Explicit Presentation:

We have been trying out a new teaching technique in the classroom this year after going to a workshop at the Wonder of Learning conference last fall. The idea is simple: an activity, from start to finish, is previewed “explicitly” before being offered to the children. For instance, when we did this with watercolors, we set out a tray in the middle of the floor which held the watercolor cakes, a glass of water, a paintbrush, and a piece of paper. We named each thing: “This is a paintbrush, and you use it gently, as if you were brushing it on your skin. These are watercolor cakes – not cakes to eat, but for painting. This is water – not for drinking, but for painting…”  – and so forth. Every detail of the process was demonstrated with carefully chosen, economical language. After the demonstration the tray was passed around for each child to try very briefly right there at meeting.