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Lesson Study Core Practices

If your team is new to lesson study and would like to dip their toes into some of the core practices to build capacity for engaging in a full research lesson in the future, we suggest trying out the following activities: 

Core Practices

These practices are ideal for whole staff professional development workshops, a discipline meeting activity, or to structure a sequence of PLC meetings.We have presented these in a suggested sequence, however, they can be done in any order or repeated individually until a group feels ready to try the next one. The resources below can all be found on this document.

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Looking at Student Work Protocol

Successful lesson study begins with selecting focus students whose thinking we would like to understand better. This is a 45 minute protocol to guide a group of educators through the process of more deeply understanding focus student thinking.

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Determining a Mathematical Goal

Establishing a clear mathematical understanding goal helps focus a lesson and allows educators to more easily assess student learning. 

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Determining an Equity Goal

Effective learning happens when students feel feel safe to share ideas and feel that their ideas are valued and respected by their peers. Equity goals help create and maintain structures that support this type of learning community.

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Anticipating Student Thinking & Planning a Lesson

Part of planning a successful lesson is anticipating student thinking and determining what questions to ask to prompt students to grapple with the content and make connections to prior learning. This is a two part series that can be spread over two consecutive meetings.

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Observing Student Thinking & Reflecting on Learning

One of the ways educators build their mathematical knowledge for teaching is to observe student problem solving. This activity outlines considerations for observing student thinking and includes a protocol for debriefing noticings. 

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