Explicit content is created by focusing first on a clear standards-based, learning objective, and then teaching the concept of the lesson. The concept is the big idea behind all skills. Without the concept, the skills are just rote work with no transfer to real life. Concept development should include a written definition, labeled examples, and higher-order checking-for-understanding questions.

Then, the content is made more explicit by applying the concept in guided skill-based exercises with gradual release to independent practice. These steps can be measured by administrators through simple observation forms, and are best implemented when the entire school culture is focused on instructional excellence.

Direct delivery is achieved through a dynamic combination of checking for understanding and student engagement norms. Teachers teach, then they check. Right then in the middle of the lesson — constantly. That’s how they verify the students are learning. Checking like this is the heart of good instruction.

To engage students, teachers ask students to do something — answer questions, use whiteboards, pair-share, choral read, and more. This engages them with the content of the lesson, and creates the interaction to maximize learning. Two important side benefits are that it actually gets students to use the language, which is particularly important for English Learners, and it also minimizes classroom management problems.