

They are not the same thing.

I am a huge believer in lesson slides and structured lesson sequences. I think they can be incredibly powerful when used intentionally.

Slides can:

• establish routines and consistency

• support transitions throughout the lesson

• reduce unnecessary cognitive load

• provide visual prompts for students

• keep lessons sequenced and focused

• help students understand where they are within the learning process

That structure matters.

The issue is not the existence of slides.

The issue is when the slides become the teaching itself instead of supporting the teaching.

But responsive teaching does not work like that.

Some of the strongest explicit teaching classrooms I have observed were never rigid or robotic. The teacher was constantly reading the room.

• Checking for understanding.

• Adjusting examples.

• Changing explanations.

• Slowing down.

• Speeding up.

• Reteaching misconceptions in the moment.

That responsiveness is not a weakness in explicit teaching.

It is one of its greatest strengths.

Over time, I think many teachers have unintentionally been trained to deliver slides rather than deliver instruction.

And honestly, I understand why.

Schools want consistency.
Teachers are overwhelmed.
Time is limited.
Social media has normalised polished lesson design.
Beautifully produced slides often look like effective teaching from the outside.

But effective instruction is not about perfectly clicking through a presentation.

Students learn through modelling, guided practice, responsive questioning and carefully checking for understanding in real time.

A worked example should not just be revealed slide by slide while students passively watch.

It should be modelled live through teacher thinking aloud, questioning and decision-making.

Guided practice should not become silent copying from the board.

It should involve active thinking, participation and responsive support while misconceptions are identified and addressed.

The slides should support the instruction.
Not replace it.

One of the biggest shifts for me over the years was realising that I did not need to script the performance of teaching.

I needed to plan the structure.

That distinction changed everything.

When the structure is clear:

• the lesson flow becomes predictable

• expectations become consistent

• transitions become smoother

• cognitive load reduces

• students feel more secure

• teachers have more space to actually respond to learning in real time

That is what makes explicit teaching sustainable.

Not endless scripting.
Not perfection.
Not trying to control every second before the lesson begins.

Structure should create freedom, not rigidity.

And I think that is the conversation many teachers are actually trying to have right now.

If you are trying to make explicit teaching feel clearer, lighter and more sustainable in your own classroom, inside the Structured Teaching Portal I go deeper into the implementation side of explicit teaching, including lesson structures, guided practice, checks for understanding, pacing and instructional delivery.

Brolga Education
Created by Trudy Mayo — explicit teaching coach & curriculum specialist.
500+ lessons written in explicit instruction | 1k+ teacher subs |

I help teachers plan & deliver clear lessons | Simplifying explicit instruction that engages & drives progress🌟

💌 New here? 📚 Follow on Instagram for daily tips & behind-the-scenes: @brolgaeducation

Daily review is one of the most powerful instructional practices for improving student outcomes, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood and poorly implemented components of explicit teaching.

When daily review is planned and executed well, it strengthens retention, builds fluency, and dramatically reduces the need for re-teaching. When it is unplanned or inconsistent, it becomes rushed, ineffective, or quietly dropped altogether.

In this article, we will explore why daily review is essential for student learning, how spaced and sequenced practice underpins its effectiveness, and why planning daily review properly is far more complex than it first appears.

What Is Daily Review in Explicit Teaching?

Daily review is a structured instructional routine that revisits previously taught content to strengthen long-term retention and automaticity.

In explicit teaching, daily review is not revision, warm-ups, or filler activities. It is a deliberate practice designed to:

• Reinforce foundational knowledge

• Support retrieval from long-term memory

• Reduce cognitive load during new learning

• Prepare students for success in the lesson ahead

Effective daily review revisits multiple skills over time, not just yesterday’s lesson.

Daily review must only include skills that have been through the skill development phase (That means students have seen a modelled worked example, been guided through the skill and had a chance to practice it independently)

👉Learn more about guided practice examples here

Brolga Education

Guided Practice Examples: 8 ‘We Do’ Activities for Explicit Teaching

Read more

a year ago · Trudy Mayo

Why Daily Review Has Such a Strong Impact on Student Outcomes

Research on learning and memory consistently shows that students do not retain information simply because it was taught well once. Retention depends on retrieval practice, spacing, and repeated exposure over time.

Daily review supports student outcomes because it:

• Improves recall and retention

• Builds fluency and accuracy

• Strengthens connections between concepts

• Reduces forgetting

• Makes new learning more accessible

Students who experience consistent, well-planned daily review demonstrate stronger independent performance and require less scaffolding later in the lesson.

