Landmark360

Definition

Effective teaching involves breaking information down into its smallest units and providing clear guidelines for all assignments.

This is especially important for students with learning disabilities. Micro-uniting and structuring are elements of directive teaching, which Landmark consistently uses with students. Micro-uniting means analyzing the parts of a task or assignment and teaching those parts one step at a time. Teachers organize information so that students can see and follow the steps clearly and sequentially. As students learn to micro-unit for themselves, they become less likely to give up on tasks that appear confusing or overwhelming. Consequently, these strategies enable students to proceed in a step-by-step, success-oriented way. 

In Practice

“Students worked through the five-step writing process for three separate papers over the course of 10 weeks. They followed templates for each step of the writing process, participated in many rounds of edits, and adhered to both progressive and final due dates. Once done with the written elements, they created additional elements for their magazines and wrote poetry, designed ads, and generated a variety of other creative pieces. Their favorite (and perhaps the most frustrating) part was putting it all together, and seeing their work in a real magazine format.” —Lauren Morrow, High School faculty

Take a look at Landmark's other Teaching Principles

#1 Provide Opportunities for Success

#2 Use Multisensory Approaches

#4 Ensure Automatization Through Practice and Review

#5 Provide Models

#6 Include Students in the Learning Process