Day by Day: Mini-Lessons Cycle 1, Day 5

To see a complete list of the reflection activities and for an explanation of the program, visit my Day By Day Main Page.

Mini-Lessons Cycle 1: Meaningful Mini-Lessons

Day 5: Effective and Short

Challenge: Consider the list of ways to keep a mini-lesson concise, and think about what tends to be a cause for lengthy mini-lessons in your workshop Then spend a few days intentionally keeping your lessons short and effective.

Today, I laid out our writer’s workshop structure and told students that my lessons should never be longer than 20 minutes. I plan to give one student a stopwatch and ask him or her to let me know when I have five minutes left.

What is the average length of your mini-lessons during a week?

15-20 minutes

As you increased your awareness of the length of your mini-lessons, what did you notice about your instruction?

I notice that when I shorten my main lesson, I have more robust mid-workshop teaching points, and our sharing/closing section seems more meaningful rather than just an add-on.

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