The Role of Spaced and Sequenced Practice

This is where daily review becomes both powerful and challenging.

What Is Spaced Practice?

Spaced practice involves revisiting content at increasing intervals over time rather than repeating it intensively in a short window.

Instead of:

• Teach → practise → move on

We aim for:

• Teach → review tomorrow → review next week → review later in the term

This spacing strengthens memory and supports long-term retention.

What Is Sequenced Practice?

Sequenced practice refers to the intentional order in which skills are revisited.

Effective sequencing:

• Prioritises prerequisite skills

• Balances new, recent, and older learning

• Avoids overwhelming students with too much review at once

Poor sequencing often results in:

• Random question selection

• Over-reviewing some skills

• Neglecting others entirely

Why Planning Daily Review Is So Difficult for Teachers

Most teachers understand that daily review is important.

The difficulty lies in planning it well.

To implement daily review effectively, teachers must consider:

• When each skill was first taught

• How often it should be revisited

• How long it should remain in review

• How to balance review with new content

• How to avoid review sessions becoming too long

Trying to manually track this across a term or year quickly becomes overwhelming.

As a result, daily review often becomes:

• Repetitive

• Inconsistent

• Based on convenience rather than learning science

This is not a teacher problem. It is a systems problem.

👉Read more about success criteria and retention here

What Daily Review Looks Like When It Is Done Well

High-quality daily review is:

• Planned in advance

• Predictable in structure

• Short and focused

• Aligned to what has been taught

• Based on spaced and sequenced practice

When daily review is systemised, teachers can focus on delivery, not decision-making.

Students know what to expect. Teachers know exactly what to review and when.

The Missing Piece: A Planning System for Daily Review

Planning daily review is not difficult because teachers lack knowledge. It is difficult because spacing and sequencing practice across weeks and terms requires a system that can hold that complexity.

The Daily Review Scheduler was created to support this exact challenge. It allows teachers to map review over time, ensuring skills are revisited intentionally without increasing planning load. Rather than deciding what to review each day, teachers can rely on a structure that aligns with the principles of explicit teaching and the science of learning.

Rather than deciding each day what to review, a scheduler:

• Maps review opportunities across weeks and terms

• Automatically spaces practice after instruction

• Ensures all skills are revisited intentionally

• Keeps daily review short, focused, and effective

It removes the cognitive and administrative load from teachers while protecting instructional quality.

👉 View the Daily Review Scheduler

Introducing the Daily Review Scheduler

The Daily Review Scheduler was designed to solve the exact problem teachers face with daily review.

It provides a structured way to:

• Plan daily review across a term

• Apply spaced and sequenced practice automatically

• Maintain consistency without extra planning time

Instead of guessing what to review, teachers can rely on a clear, intentional system that aligns with the science of learning and the principles of explicit teaching.

Why This Matters for Student Learning

When daily review is planned and protected:

• Students retain more

• Lessons run more smoothly

• Independent practice improves

• Teachers spend less time re-teaching

Daily review is not an optional add-on. It is a core driver of student success.

The challenge has never been knowing that daily review matters.
The challenge has been knowing how to manage it well.

Final Thoughts

Daily review is one of the highest-impact practices in explicit teaching, but only when it is planned with intention.

Spaced and sequenced practice cannot be left to chance. It requires a system that supports both teachers and students.

If daily review feels difficult to sustain, the issue is not your commitment. It is the absence of a structure designed to support it.

Daily Review is one of the most powerful tools we have for improving retention, fluency, and long-term learning. The challenge is not understanding why it matters. The challenge is planning it well and sustaining it across a term or an entire year.

That is exactly what the Daily Review Scheduler was designed to support.

Why this tool exists

In classrooms, Daily Review often becomes inconsistent. It gets rushed, repeated too frequently, or dropped altogether when planning time runs short. Teachers are left trying to mentally track what should be reviewed, when it should resurface, and how to balance new learning with retrieval.

This tool removes that cognitive load.

The Daily Review Scheduler applies principles of spaced and sequenced practice so that review is planned intentionally rather than guessed or improvised.

What the Daily Review Scheduler does

The scheduler allows you to input your scope and sequence of learning intentions and generates a structured Daily Review plan across a term or year.

You simply enter:

• your learning area

• learning intentions in the order in which skills are taught

• the number of weeks you are teaching (up to 40 weeks)

• how many review days per week you want

• any previously taught skills you wish to maintain

The tool then produces a Daily Review schedule aligned with effective retrieval practice, ensuring skills are revisited at purposeful intervals rather than randomly or repeatedly.

