The Instructional Learning Environment in a play-based Pre-Kindergarten Life Skills Class has two critical learning phases: Large Group Instruction where the teacher/teaching team link the instructional purpose of various lessons to the current unit of study/standards using gradual learning release of “I do” (model new learning) and “You do” (giving time for students to practice through a variety of applications with feedback/support). Discrete Trial Instruction/Assessment is where students apply their knowledge and productively work individually to build fluency and flexibility in key learning concepts. These early learning instructional phases focus on the concept that “learning tasks require students to engage intellectually, to think; some may involve productive struggle” (Framework for Teaching Cluster 4: Student Intellectual Engagement 1e; 2b/3a/3b/3c).
