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Effective Tips

Facilitated Lessons
A facilitated lesson is one in which the teacher uses questions to lead the students into using already learned skills and into thinking about connections and new ways to use the already learned skills!
Everyone works on the same problem. This activity can be individually done or done in groups.
The facilitator NEVER gives an answer!!! A facilitator uses questions to lead the students to a conclusion... ONE question at a time with minutes in between so students must THINK and CONNECT ideas and facts!
Example questions:
What makes you think that?
Why did you ....?
Then what?
What happens next?
So...
And....
Where could you find the information you need?
You know________________ therefore what does that mean?
What might happen?

After students have learned your classroom standards and expectations, then you can TEACH them how to participate in facilitated lessons.
Being a facilitator requires TEACHING the students how to operate under this system.
You still must teach the skills for them to use in a facilitated lesson.
Plan four days of learning lessons and then a facilitated lesson.
At the conclusion of the facilitated lesson, the class as a whole discusses the lesson.
Discuss:
What the task was
How the task was organized to do
How the group worked together
What was learned
What went well
What were the problems encountered and how were they resolved
Then have the individual students write the answers to these same questions and also, their evaluation of the task.