This supports stronger retention while keeping Daily Review manageable and realistic for classroom use.

Access the Daily Review Scheduler

This resource is included inside the Structured Teaching Portal, alongside lesson templates, modelling tools, guided practice resources, and instructional routines that support every phase of explicit teaching.

👉 Access the Daily Review Scheduler inside the Structured Teaching Portal

Read more

The I Do, We Do, You Do Traffic Light Posters are visual teaching aids designed to support explicit instruction by clearly showing students where they are in the learning process and what is expected of them at each stage of the lesson.

These posters make the Gradual Release of Responsibility visible, predictable, and easy for students to follow across lessons and subjects.

Access this resource inside the Structured Teaching Portal

Already a member of the Structured Teaching Portal? Your download is available below ⬇️

Why Use I Do, We Do, You Do Posters?

In explicit teaching, clarity matters. When students understand whether they are watching, practising together, or working independently, lessons run more smoothly and behaviour improves.

These posters help you:

• Set clear expectations during each lesson phase

• Reduce student confusion about what they should be doing

• Support consistent lesson routines

• Keep lessons structured without constant verbal reminders

Instead of repeatedly explaining the lesson phase, you can point, reference, and reinforce expectations visually.

What’s Included in the Traffic Light Poster Pack

This resource includes 22 editable visual posters, designed using a traffic light format to clearly distinguish each phase of explicit teaching.

Included Posters:

• I Do (Teacher Modelling)

• We Do (Guided Practice)

• You Do (Independent Practice)

Each phase is represented with colour-coded visuals to support fast recognition and classroom consistency.

How These Posters Support Explicit Teaching

This structure aligns with the Gradual Release of Responsibility used in explicit teaching lessons.

I Do

Use the I Do poster during modelling to signal that students are watching, listening, and thinking. This supports focus during worked examples and teacher explanations.

We Do

Display the We Do poster during guided practice so students understand they are practising together, responding, and participating with support.

You Do

Use the You Do poster to clearly mark independent practice time, reinforcing responsibility and independence.

These visuals reduce uncertainty and support smooth transitions between lesson phases.

How to Use the Posters in Your Classroom

• Display posters on the wall or whiteboard

• Print and laminate for durability

• Use magnets or velcro to switch between phases

• Refer to the posters when setting expectations

• Keep the same visuals across lessons to build routine

Because they are editable, you can adapt wording or formatting to suit your class or school language.

Editable in Canva

All posters are fully editable in Canva, allowing you to:

• Adjust colours or text

• Add class or school branding

• Resize for different display spaces

You receive a ready-made visual system without starting from scratch.

Who This Resource Is For

This resource is suitable for:

• Primary classroom teachers

• Secondary teachers using explicit instruction

• Intervention and support teachers

• Instructional coaches

• Tutors and small-group instructors

It can be used across all subject areas.

Access the I Do, We Do, You Do Traffic Light Posters

This resource is included inside the Structured Teaching Portal, alongside lesson templates, modelling tools, guided practice resources, and instructional routines that support every phase of explicit teaching.

👉 Access the Traffic Light Posters inside the Structured Teaching Portal

Read more

Access this resource inside the Structured Teaching Portal

Already a member of the Structured Teaching Portal? Your download is available below ⬇️

Do these challenges sound familiar?

• Your students drift off-task during independent work because the instruction wasn’t clear enough.

• You spend nights tweaking slides and resources for explicit teaching, only to feel drained the next day.

• You know explicit teaching is essential, but without a clear system the planning feels heavy and overwhelming.

Many teachers work incredibly hard… but still feel unsure about whether their lessons are structured effectively.

Most teachers are missing strategies that:

• save hours in planning

• keep every student engaged throughout the lesson

• build student confidence and independence

• make lesson delivery feel predictable and calm

The good news?
All of this becomes simpler once you have a clear structure.

Introducing the Explicit Teaching Masterclass

A clear, research-aligned system for lesson planning and delivery that works every time.

This masterclass gives you a practical, step-by-step framework so you can:

✨ Save hours each week with efficient lesson planning
✨ Boost engagement with clear, purposeful delivery
✨ Create predictable, productive lessons where students feel confident and ready to learn

It’s time to teach with clarity and confidence.

The Explicit Teaching Masterclass shows you exactly how to plan and deliver explicit teaching lessons that are structured, engaging and effective — without the stress or guesswork.

What’s Inside the Explicit Teaching Masterclass

You’ll receive 11 comprehensive video modules that walk you through every phase of explicit teaching. Each module includes practical examples, implementation tips and structures you can apply immediately.

