This resource includes all the materials you need to get started on curating, creating, and collaborating! What is an instructional playbook? The idea of an instructional playbook has caught fire since Jim Knight described it in The Impact Cycle (2017). Instructional Coaches have enormous potential to help teachers learn and implement new teaching practices, but coaches will be effective only if they deeply understand the strategies they describe and their explanations are clear.An instructional playbook is meant as a guiding document for coaching, training, and professional learning facilitated by ITRTs or instructional coaches.  An instructional playbook should be digital and shared with all teachers.  The Virginia Department of Education strongly recommends that the instructional playbook be a collaborative document that is shared and evaluated by the administrative team and with the insights of teachers and other school professionals.  Additionally, the document should be updated for changes in best practices, updates to available digital resources, and revisions addressing the dynamic nature of the school community.  

Interleaving is a strategy where students mix the practice of multiple related subjects or topics to improve learning. Interleaving forces the brain to categorize and discriminate between problem-solving strategies and therefore increases learning.  Interleaving can be more challenging than blocked practice because students cannot memorize one strategy and apply it to all of the problems.   

Classroom discussion involves students talking to one another about a text, important topic, or issue.  Classroom discussions allow students to improve communication skills by voicing their opinions and thoughts. Teachers also benefit as it allows them to see if students have learned the concepts that are being taught.This resource includes a one-page overview of the strategy as well as activities to support the strategy. 

Differentiation involves tailoring teaching methods, materials, and assessments to meet the diverse learning needs of individual students within a classroom.*In this instance, differentiation will differ from scaffolding in that differentiation may result in different products based on student needs while scaffolding has students working towards the same goal or product. This resource has an overview of strategies and activities to support differentiated instruction.  

Effective questioning entails asking the appropriate question (regarding difficulty, format, type, or comprehension) at the appropriate moment. Questions should serve one or more educational objectives, prioritize essential content, and stimulate thinking at a particular cognitive level.This resource includes a one-page overview of the strategy as well as activities to support the strategy.  

In explicit teaching, teachers show students what to do and how to do it.  The teachers decide on the learning intentions and the success criteria and demonstrate them with modeling.  In a flipped lesson, the teacher provides this explicit instruction in a video that students can watch and rewatch.  Worked examples modeled by the teacher support students’ independent practice. This resource includes a one-page overview of the strategy as well as activities to support the strategy.  

Feedback provides students with information about their performance and progress toward a learning target or goal. Effective feedback is timely, specific, and actionable. This resource includes a one-page overview as well as several activities to support the activity.  

Formative assessment is an instructional strategy that gathers ongoing feedback on student learning to inform and adjust teaching practices.  This resource has an overview and several supporting activities to support formative assessments. 

Lesson goals explain what the students need to understand and what they must be able to do. These goals are written in a way that supports the student’s understanding of the success criteria, commits to the learning, and provides an appropriate mix of success and challenge.This resource includes a one-page overview of the strategy as well as activities to support the strategy.  

Scaffolding* provides structured support, such as tools, strategies, or guidance, to help students learn and master new concepts or skills, gradually fading that support as students become more proficient and independent learners.*In this instance, scaffolding will differ from differentiation in that scaffolding has students working towards the same goal or product while differentiation may result in different products based on student needs. This resource includes an overview and activities to support scaffolding. 

Summarization involves condensing large amounts of information into a concise summary while retaining the main ideas and essential details.  This resource has a one-page overview and activities to support summarization.

This strategy is an engaging and effective way to get students into reflection practice.  It can be adapted to multiple grade levels and formats.  Reflection is an important strategy for students to acquire as it helps them retain information.  This exit ticket can also serve as an effective formatve assessment.

The aim of think-pair-share is to help students think individually about a topic or question. It teaches students to communicate and share their ideas with a classmate. It also helps students focus their attention and engage in the classroom material.