FFT Clusters Study Guide SET 1: ELA 8; Math 3; SS11: Volume 1 (Looking at Teaching Through the Lens of the FFT Clusters)

The purpose of the Framework for Teaching (FFT) Study Guides Series is to provide guidance to professional learning communities as they engage in activities and discussions to enhance their own practices and the practices of their colleagues. The Study Guides provide information and instructions on how to examine teaching and learning through the lens of the FFT Clusters.* Analyzing lessons from a variety of grades and subject areas provides opportunities for educators to stretch their analytic skills and enhance their understanding of the FFT Clusters. Set One in the eight-part Study Guide Series includes three classroom examples: 8th grade ELA 3rd grade Math 11th grade Social Studies Access to an accompanying Instructional Set of lesson artifacts (including lesson plans, a video of the entire lesson, other documents, and teacher commentary) is described in each Study Guide. The Study Guide activities, the Instructional Set artifacts, and the experience of the user combine to create a powerful method of examining teaching and applying learning to one’s own practice. *The Clusters distill the “big ideas” of the FFT’s four domains and 22 components into an efficient tool (composed of six large concepts) that can serve as the foundation for professional growth by teachers, not only through their own reflection on practice, but also through their conversations with colleagues, mentors and coaches, and supervisors. Even though the Guides were created with the FFT Clusters in mind, they also can be used to examine the Instructional Sets through the lens of the components of the Framework for Teaching, or indeed, through the lens of any teaching standard.