1. Explicit Teaching Structure Overview

Master the I Do, We Do, You Do model so your lessons feel predictable, supportive and easy to follow.

2. Lesson Introduction

Write clear learning intentions, success criteria and activate prior knowledge so students understand the purpose of the lesson from the start.

3. Concept Development

Break down new ideas into manageable, bite-sized steps that reduce cognitive load and build understanding.

4. Modelled Instruction (I Do)

Demonstrate skills effectively using clarity, structure and worked examples so students know exactly what success looks like.

5. Guided Practice (We Do)

Use scaffolding, prompts and differentiation strategies to keep students engaged and supported as they practise with you.

6. Independent Practice (You Do)

Help students apply new learning confidently, with clear routines that support accuracy and independence.

7. Check for Understanding

Use quick, reliable assessment techniques to monitor progress in real time and adjust your teaching on the spot.

8. Lesson Review

Reinforce key ideas and strengthen retention through purposeful, efficient review.

9. Instructional Routines

Build consistent routines that reduce planning time and increase student confidence.

10. Lesson Planning Checklist

A practical checklist that simplifies your workflow and ensures every lesson is aligned, structured and intentional.

11. Know Your Students

Adapt your delivery to student needs and provide support that actually improves learning outcomes.

Why Teachers Choose This Masterclass

Time-Saving

A clear, repeatable planning system that cuts hours from your workload.

Engagement Strategies

Delivery strategies designed to hold student attention and strengthen understanding.

Evidence-Based

All strategies are aligned to research on explicit teaching and cognitive load.

Confidence-Building

Know exactly what to teach, how to teach it and how to support each learner through the lesson.

Flexible

Watch at your own pace and revisit any module whenever you need to refresh your practice.

Transform Your Teaching With a Clear, Predictable System

When explicit teaching is structured and purposeful, you’ll see:

• stronger retention

• clearer student responses

• smoother transitions

• fewer off-task behaviours

• improved independence

• higher student confidence

The Explicit Teaching Masterclass gives you the tools, templates and confidence to deliver high-quality explicit teaching lessons — every single day.

Access the Full Masterclass

The full video series is available inside the Structured Teaching Portal, along with every other explicit teaching resource, template and deep dive.

👉 Join the Structured Teaching Portal to access this resource.

Read more

Modelling is one of the most powerful parts of explicit teaching, yet it is also the stage that slips quickest into over-talking, over-explaining or disengaging students. A strong I Do looks deceptively simple. The teacher completes one clear worked example, in real time, with pen in hand, while students watch the thinking unfold.

This is not lecturing. It is not talking for ten minutes straight. And it is not presenting a fully-formed slide for students to copy.
A true I Do shows students exactly how to apply a skill. It makes the steps visible. It keeps cognitive load low. And every part of the demonstration links back to the success criteria.

➡️ Read How to Write Success Criteria: Clear Steps, Examples and Free Templates

By the end of the I Do, students should be able to describe what the teacher did, why the steps mattered and what success looks like before they try it themselves.

What Makes an Effective I Do?

A strong modelled instruction always begins with the learning intention and success criteria. Students need to know the purpose of the example and what to look for as you demonstrate the skill.

➡️ Read How to Write Learning Intentions: A Step-by-Step Guide for Explicit Teaching

The worked example should match the success criteria exactly. If the criteria say students will identify three points, your model must show three points. If the criteria say students will use a specific strategy, your model must demonstrate that strategy precisely.

The modelling itself should be short and direct. Most teachers over-talk because they are trying to fill gaps that the worked example will solve on its own. Aim for no more than five minutes before you pause, use an engagement norm or have students track with you. Attention dips quickly, and the goal of the I Do is clarity, not a monologue.

As you model, think aloud. Narrate the decisions you are making. Show students how you move through each step. Refer constantly to the success criteria. “Notice that I am checking criterion two before I move on…”, “I’m adding this detail because it connects back to what success looks like…”. These moments are what make thinking visible.

And most importantly, complete the worked example in the moment, in front of the students. A live model is far more effective than a finished (or clicked-through) one. It reduces cognitive load, allows for correction and helps students see the process rather than the product.

Students’ Role During the I Do

During the I Do, students are expected to watch and listen. This is not a time for them to write, ask questions, or attempt the task. Their role is to follow the teacher’s thinking, track each step as it is modelled, and observe how the success criteria are applied in real time. The focus is on attention, not participation. If the teacher has been speaking for more than five minutes, a brief engagement cue may be used to re-centre attention, but the overall expectation remains the same. The I Do is a clarity phase. Students stay with the teacher, stay focused, and allow the modelling to build their understanding before they try the skill themselves.

