Help Students Practice and Deepen New Knowledge by Reviewing Content (Marzano DQ 13)

Remember in Saved by the Bell (or practically any other school-based TV show or movie) how the teacher would be in the middle of teaching when the bell rings and all the students rush out while the teacher yells out their homework assignment?  Or at the beginning of the class say something like, "Open to page 132 and...)?

Well, those teachers are definitely NOT utilizing Dr. Marzano's 13th element.

According to Dr. Marzano, it is vital to provide students with an opportunity to review earlier content at the beginning of a lesson and an opportunity to connect what they have learned in the current lesson with what came earlier.

I try to begin or end most lessons with a visual timeline in front of class to accomplish this element.  I stand in the front left of the room and say, "I'm standing in the Paleolithic.  Who can tell me 3 facts about the lifestyle here?"  Then I shuffle over a bit and repeat the process with the Neolithic and Mesopotamia and continue until we reach the time period we are currently studying.  The process works even better with American History because there is even more continuity through time.

Below are some things you (or and administrator) could look for to see if this element is being used in your classroom:

Students can...

• describe how what they are learning has built up over time.
  
• explain relationships between what they are learning and what they have learned.

Teachers might...

• point out how the concepts build upon each other during lessons.
  
• begin lessons with a review.