Depth of
Knowledge
Let’s review . . .
Let’s review DOK
1. Students perform simple procedures like
copying, calculating, and remembering.
They either know an answer or they do not.
2. This level addresses skills and concepts.
Students make some decisions about how to
approach a problem and use two or more
strategies such as collecting and classifying
to show understanding.
3. This level promotes strategic thinking.
Students perform tasks that require solving
non-routine problems, using evidence,
conducting experiment, or designing things.
4. This level involves extended thinking.
Students engage in complex reasoning,
planning, or investigations over a longer
period of time. At this level students relate
concepts within and across disciplines and
consider an array of variables.
We learn from each other . . .
Working with those at your table, share your work by
discussing the following:
a. Your example of a DOK3 or DOK4 task
b. Your incorporation of technology into your lesson
plan
c. Your difficulty or ease in creating tasks at a DOK 3
/DOK 4 level
d. Your use of a Think Aloud or passage mapping
e. Your difficulty or ease in incorporating either of these
instructional techniques
From your discussion as a table group, identify a good
example of a DOK3 or DOK 4 task.
Share one common thought in regards to creating higher
level tasks OR in implementing the instructional techniques
discussed .
Yet another way of thinking . . .
Recall
Skill
Assessing Whether
Our Assigned Work
Is Worth Doing
The Master Teacher
Vol. 47, No. 11
Strategy One:
Guarantee the quality of the learning target.
Strong and effective
learning targets are
written in studentfriendly language to
ensure students know
the content and
performance for
which they are aiming.
We are learning to -----so that we can
explain - - - -
Learning Target
• It is not a learning target
unless both the teacher and
students aim for it during
today’s lesson.
• Every lesson needs a
performance of
understanding to make the
learning target clear for the
day’s lesson.
• Expert teachers partner with
students during a formative
learning cycle to make
teaching and learning visible
and to maximize
opportunities to feed
students forward.
a.
b.
c.
Observe: Did students deepen their
understanding of essential content and
skills and what evidence did the
students produce to support this
conclusion?
Student response: What are you
learning in this lesson and how will you
know if you’ve learned it?
Teacher response: What were students
supposed to learn and how do you
know for sure who learned it and how
well they learned it as well as who did
not learn it and why?
Strategy Two: Solidify foundational knowledge.
Students must be familiar
with a topic before they
can deepen their
understanding of the
topic. A learning goal that
fails to recognize prior
knowledge can create
gaps in student
understanding.
A news article can tell
students about a new
Supreme Court decision
but not what the Supreme
Court is or how this
branch of government fits
within our democracy.
Strategy Three: Take the pulse of the room.
If high order thinking is
present, the teacher is a
facilitator moving about
the room. Silence is not
always golden when it
comes to students’
thinking. Regular “check
ins” offer good insight into
what and how the class is
learning.
The teacher is
eavesdropping on
conversations, guiding
students when the are
stuck, asking probing
questions and waiting for
a response.
Strategy Four: Give feedback that feeds forward
Once the teacher assigns
work with an authentic
purpose, the teacher must
use words the students
understand to compare the
work to the learning
target/standard.
Feedback should be given
during the process as
students apply
understanding to a task—
when the task is almost
done. Teachers will describe
what was done well in
relation to the success
indicators/ rubric, explain
what can be improved, and
make suggestions of where
to go next.
Strategy Five: Create an Assessment Team
Developing level three and
four assessments is more
time-consuming and
difficult than writing DOK
level 1 or 2 tasks. Don’t
work alone.
Teacher teams can analyze
work through clearer lens
of real world application
and design the activity
that more accurately
demonstrates that the
student “gets it.”
Continued Learning
1. Read “The Power of Purposeful Reading”
2. Bring your most recent assessment to the
next meeting. Consider working with a coworker to create a level 3-4 task or
assessment.
3. Self evaluate your daily learning targets