CLOSURE

What it is and is not . . . Closure occurs when the teacher structures the learning for the purpose of allowing students’ brains the opportunity to gather and encode information, concepts, and skills in a meaningful way. Closure does not occur when a teacher says, “Any questions? No. OK, let’s move on.” Teachers should use closure . . . during and at the end of each class period. when they are at critical points in the lesson. when they are at the end of a lesson. to eliminate confusion by clarifying. to reinforce the learning objective. to provide additional cues for retrieval. to connect key details to form a coherent whole Closure can look like and sound like . . . A question or questions that requires each student to revisit the objective(s). One idea: Use Timed-Pair-Share. Students creating a graphic organizer that shows relationships in lesson content. Students participating in a Choral Response to answer review questions or to restate key points. Students journaling their thoughts about the key points and/or their relationships. Students illustrating with pictures key points and/or their relationships. A teacher re-stating key points and showing relationships. This method of closure is most effective when it is preceded by think time and is followed immediately with an activity that requires each student to process the information by writing, speaking, and/or illustrating, etc. what the teacher said. Back to Elements of Effective Instruction Back to Staff Development Back to Springfield Public Schools Home Page