These behaviour expectations should be taught in the beginning of the year and revisited at the start of each term. Having some visuals, posters, lesson prompt cards will help with managing expectations and behaviour during the modelled instruction.

The above visual is available in the Explicit Teaching Daily Slides Pack

How to Make Modelling in Real Time Easier for the Teacher

To help with this, teachers can have a copy of the completed worked example that students never see. This is where true confidence in modelling comes from.

A Teacher Prep Notes Page can act as your presentation notes. It shows the fully completed worked example, annotates the decisions you want to highlight, and includes the language you will use in your think aloud. It removes guesswork. You are no longer trying to remember what to say next or worrying about trying to think of an example on the spot (eg. when modelling for writing), missing a step or making a mistake. You can focus entirely on your delivery.

When you model from this kind of structure, the I Do becomes lighter, cleaner and far more consistent lesson to lesson.

Before Moving into We Do

Before moving into guided practice, you should run one or two quick checks for understanding. This is not a retell of the model or a discussion of the steps. It is a fast, low-effort question to confirm that students recognised the skill you just demonstrated. The response should take only a few seconds. Students might hold up A or B on a whiteboard, choose the correct example, or identify which option matches the success criteria. This rapid check simply tells you whether the class is ready to attempt the skill with support. If most students answer correctly, you move into We Do. If not, you briefly clarify the point of confusion and continue.

➡️Read more about 15 Quick Checks for Understanding in Explicit Teaching here

✨The Worked Example Modelling Pack

This classroom-ready pack is designed for teachers who want to model with clarity, confidence and consistency – without spending hours creating slides or guessing what to say next during the I Do.

Every tool inside the pack aligns with best-practice explicit teaching and the modelling framework outlined in this post. It supports teachers to deliver short, focused demonstrations that follow the success criteria step by step and keep cognitive load low.

Inside the pack you’ll find:

1. Worked Example Lesson Template (Student-facing)

A clean, universal template suitable for any subject or year level.
Teachers simply add the learning intention, insert the success criteria (which double as the critical steps), and complete the worked example live in front of students, in the space provided.
Nothing overloaded. Nothing distracting.
Just a simple structure that keeps the focus on the skill being modelled.

2. Modelled Instruction Teacher Prep Notes & Delivery Framework

This planning page is the core of the pack.

It includes space for:

• the completed worked example (not shown to students)

• annotation notes for key talking points

• think-aloud cues to make your thinking visible

• a delivery framework to guide planning structure and to help you keep the I Do short, intentional and easy to follow.

• a spot for your quick check for understanding question before moving into We Do

This reference page acts like teacher presentation notes – not a script, but a clear structure that helps teachers stay focused, concise and confident during the I Do.

3. Quick Check for Understanding Prompts (Before Moving to We Do)

A short set of rapid-response CFU ideas teachers can use immediately after the modelled example to confirm students recognised the skill.
These checks take seconds, require minimal writing, and help teachers decide whether the class is ready for guided practice.

Why Teachers Love This Pack

These tools are intentionally simple, flexible and universal.
They enhance — not complicate — explicit teaching.
They allow any teacher, in any subject, to model a skill clearly, confidently and consistently.

Access the Modelling & Worked Example Pack: I Do Templates for Explicit Teaching

Brolga Education
Created by Trudy Mayo — explicit teaching specialist & curriculum writer.
💌 New here? 📚 Follow on Instagram for daily tips & behind-the-scenes: @brolgaeducation

Modelling Instruction is one of the highest-leverage parts of explicit teaching, yet it is also the moment where clarity is lost most easily. The Worked Example Modelling Pack gives you a complete, ready-to-use system for delivering short, effective I Do demonstrations — without writing scripts, building slides from scratch or worrying about missing steps.

Designed for any subject and any year level, this pack helps you model a skill with precision, confidence and consistency so students understand exactly how to apply what you’ve taught.

Already a member of the Structured Teaching Portal? Your download is available below ⬇️

What is included

Inside the Worked Example Modelling Pack, you’ll find three core tools that streamline your delivery and sharpen your explicit instruction:

1. Worked Example Lesson Template (Student-facing)

A clean, uncluttered structure you can use in any subject.

Just add your learning intention, insert your success criteria and complete the worked example live in front of students.
No annotations. No overloading.
A simple, universal slide or handout that keeps the modelling focused and easy to follow.

2. Modelled Instruction Teacher Prep Notes & Delivery Framework

Your private anchor during the I Do.

