Demonstration
Circulation: Classroom management skill (opens in a new tab)
AERO · F-10 · Australia
A short demonstration of circulation as a classroom management skill.
FreeOpens at edresearch.edu.au
Teaching practice
Participation and opportunities to respond
How to get every student thinking and answering many times a lesson, not just the volunteers. Here you'll find videos of teachers getting every student thinking and answering, with choral response, turn and talk, cold call and everybody writes, alongside the reading behind them.
Practices in this area:Opportunities to respondChoral responseTurn and talkEverybody writesWait timeNo opt out
Watch 25
Lesson with commentary
TLAC 3.0: Using Turn and Talk to make your classroom crackle to life (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · F-12 · USA
Doug Lemov shares an excerpt from Teach Like a Champion 3.0 on Turn and Talk, with video from BreOnna Tindall's and Sarah Wright's classrooms. It covers the benefits and the pitfalls to plan for.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson with commentary
Chalk Dust S1 E7: How to avoid just teaching yourself (opens in a new tab)
Chalk Dust · F-10 · Australia
John Hollingsworth, co-author of Explicit Direct Instruction, joins the hosts to analyse maths, English and science footage, looking at checking for understanding, calling on non-volunteers and sentence frames.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Lesson with commentary
Scott Wells models the foundations of a successful Cold Call (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Primary · 2024 · UK
A primary teacher in Walsall cold calls after giving students time to prepare, and Doug Lemov sets out what makes the experience positive and productive for every student.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson with commentary
Checking for understanding: Response systems (opens in a new tab)
NSW Department of Education · 6:35 · F-12 · Australia
Primary and secondary teachers use response systems to check what every student understands.
FreeOpens at education.nsw.gov.au
Lesson with commentary
Rebecca Sloots: Building ratio and great writers in Queensland (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Primary · Australia
A Year 4 class in Queensland, with a focus on participation and writing.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Show 19 more
Lesson footage
Active participation instruction, 2nd grade (Anita Archer) (opens in a new tab)
Anita Archer (explicitinstruction.org) · Primary · USA
Anita Archer models explicit instruction in a primary classroom.
FreeOpens at explicitinstruction.org
Lesson with commentary
4 ways of looking at a Turn and Talk: Kris Shukla (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Four clips · 2023 · UK
Four short clips from one lesson on scientific writing, each showing a Turn and Talk shaped for a different purpose. Useful for comparing how small design choices change the talk.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson with commentary
Chalk Dust S1 E10: More consistency means more freedom (opens in a new tab)
Chalk Dust · Primary and secondary · UK
Peps Mccrea joins the hosts to unpack footage of a UK primary English teacher and a science teacher, looking at tight routines, responsive checks for understanding and concise teacher talk.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Lesson with commentary
The first Turn and Talk of the year in Hannah Cook's classroom (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Secondary · 2021 · USA
Shows a teacher at Memphis Rise Academy introducing the Turn and Talk routine to a new class at the start of the year, so the expectations are taught before they are used.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson footage
Explicit Vocabulary Instruction Demonstration (Anita Archer) (opens in a new tab)
ONlit · Upper primary and above · North America
Anita Archer teaches an explicit vocabulary lesson to older students, with every student actively taking part.
FreeOpens at onlit.org
Lesson with commentary
Beth Peakman combines Cold Call, Wait Time and Stretch It while reading Wind in the Willows (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Primary · 2023 · UK
A clip from Rivers Primary Academy in Walsall showing three questioning techniques working together during a class novel, with commentary on why each one helps.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Demonstration
Scanning your class: Classroom management skill (opens in a new tab)
AERO · F-10 · Australia
A short demonstration of scanning your class as a classroom management skill.
FreeOpens at edresearch.edu.au
Lesson with commentary
Great Teaching, Unpacked episode 1: Harnessing attention (opens in a new tab)
Steplab · 47:30 · Primary and secondary · UK
The first part of Steplab's documentary follows teachers in two schools as they secure and hold students' attention, with teacher interviews and expert analysis.
FreeOpens at steplab.co
Lesson with commentary
The art of Means of Participation: Jamarr McCain (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · 2022 · USA
A clip from Memphis Rise Academy showing a teacher signal clearly how students should answer each question, with an explanation of why the way students respond matters as much as the question.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson with commentary
Lauren Burke uses Means of Participation to optimise student thinking (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Secondary · 2026 · USA
A junior high teacher in Texas moves between familiar ways of responding so that every student thinks about each question. Doug Lemov points out what to notice.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson with commentary
Chalk Dust S2 E4: The power of precision (opens in a new tab)
Chalk Dust · F-10 · Australia
In part two with Adam Boxer, a retrieval practice clip is used to examine questioning in fine detail, including saying the name at the end, wait time and choosing who answers so every student thinks.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Lesson with commentary
How Charlotte Pottinger uses retrieval practice and Means of Participation to start class (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Primary · 2024 · UK
The opening of a primary maths lesson at Rivers Primary Academy in Walsall, where retrieval questions and well-run response routines get every student recalling earlier content.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson with commentary
Reminding students that it's not a race: Wait Time with Spencer Davis (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Year 6 · 2023 · USA
A short clip of a sixth grade teacher in the Bronx slowing the rush to answer, so that students listen to the whole question and take time to think.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson with commentary
Eric Snider installs his Turn and Talk routine (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Middle years · 2017 · USA
A middle school English teacher explains, models and practises the Turn and Talk routine with his class. A clear example of teaching a routine rather than assuming it.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson footage
Modelling retell, 1st grade (Anita Archer) (opens in a new tab)
Anita Archer (explicitinstruction.org) · Primary · USA
Anita Archer models how to introduce a comprehension strategy.
