👋 G’day {{first name | mate!}}
This special edition brings together the full Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction series in one place — a single, joined-up guide to the ideas that sit behind effective teaching.
🎉 Oh! And there’s a brand NEW playbook to help you turn Rosenshine’s principles into everyday classroom practice. Let’s dive in.
In this edition
📊 Do Now: Quick Poll!
Which Rosenshine principle do you feel most confident implementing in your classroom?
What are Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction?
Barak Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction (2012) describe how effective teachers structure lessons so students can successfully learn, practise, and remember new knowledge.
His research focused on identifying the features of effective teaching by examining the relationship between teacher actions, explicit instruction, and student achievement. From this work — alongside insights from cognitive science and classroom studies — he distilled ten practical principles that consistently appeared in successful classrooms.
Rosenshine’s principles form a repeatable instructional cycle that helps move learning from short-term performance into long-term memory. Educator and author Tom Sherrington cleverly frames the 10 principles as four connected “strands”:
Strand 1: Sequencing Concepts and Modelling (Principles 2, 4 and 8)
Strand 2: Questioning (Principle 3 and 6)
Strand 3: Reviewing Material (Principle 1 and 10)
Strand 4: Stages of Practice (Principles 5, 7 and 9)
That framing matters, because Rosenshine isn’t saying “do one principle per lesson” — he’s describing the architecture of effective instruction. With this in mind, let’s unpack what Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction ARE and ARE NOT:
👎 Rosenshine’s Principles are not:
A rigid script to follow word-for-word → They describe patterns of effective teaching, not a lesson template to copy.
A checklist of isolated strategies → The principles work as a connected system, not ten separate strategies to sprinkle into lessons.
Just about teacher explanation → It’s not “talk more” — it’s explain clearly, then check, guide practice, and review.
Discovery learning in disguise → Students are not left to figure out new content alone. Careful modelling and guidance come first.
Endless independent work → Independent practice only comes after students have been prepared to succeed.
👍 Rosenshine’s Principles are:
A blueprint for structuring instruction → They map the flow of strong lessons: review → teach → model → question → guide practice → independent practice → review again.
Rooted in how memory and learning work → They align with cognitive science: manage cognitive load, practise successfully, revisit over time.
About clarity and sequencing → New material is taught in small steps, with practice after each step.
About guided practice before independence → Students first practise with support and feedback before working alone.
About building success and long-term retention → Frequent checking, high success rates, and spaced review help learning stick.
Why do Rosenshine’s Principles Matter?
Rosenshine’s Principles are important because they describe how teaching can be structured to maximise learning. They align closely with what we know from cognitive science: students learn best when new material is introduced in small steps, modelled clearly, practised successfully, and revisited over time. Without this structure, students’ are more likely to overload working memory, practise errors, and forget what they seemed to understand in the moment.
Willingham’s Simple Model of the Mind - Diagram inspired by Oliver Caviglioli’s interpretation
This learning process is reflected in the simple learning model above visualsed originally by Daniel T. Willingham. It shows the relationship between attention, working memory and and long-term memory and highlights how learning depends on what students think about and successfully store.
Rosenshine’s work captures the heart of explicit instruction. This is a teaching approach where new material is clearly explained, carefully sequenced, modelled step-by-step, and practised with guidance before students are expected to work independently. Let’s explore each of these instructional approaches in practice…
🔥 New Playbook! Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction
📣 Just a quick announcement! The NEW Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction ⚗️DistillED Playbook brings all 10 principles into focus with clear explanations, classroom examples, and ready-to-use planning tools — helping you move from knowing the principles to embedding them in practice.
To celebrate the DistillED Rosenshine series, this NEW playbook is available this week at a special introductory price.
📆 HURRY… Offer ends Sunday 15th February!
How do Rosenshine’s Principles Look in Practice?
Principle 1: Daily Review
Effective lessons begin by revisiting prior learning to strengthen memory and prepare students for new content. Reconnect today’s lesson with what students already know.
Principle 2: Small Steps
New content is introduced in manageable steps with practice after each part to reduce overload and secure understanding.
Principle 3: Ask a Large Number of Questions
Frequent questioning engages all learners in thinking and provides teachers with constant feedback on understanding.
Principle 4: Provide Models
Clear models and worked examples show students what successful thinking and performance look like before they attempt tasks independently.
Principle 5: Guide Student Practice
Guided practice allows students to build accuracy and confidence with support and feedback before working alone.
Principle 6: Check for Understanding
Regular checks for understanding help teachers identify misconceptions early and adjust instruction in real time.
Principle 7: Obtain a High Success Rate
Learning is strengthened when students experience frequent success during practice before increasing task difficulty.
Principle 8: Provide Scaffolds for Difficult Tasks
Temporary scaffolds support students through challenging tasks and are gradually removed as independence develops.
Principle 9: Require and Monitor Independent Practice
Independent practice consolidates learning once students have been prepared to succeed and their work is monitored.
Principle 10: Weekly and Monthly Review
Spaced weekly and monthly review strengthens long-term retention and helps prevent forgetting.
If you want more:
👉 Explore the Rosenshine related CPD Collections to run with your staff
👉 Check out the Foundations of Explicit Teaching One-Page Guides
👉 Read the DistillED edition on Explicit Instruction
👉 Revisit The Simple Model of the Mind and what it tells us about learning
👉 Get the DistillED Playbooks for practical, evidence-informed classroom practices
📥 Free Rosenshine One-Page Guide
⚗️DistillED+ Exclusive Content
This week’s ⚗️ DistillED+ members get access to a Rosenshine’s Principles CPD PowerPoint breaking down the principles and explaining what they look like in real classrooms, how they connect to cognitive science, and how to turn them into practical, everyday teaching routines.
