The Power of the Acquisition Lesson Framework

Jennifer Partrick
Dec 15, 2008

The Acquisition Lesson (Thompson & Thompson, 2005) is constructed around 4 main components:  Essential Question, Activating Strategy, Teaching Strategies, and Summarizing Strategy. Why are these parts critical for delivering instruction? Why take the time to construct this type of lesson? The answer is simple. If you want your students to understand, learn, and store information so that it can be recalled, then using this framework is the answer.

Why is there an essential question? The purpose is to focus the students' attention on what they have to learn. This gives them responsibility in the learning process. Hearing and or reading the essential question at the beginning of the lesson gives the student the purpose of the lesson.

Why activate prior knowledge? In order for new information to be consolidated into long term memory the new information must connect with information that is already there. When we begin to teach our students new information, and they have no prior knowledge in that particular body of information, the brain goes on a hunt, looking for that information. The brain is hunting while you are talking, thus students are not attending to you but trying to find meaning in what you have said. After the brain goes on a hunt and realizes it knows nothing about the subject, that brain puts the attention back on you. By this time you have already gone on with your lesson, and that brain is now more lost than ever. At this time the student who is lost will either try to find out what he missed by talking to someone nearby, day dream, or may cause problems in your classroom. Thus, before we begin teaching new information, we either tap prior knowledge or give an experience which becomes prior knowledge.

What strategies do we use when teaching the lesson? You must determine how the lesson content will be delivered. Will you read to the students; will they read in pairs or groups, or will they read independently? However you decide the material will be shared, you must always model the expectations first so that students understand the expectations. Next, your students must talk. They talk with each other and with you. Talking is one of the most powerful tools that teachers can use to support learning, memory, and consolidation of information. Students stop and talk at intervals during the lesson. Talking helps them consolidate information, as well as give you the opportunity to listen and determine who understands thus far and who does not. At this juncture you can determine if to continue with the lesson or give selected students an opportunity to work independently, while you work with those students who have not understood the information presented thus far. In addition, you need to think of the questions that you will ask during the lesson.  Be sure to create questions that move students from knowledge to critical thinking.

You also need to think about the graphic organizer that you will use to organize the information being learned. Use a graphic organizer that supports the structure of the text. As students read and summarize, they place that information on the graphic organizer. They then use the graphic organizer as a writing tool, summarizing tool, or a study guide.

Finally, you need to think of vocabulary words that your students need to know and understand. Think about how you will teach those words using an effective vocabulary strategy.

Why do the students summarize? Students summarize so that they and you know if they understood what was taught. Not only must you know if your students understood the lesson, but most importantly, the students must know if they understood what was taught. Answering the essential question at the end of the lesson holds them accountable for their learning.  The summarizer can be used as a formative or summative assessment.

In essence, using this structure for planning supports learning and guarantees that understanding and learning are the outcomes.

References:
Thompson, M., & Thompson, J. (2005). The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Notebook. Boone, N.C: Learning-Focused, Inc.
Wolf, M. (2007) Proust and the Squid. New York; NY: HarperCollins Publishers.