Research-Based Instructional Strategies

These strategies are research-based and tuned for 8th-grade classrooms. Each card includes a short description, citations, and two “Try it” moves you can use tomorrow.

Planning & Clarity

Setting Goals & Success Criteria

Make learning goals visible and pair them with concrete success criteria students can self-check.

Evidence: Locke & Latham (2002) · REL Midwest (ERIC open-access, 2018)

  • Co-write 2–4 “I can…” criteria; reference them at launch, mid-lesson, and exit.
  • Run a 1-minute “criteria check” where students highlight where their work meets/doesn’t.

Cues, Questions & Advance Organizers

Activate prior knowledge and preview the structure so new content has hooks.

Evidence: Mayer (1979) · ERIC (1979)

  • Start with a 90-second concept map (big nodes only) before instruction.
  • Pose 2 essential questions; revisit mid-lesson and at exit.

Scaffolding Instruction

Provide temporary supports (prompts, hints, partial solutions) and fade them as competence grows.

Evidence: Wood, Bruner & Ross (1976) · ERIC (2002 overview)

  • Give a 4-step checklist; remove one step each subsequent attempt.
  • Sentence starters for draft 1 only; original phrasing required on draft 2.

High Expectations (Warm Demanding)

Communicate belief in every student’s ability and provide credible pathways to meet the bar.

Evidence: Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968) · ERIC (1968)

  • Set a visible quality bar (exemplar + single rubric row) and require one revision for all.
  • Use growth-focused feedback scripts (“Next step: add a counterexample in ¶2”).

Plan With the Nine Research-Based Categories

Use Marzano’s nine categories to balance clarity, processing, practice, feedback, and transfer across units.

Evidence: Marzano et al. (2001) · McREL (ERIC-indexed report)

  • Tag each lesson segment to a category; add one missing category this week.
  • Use a PLC template with nine checkboxes during unit planning.

Instruction & Modeling

Direct / Explicit Instruction (Rosenshine)

Teach in small steps with clear models, guided practice, frequent CFUs, and cumulative review before independence.

Evidence: Rosenshine (2012) · ERIC (2012)

  • Chunk new material into 5-minute bursts with a quick CFU after each.
  • “You do a little / I peek a lot”: circulate and prompt during guided practice.

Related: TeachThought: Project-Based Learning

Modeling with Worked Examples

Show complete exemplars (and non-examples), then fade to completion problems and full independence.

Evidence: Sweller et al. (2006) · ERIC (2006)

  • Model one full problem; then assign a completion problem with the last step blank.
  • Show a non-example; ask students to spot and fix the error.

Guided Practice (Opportunities to Practice)

Provide structured practice with immediate feedback before asking for independent performance.

Evidence: Rosenshine (2012) · ERIC (2012)

  • Run “I do → We do → You do” across a single period; pause for quick corrections.
  • Use mini-whiteboards for whole-class guided checks and fast feedback.

Deliberate Practice & Spacing

Short, frequent practice with feedback, distributed over time and interleaved with prior content.

Evidence: Cepeda et al. (2008) · ERIC (2012 overview)

  • Turn a 20-minute block into two 8-minute bursts with a 2-minute retrieval check.
  • Open with 3 spaced “warm-backs” from last week before new content.

Nonlinguistic Representations (Dual Coding)

Pair words with visuals (diagrams, timelines, gestures) so verbal and image traces reinforce each other.

Evidence: Clark & Paivio (1991) · ERIC (2019)

  • Require a 30–60s sketch for each new concept.
  • Introduce an icon/gesture for key terms and cue students to use them.

Processing & Meaning-Making

Cooperative Learning

Structured peer interaction with shared goals and individual accountability.

Evidence: Johnson & Johnson (1989) · ERIC (1994)

  • Assign roles (facilitator, checker, summarizer) + an individual exit slip.
  • Give a 60-second “quiet think” before talk so every student brings an idea.

Concept Mapping

Externalize relationships between ideas via labeled connections and hierarchies.

Evidence: Novak & Gowin (1984) · ERIC (2018)

  • Give 10 terms + verb list (causes, leads to, contrasts with); require labeled arrows.
  • Students write a 2-sentence “pathway” using three nodes.

Reciprocal Teaching

Rotate roles (clarify, question, predict, summarize) to build comprehension through coached dialogue.

Evidence: Palincsar & Brown (1984) · ERIC (1992)

  • Run a 10-minute rotation on a short text; swap roles mid-reading.
  • Provide role cards; require a 3-sentence group summary at the end.

Related: TeachThought: Questioning & Inquiry

Summarizing & Note-Taking

Distill essential ideas concisely; generative processing supports retention and comprehension.

