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In this edition of ⚗️DistillED, we’re looking into Rosenshine’s 9th Principle of Instruction: Require and Monitor Independent Practice.
What is Independent Practice?
Independent practice is the stage where students work on their own to rehearse, apply, and consolidate what has been explicitly taught and guided.
It follows teacher modelling and guided practice—the “I do / We do / You do” sequence. This process is all about building fluency and automaticity whilst monitoring progress, correcting misconceptions, so that students achieve a high success rate (around 80 %).
As educator and author Tom Sherrington explains, practice is an under-valued engine of learning. It’s not just “busy work”—it’s the deliberate repetition and consolidation that turns fragile knowledge into something students can retrieve automatically. Rosenshine reinforces this in his paper:
“In the classroom … Independent practice should involve the same material as the guided practice… Students need to be fully prepared for their independent practice.”
Rosenshine’s insight reminds us that effective teaching is about designing lessons that engage students in short, sharp practice. Essentially, independent practice is about:
Fluency: Rehearsing skills until they’re accurate, effortless, and automatic.
Rehearsal: Purposeful repetition of what’s been modelled — not new work.
Monitoring: Circulating, checking, and correcting in real time to prevent errors.
Confidence: Well-pitched tasks that let students see effort turn into progress.
Retrieval: Fluency first — then retrieval practice to secure long-term memory.
So why is independent practice such a powerful driver of learning? Let’s dig into what the research reveals…
Why is Indpendent Practice Important?
Research on automaticity shows that when students can recall and perform core knowledge effortlessly, working memory is freed for deeper reasoning and problem-solving (Rosenshine, 2012). In his paper, Rosenshine states:
“This independent practice is necessary because a good deal of practice (over-learning) is needed in order to become fluent and automatic in a skill. When material is over-learned, it can be recalled automatically and doesn’t take up any space in working memory.”
Independent practice gives students the repeated review and elaboration they need to build fluency — not just with facts, but with the concepts and distinctions that underpin future learning. Through this sustained rehearsal, they strengthen existing schema and form durable links between ideas, transferring knowledge from working memory into long-term memory. Each successful retrieval lightens cognitive load, freeing up mental capacity for deeper reasoning and problem-solving.
This is visualised in below - you can see how practice acts as the bridge between working memory and long-term memory. As students practise, they strengthen connections between ideas, transforming effortful steps into automatic responses.
Conversely, when independent practice is neglected or poorly structured, students may rehearse errors, leading to fragile understanding and long-term misconceptions. Without repetition and monitoring, new knowledge remains unstable—easily forgotten or misapplied. The result is cognitive overload, frustration, and a loss of confidence!
Ultimately, independent practice helps maximise learning because it:
Builds Fluency: Repeated, accurate rehearsal strengthens schema and makes recall automatic (Rosenshine, 2012).
Reinforces Understanding: Applying recently taught ideas in similar contexts deepens connections and supports transfer.
Frees Working Memory: As knowledge becomes automatic, cognitive load decreases, allowing focus on higher-order thinking (Sweller, 1988).
Prevents error-learning: Careful monitoring ensures students practise correct methods, not mistakes that become embedded.
Promotes Independence: Gradually withdrawing support builds self-regulation and confidence.
Sustains Progress: Real-time feedback and adjustment keep learners in the optimal challenge zone.
So, how do we ensure independent practice is built into every lesson as a structured phase for rehearsal, fluency, and consolidation?
Let’s explore some formats and approaches.
How do I Implement Independent Practice?
To help students build fluency, start by ensuring they are fully prepared through modelling and guided rehearsal, then design short, purposeful tasks that mirror what’s been demonstrated.
Keep the focus on accuracy and repetition and push for students to work silently to minimise distractions. As they practise, circulate to check for understanding, correct errors, and adjust challenge as needed. Finally, revisit the same material later through retrieval or cumulative review.
Here are some useful formats to consider when preparing for independent practice.
Independent Practice Formats
Vary the formats you use to structure and monitor independent work so students practise accurately, stay engaged, and build fluency with confidence. See Tom Sherrington’s Rosenshine Masterclass: Stages of Practice and Conclusion for more on engineering practice and feedback loops that sustain high accuracy.
Here are some practical formats for independent practice:
Worked Example → Parallel Task: Show a complete model first, then have students complete an almost identical task on their own.
Guided Group → Solo Sprint: Begin practice as a short, collaborative run-through (e.g., in pairs), then switch to individual attempts when ready.
Fluency Drills: Use short, repetitive exercises — quick-fire questions, sentence stems, retrieval grids — to strengthen automaticity.
Rehearse and Record: Ask students to verbalise an explanation or write a worked example from memory, then self-check against the model.
Error-Detect Rounds: Provide an intentionally flawed example for students to correct independently.
Cumulative Challenge Sets: Mix older and newer material in each practice set to keep prior learning active.
In true ⚗️DistillED fashion, here’s a six-step approach to designing independent practice with precision — balancing fluency, challenge, and success every step of the way:
Step | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
1. Prepare for Success
| Check for understanding during guided practice and aim for around 80 % accuracy before releasing students. Readiness prevents error-practice and builds confidence. | “We’ve completed a few together — now try this next one on your own using the same process.” |
2. Rehearse Before Release
| Give students a chance to verbally or mentally rehearse key facts, steps, or phrases so that recall feels fluent before written or applied practice begins. | “Let’s say the key terms aloud once more before you start the paragraph.” |
3. Mirror, Don’t Leap
| Design tasks that mirror what was demonstrated in guided practice. Avoid new content that overloads working memory or invites confusion. | “Use the same sentence pattern from our model, but change the example to fit your topic.” |
4. Monitor in Motion
| Circulate, observe, and provide instant feedback while students work. Monitoring ensures that errors are corrected early and success remains high. | “I can see strong topic sentences — let’s pause to clarify how to extend them with evidence.” |
5. Build Fluency Through Repetition
| Encourage multiple accurate repetitions to make knowledge effortless. Spaced, varied practice frees cognitive capacity for higher-order thinking. | “Complete two more problems using the same method to build speed and accuracy.” |
6. Connect to Retrieval
| Revisit material in later lessons through low-stakes quizzes, mixed problems, or writing from memory. Independent practice becomes retrieval practice once fluency is achieved. | “Next lesson, we’ll redo this without notes — to see how much has stuck.” |
Until next week — keep kids practising purposefully, monitoring closely, and building fluency.
Jamie
Free Resource Download
Independent Practice Question Prompts — Free Download
A one-page printable of teacher prompts for each phase of practice — before, during, and after. Use it to guide students toward fluency, accuracy, and reflection, keeping practice purposeful and within the success zone.
DistillED+ Checklist and Slideshow
This week’s ⚗️DistillED+ resources include an Independent Practice Checklist and a CPD Slideshow. Together, they unpack the what, why, and how of designing lessons that move students from guided to independent work — building fluency, accuracy, and confidence through well-structured, monitored practice.
If you’re a ⚗️DistillED+ member, scroll to the bottom of this post to access the exclusive download. You can also visit the DistillED+ Hub to explore the full library of member-only resources.
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