ABSTRACT
Getting children to practise for an extended period of time may be the most important thing teachers plan into a lesson apart from instruction. Many educators argue that what teachers want to get kids doing is deliberate practice; that is, practising a specific skill in a measurable way to help them get better at it. There is an argument that practice, like instruction, should be differentiated. For some, differentiation of practice means that some children should be given different tasks to other children. The crucial thing with planning practice is that teachers plan for the children to practice most the things that they are weakest at, and that they ensure that all their practice is feeding into their ultimate goals for what they want the children to accomplish. Teachers give more time to weaker learners, and perhaps start their explanations more simply and build them up, and break down practice into even smaller steps to ensure they are ‘encoding success’.
