Ensuring student understanding

I have observed a lesson format at La Paz that begins with a warm-up, consisting of a few different moves. In the warm up below, middle school math teacher, Emily, poses a problem to be solved collaboratively to the class as a way to activate schema and front load new academic language.

Cara, 6th grade social studies teacher, asks two essential questions that guide her subsequent lesson about the discovery of Lucy, the name given to the 3.2 million-year old fossil skeleton of a very early human ancestor found in Ethiopia in 1974.  Her body was 40% complete, based upon the bones discovered. 

The questions Cara asked the students - Why was Lucy such an important discovery?  What does Lucy tell us about early humans? - were not necessarily intended to be immediately answered. They were intended to generate thought, questions, hypotheses. 

The majority of lesson time is then allocated to student working, applying the newly learned concepts, either independently or in small groups.  During this time, teachers monitor student productivity, checking in, one-on-one with students who may need extra scaffolding.  Nelly is working with a student who is English dominant and needs to chunk and chew each sentence of the text about bees to create his poster that includes 4 facts. Maciel, middle school math teacher, provides additional work to assess his student's understanding of fractions, percentages and ratios.  The remainder of the class period is dedicated to this individual student support.  It is clear that these teachers are dedicated to the learning endeavor and to their students.  Inspiring!

Amed, secondary math teacher, assesses his students' understanding of graphic quadratic functions by asking students to teach him.  Throughout the student's presentation, Amed listens, takes notes, and asks questions, modeling the kinds of thinking and questioning he'd expect from his high schoolers.  Once the presentation is complete, Amed takes time to evaluate, as a coach, and clarify.