This page includes:

• the completed worked example (not shown to students)

• annotation notes for key talking points

• think-aloud cues to make your thinking visible

• a delivery framework to guide pacing, clarity and alignment with the success criteria

• a spot for your quick check for understanding question before moving into We Do

It acts like your presentation notes — helping you stay concise, accurate and consistent while still modelling in real time.

3. Quick Check for Understanding Prompts (Before We Do)

A short bank of rapid, low-effort questions teachers can use immediately after modelling.

These prompts are designed for:

• A/B whiteboard responses

• Multiple-choice identification

• Quick concept checks

This ensures you know whether students understood the model before moving into guided practice.

How this pack strengthens explicit teaching

The I Do phase is only effective when:

• The worked example matches the success criteria

• Thinking is made visible

• Cognitive load is kept low

• Students stay focused on observing

• The teacher models in real time rather than clicking through slides

This pack supports every one of those goals.

By combining a student-facing template, teacher-facing modelling notes and ready-made CFU prompts, you build a clear and predictable modelling routine that removes guesswork and increases student success.

Teachers report that these tools:

• Keep their modelling short, focused and consistent

• Reduce over-talking and transitions

• Make think-alouds more deliberate

• Reduce planning time significantly

• Help students understand the process, not just the final answer

You are not just delivering a worked example.
You are building a modelling system that strengthens every explicit teaching lesson.

Who this resource is for

This pack is suitable for:

• Primary and secondary teachers using explicit instruction

• Intervention and learning support teachers

• Tutors and small-group instructors

• Instructional coaches modelling I Do routines

• Teachers who want clarity and confidence without complex prep

Because the template is universal, it works seamlessly across literacy, numeracy, science, HASS, and more.

How to use the Worked Example Modelling Pack

Prepare your materials

Insert your learning intention, success criteria and worked example into the templates.

Annotate your teacher copy

Add notes for what to say, what to highlight and when to refer back to the criteria.

Model in real time

Complete the worked example step-by-step for students, keeping the model short and focused.

Run a quick check for understanding

Use the included prompts to confirm students recognised the skill before moving into We Do.

Build routine and predictability

Use the same structure each day so students learn how to learn from your modelling.

Editable in Google Docs & Canva

Both versions are included so you can:

• Type directly into the templates

• Print and annotate your teacher notes

• Duplicate and reuse across units

• Adjust success criteria and examples quickly

• Keep everything consistent with school formatting

The goal is simple: lower planning load, higher clarity in modelling.

Get the Worked Example Modelling Pack

This resource is part of the Structured Teaching Portal — a growing library of lesson tools, templates and instructional supports designed to strengthen every phase of explicit teaching.

Join the Structured Teaching Portal to access this pack and the full collection.

About Brolga Education

Hi 👋 I’m Trudy, a Lesson Design & Instructional Coach.
I help teachers plan and deliver clear, high-impact lessons by simplifying explicit instruction so it becomes predictable, manageable and effective.

Learn more about my journey with explicit teaching here
Connect with me on Instagram

Read more

At its core, explicit teaching includes:

• clear learning intentions

• specific success criteria

• a gradual release of responsibility (I Do → We Do → You Do)

• ongoing checks for understanding

• purposeful review and consolidation

This guide gives you a complete overview of explicit teaching, including lesson design, instructional practices, templates, examples, and resources that you can use straight away.

What Is Explicit Teaching?

Explicit teaching (sometimes called explicit instruction or explicit direct instruction) is a highly structured teaching approach where the teacher:

1. clearly states what students are learning

2. models the skill step-by-step

3. guides students to practise the skill with support

4. gradually withdraws support so students can apply the skill on their own

It removes ambiguity, reduces cognitive load, and ensures that students know exactly what success looks like before they begin.

Key components of explicit teaching include:

• Learning intentions

• Success criteria

• Modelled instruction (I Do)

• Guided practice (We Do)

• Independent practice (You Do)

• Checks for understanding

• Review and reflection

If you are new to explicit teaching, you may find the following resources helpful:
👉 Structured Teaching Resources Library

The Explicit Teaching Lesson Cycle

The explicit teaching cycle begins with clarity and ends with independent mastery. Each part plays a specific role in helping students progress from unfamiliar to confident.