Evidence: Hidi & Anderson (1986) · ERIC (1999)

  • Impose a 12-word summary limit, then expand to 40 words with one quotation.
  • Use Cornell notes: add one test question per section before leaving.

Generating & Testing Hypotheses

Make predictions, test them, and revise thinking based on evidence.

Evidence: Marzano et al. (2001) · ERIC (2013)

  • Students write a specific prediction and design a 3-step mini-test to check it.
  • Require a “claim–evidence–revision” sentence after results.

Comparison Matrix (Protocol)

Use a criteria-by-item grid so students weigh alternatives and justify choices.

Evidence: Marzano et al. (2001) · McREL (ERIC-indexed)

  • Provide a 3×3 matrix with criteria in rows; students rate/justify each item.
  • End with a forced choice: which is best for X and why (cite two criteria)?

Anticipation Guides

Use brief agree/disagree statements to surface preconceptions and set a purpose for reading.

Evidence: Buehl (2001) · ERIC (2015)

  • Create 4 statements tied to misconceptions; students justify pre/post.
  • After reading, students flip one stance and cite a specific line or datum.

Feedback & Assessment

Low-Threat / Formative Assessment

Frequent checks for understanding, without grading pressure, surface misconceptions early.

Evidence: Bangert-Drowns, Kulik & Kulik (1991) · ERIC (2019)

  • Use 2–3 ungraded checks (thumb, mini-whiteboard, 1-question poll) per lesson.
  • Exit ticket: “One thing I’m unsure about is…”—address at start of next class.

Metacognitive Reflection

Guide students to monitor progress, choose strategies intentionally, and revise based on evidence of learning.

Evidence: Flavell (1979) · ERIC (2019)

  • Students name the strategy they used and why in one sentence on the work.
  • Three-item self-check: “What worked? What didn’t? What I’ll try next.”

Related: TeachThought: 50 Questions That Promote Metacognition

Reinforcing Effort & Recognition

Acknowledge students for meeting explicit performance criteria and for effective strategies—not for generic “trying.”

Evidence: Deci, Koestner & Ryan (1999) · ERIC (2000)

  • Tie recognition to a posted criterion (e.g., “Meets: includes counterclaim with evidence”).
  • Use intermittent shout-outs for effective strategies (“You compared sources before deciding”).

Homework With a Clear Purpose (Later Grades)

Homework is most effective when reinforcing taught material with a clear learning purpose and minimal parental involvement.

Evidence: Cooper (1989) · ERIC (2012)

  • Label homework with a purpose tag (“practicing X,” “preparing for Y”).
  • Include a 60-second self-check key so students verify process, not just answers.

Transfer & Student Independence

Independent Practice

Students apply newly learned skills without scaffolds to build fluency and generalization.

Evidence: Rosenshine (2012) · ERIC (2012)

  • Set a fluency goal (correct in a row / within time) and chart progress.
  • 3 scaffolded problems → 3 independent problems → 1 reflection line.

Directed Reading–Thinking Activity (DR-TA)

Pause periodically to predict, read, check, and revise; strengthens inference and monitoring.

Evidence: Stauffer (1969) · ERIC (1976)

  • Pause every 2–3 paragraphs: predict → read → check → revise.
  • Students annotate predictions with ✓ / ✗ and explain any change.

Question–Answer Relationship (QAR)

Teach question types (“Right There,” “Think & Search,” “Author & Me”) so students choose the correct strategy.

Evidence: Raphael (1982) · ERIC (1987)

  • Color-code questions: Right There (green), Think & Search (blue), Author & Me (yellow).
  • Students must label the QAR type before answering.

Related: TeachThought: Critical Thinking

KWL & Previewing Structures

Activate background knowledge, articulate curiosity, and set a self-guided purpose before reading.

Evidence: Ogle (1986) · ERIC (1992)

  • Spend 2 minutes on K/W; revisit L at exit with an evidence-based sentence.
  • Build a class “W wall” and assign each student one W to answer by Friday.

Response Notebooks / Journals

Routinely reflect, question, and reorganize ideas in writing to build transfer via self-explanation.

Evidence: Readence, Moore & Rickelman (2002) · ERIC (2003)

  • Standing 3-line prompt: “Today I realized… / I’m stuck on… / Next I will…”
  • Require one quote or figure referenced in each entry (with page/line).

Individualized Instruction

Differentiate paths, pacing, or supports so students work at the edge of their competence toward common goals.

Evidence: Bloom (1984) · ERIC (1986)

  • Offer 2-path choices: Practice A (more modeling) vs Practice B (extension/transfer).
  • Create 3 “just-in-time” mini-lessons students can opt into after a self-check.

Related: TeachThought: Teaching & Pedagogy