1. Learning Intentions

Learning intentions outline what students are learning and why it matters.
Read more: How to Write Learning Intentions

2. Success Criteria

Success criteria describe what successful learning looks like and show students how to achieve it.
Read more: How to Write Success Criteria

3. I Do (Modelled Instruction)

The teacher models the skill, thinking aloud and showing explicit worked examples.
Read more: How to Model a Skill in Explicit Teaching

4. We Do (Guided Practice)

Teacher and students practise the skill together using prompting, scaffolds and feedback.
Read more: 8 Guided Practice Ideas

5. You Do (Independent Practice)

Students apply the skill independently to demonstrate mastery.
Read more: Tips for Independent Practice

6. Review

Daily and lesson-end review in a spaced and sequenced way reinforces previous learning and strengthens retention.
Read more: Daily Review tips for better retention

Lesson Design & Instructional Practices Overview

Effective explicit teaching requires thoughtful lesson design. This involves determining the learning intention, selecting clear worked examples, planning guided practice steps, and identifying success criteria for student formative and summative assessment.

Well-designed lessons:

• reduce cognitive load

• sequence ideas from simple to complex

• use examples and non-examples

• provide enough guided practice for students to succeed

• include regular checks for understanding

Below is an overview template that breaks down these essential elements.

👉 Access the Explicit Instruction Design & Instruction Overview:
https://www.canva.com/design/DAE_3AFTtGA/I9Ed8u_MpnwfWWUNw4YWmw/view

Explicit Lesson Presentation Template

Explicit teaching lessons are easier to deliver when the structure is visually organised and consistent.

👉 Access the a free editable lesson template by subscribing:

This template includes:

• Learning Intention & Success Criteria

• Link to Prior Knowledge

• Concept Development (examples and non-examples)

• I Do / We Do / You Do scaffolded steps

• Check for Understanding

• Importance

• Review

Each slide can be adapted to any learning area or year level.

Sample Explicit Teaching Lesson

Below is a sample lesson aligned with Year 3 Australian Curriculum (ACMMG064).

👉 Access a sample explicit teaching lesson here

This sample demonstrates:

• sequencing of concepts

• explicit worked examples

• guided practice steps

• checks for understanding

• opportunities for review

Why Explicit Teaching Works

Explicit teaching is strongly supported by educational research because it:

• provides clarity

• reduces cognitive load

• supports students with diverse learning needs

• builds mastery through repetition and scaffolding

• improves student outcomes across subjects

• benefits early career teachers and experienced teachers alike

It is particularly powerful for:

• foundational reading and writing skills

• mathematical procedures

• content-heavy subjects

• students requiring additional support

• classrooms with varying skill levels

Build Your Explicit Teaching Skills & Toolkit

If you are building a consistent explicit teaching approach across your classroom or school, you may like to explore the following resources:

• Structured Teaching Resource Library

• Explicit Teaching Masterclass Video Series

• Free Canva Templates for Explicit Teaching

About Brolga Education

Hi 👋 I’m Trudy, a Lesson Design & Instructional Coach

I help teachers plan & deliver clear lessons, by simplifying explicit instruction that engages and drives progress.

Read more about my journey with Explicit Teaching here

Connect with me on Instagram

Checking for understanding should be quick, clear and responsive.
These Response Cards for Explicit Teaching give you 35+ editable templates you can use during check for understanding or daily review, so every student can respond and you can see, in real time, who is ready to move on and who needs more support.

Designed for explicit teaching classrooms, these cards help you collect accurate data on student learning without adding more preparation time.

Already a member of the Structured Teaching Portal? Your download is available below ⬇️

What is included

Inside the Response Cards for Explicit Teaching pack you will find more than 35 card templates, including:

• Multiple choice response cards
  A, B, C, D options for fast, whole-class checks.

• True / False and Yes / No cards
  Ideal for quick concept checks and error analysis.

• Agree / Disagree cards
  Useful for vocabulary, statements and reasoning prompts.

• Correct / Incorrect icons
  Simple visual prompts for rapid responses.

• Numbered and matching templates
  For maths facts, spelling, and quick-fire recall tasks.

• Graphic organiser style cards
  For vocabulary, morphology, and short written responses.

Each card is fully editable in Canva, so you can adjust wording, colours and fonts to match your class and school preferences.

How these response cards support explicit teaching

These response cards are designed to work alongside explicit teaching routines such as:

• Daily Review
  Quickly check retention of previous learning at the start of a lesson.

• I Do, We Do, You Do
  Use the cards during the We Do and early You Do phases to identify who is secure and who needs more guided practice.

• Check for Understanding
  Replace “Any questions?” with visible responses from every student.

• Error correction and feedback
  Immediately see common errors so you can clarify, model again, or provide additional examples.

Instead of relying on hands-up or a small sample of volunteers, you gain whole-class data in seconds.

Why teachers choose Response Cards for Explicit Teaching

Teachers use these response cards because they:

• Encourages participation and is inclusive

• Reduce the time spent preparing individual worksheets

• Keep students engaged through quick, active responding

• Provide instant feedback about the impact of your instruction

• Support behaviour by giving students a clear, simple task

• Align with evidence-informed explicit teaching practices

You are not just printing cards. You are building a consistent Check for Understanding system in your classroom.

Who this resource is for

This resource is suitable for:

• Primary classroom teachers

• Secondary teachers using explicit teaching routines

• Intervention and learning support teachers

• Tutors and small-group instructors

• Instructional coaches modelling Check for Understanding

The cards can be used in whole-class, small-group or partner settings across multiple subject areas.

How to use the response cards

1. Choose the template
   Select the response card that best matches the question type you are using.

2. Print, laminate and store
   Prepare a class set and keep them in a central location for easy access.

3. Teach the routine
   Model how students should hold up their cards, when to respond and what happens after you check answers.

4. Use daily
   Build the cards into your Daily Review and Check for Understanding so students become familiar with the routine.

5. Adjust based on data
   Use what you see to reteach, provide extra examples or move on with confidence.

Editable in Canva

All response cards are created in Canva, allowing you to:

• Edit text and prompts

• Add school branding or class labels

• Duplicate and adapt templates for new units or subjects

You retain full flexibility while starting from a well-designed, explicit teaching aligned base.

Get the Response Cards for Explicit Teaching

These Response Cards are part of the Structured Teaching Portal, where you will find a full range of tools, templates and instructional supports that strengthen every phase of explicit teaching.

Join the Structured Teaching Portal to access the entire collection and build consistent, high-impact routines across your lessons.

About Brolga Education

Hi 👋 I’m Trudy, a Lesson Design & Instructional Coach

I help teachers plan & deliver clear lessons, by simplifying explicit instruction that engages and drives progress.

Read more about my journey with Explicit Teaching here

Connect with me on Instagram

Read more

Check for Understanding (CFU) is an important component of explicit teaching. It is gauging whether your students actually get what you have taught them. It should occur after a new definition (Concept Development), after a skill has been modelled (I Do) and again after the guided instruction (We Do). Essentially, it is measuring the impact of your teaching in real time.

For it to be effective, you must ensure that 80 percent of students in the class get the question correct. If less than 80 percent do not get it correct, you must go back and reteach.

It is important to remember to keep check for understanding short and to the point. Choose activities that involve one or two word answers, or that can be done in no more than five minutes. All students must be included in the check for understanding questions.

A common misconception of check for understanding is that you ask students to self reflect or report their own understanding. This is not accurate because students’ opinions of their own learning do not always match reality. Or perhaps they think they understand it when being told or shown it, but they are unable to articulate it or apply the knowledge. There is a place for self report in independent practice, but not while the concept is being taught.

You can be creative when checking for understanding. To inspire your creativity, below I have listed 15 ideas for you to check for understanding.

Ideas to Check for Understanding

1. On your whiteboard, fill in the missing word.

2. On your whiteboard, give an example of ___.

3. Think Pair Share. Tell your partner what a ___ is.

4. Think Pair Share. Tell your partner three examples of ___.

5. Make up your own gesture to show ___.

6. Which of these (A/B/C) is an example of ___? Answer on your whiteboards.

7. Which of these (A/B/C) is not an example of ___? Answer on your whiteboard.

8. How do I know this is correct?

9. Draw a picture to show ___.

10. Four corners. Students choose a corner of the classroom based on their choice of answer.

11. Create a mind map to show the main ideas of ___.

12. Give out flash cards. Stand if you have an example of the concept.

13. In your own words, write what you have just learned. Allow no more than one minute.

14. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Answer on your whiteboards.

15. Is this statement true or false? Answer on your whiteboards. If false, why?

For Teachers Who Want Ready-to-Use CFU Tools

If you would like to strengthen your Check for Understanding and Daily Review routines without creating resources from scratch, the Structured Teaching Portal includes a full set of Response Cards for Explicit Teaching.

These are editable in Canva and provide more than 35 templates you can use during:

• Check for understanding
• Daily review
• Concept development
• Early guided practice
• Quick response routines

The collection includes true or false cards, multiple choice layouts, agree or disagree prompts, picture response frames, number lines and other formats that help you gather accurate whole-class responses rapidly.

These tools are designed to save time, build consistency and support explicit lesson delivery across all subjects.

You can access the full set inside the Structured Teaching Portal subscription.

Join the Structured Teaching Portal Now