FreeOpens at explicitinstruction.org
Lesson with commentary
Lots of participation, lots of thinking: Highlights from Jen Brimming's vocabulary lesson (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Secondary · 2022 · UK
Highlights from an English lesson at Marine Academy Plymouth where Turn and Talk, Call and Response, writing and Cold Call keep every student thinking about new vocabulary.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson with commentary
Chalk Dust S2 E6: The Knowledge Rich Classroom of Laura Stam (opens in a new tab)
Chalk Dust · Year 3 · USA
Year 3 teacher Laura Stam shares a knowledge-rich history lesson from Wyoming, using a knowledge organiser, shared reading, choral responses, pair shares and sentence stems to build students' knowledge.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Lesson with commentary
Jaime Johnson's formative writing routine (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Middle years · 2025 · USA
A middle school classroom video of students writing briefly and often in response to rich content, with an explanation of why short formative writing is worth making routine.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson with commentary
Details of the Turn and Task with Denarius Frazier (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Secondary · 2023 · USA
A variation on Turn and Talk in which pairs complete a maths task together rather than discuss a question, with notes on the details that make it productive.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Learn 3
Interview
Cold-Calling and Turn and Talk: Teaching Unpacked with Doug Lemov (opens in a new tab)
InnerDrive · F-12 · UK
Doug Lemov talks through Cold Call and Turn and Talk in InnerDrive's Teaching Unpacked series, two techniques for getting every student thinking and taking part.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
Key Instructional Routines in the Primary Mathematics Classroom (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Ollie Lovell, Toni Hatten-Roberts and David Morkunas · About 1 hour · 2025 · Australia
Ollie Lovell, Toni Hatten-Roberts and David Morkunas take teachers through the core instructional routines that keep every student thinking in primary maths, whatever program a school uses.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Webinar
Teach Like a Champion: Overview and Connection to Australian Evidence (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Christopher Thomas, PWRD Leadership · 30 to 60 minutes · 2024 · Australia
Christopher Thomas gives an overview of Teach Like a Champion techniques for academic engagement, classroom culture and checking for understanding, and links them to Australian evidence.
Free account neededOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Listen 8
Opportunities to respond
Episode 13 Opportunities to Respond (opens in a new tab)
Pedagogy to Practice
Beth and Sunny unpack Opportunities to Respond, an element of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0, and why frequent student responses matter in lessons.
FreeOpens at shows.acast.com
Participation techniques
049 Teaching Like a Champion (opens in a new tab)
Education Research Reading Room · with Doug Lemov
Doug Lemov of Uncommon Schools discusses Teach Like a Champion and the classroom techniques his team has drawn from studying highly effective teachers.
FreeOpens at ollielovell.com
Choral response and accountable group work
056 Teaching with Group Work, Accountability, and Chants (opens in a new tab)
Education Research Reading Room · with Sammy Kempner
Maths teacher Sammy Kempner of The Totteridge Academy in London describes teaching with group work, accountability and chants, in a department whose results improved markedly.
FreeOpens at ollielovell.com
High expectations
Ep 75 How High Expectations Drive Student Achievement (opens in a new tab)
Chalk & Talk · with Doug Lemov
Doug Lemov discusses educational equity and why strong teaching, clear behaviour routines, high expectations and academic rigour help every student succeed.
FreeOpens at chalkandtalkpodcast.podbean.com
Participation in low variance lessons
S6 E28 How to Maintain High Engagement in Low Variance Instruction (opens in a new tab)
The Structured Literacy Podcast · with Jocelyn Seamer
Jocelyn Seamer discusses how to keep student engagement high in low-variance instruction. A Summer Series replay of a listener favourite.
FreeOpens at buzzsprout.com
Five core techniques
5 One Pagers every Teacher needs to know: The Late Show with Tom Rogers (opens in a new tab)
Teachers Talk Radio · with Jamie Clark
Jamie Clark walks Tom Rogers through five one-pagers, on minimising distractions, worked examples, activating prior knowledge, think, pair, share and low-stakes recall.
FreeOpens at podcasts.apple.com
Opportunities to respond
Episode 14 Opportunities to Respond Reflection (opens in a new tab)
Pedagogy to Practice
Beth and Sunny reflect on a fortnight of teaching, with Sunny sharing practical strategies she used to create more opportunities to respond and lift participation.
FreeOpens at shows.acast.com
Practical classroom techniques
078 Tips and Tools for Teachers (opens in a new tab)
Education Research Reading Room · with Craig Barton
Craig Barton and Ollie Lovell launch their Tips and Tools for Teachers series, each sharing three tips, tools or takeaways from the month.
FreeOpens at ollielovell.com
Read 27
Tip #49: Play the "Does that make sense?" game (opens in a new tab)
Craig Barton (Tips for Teachers) · Substack · 2024 · UK
A short classroom tip for breaking the habit of asking "Does that make sense?", which rarely reveals understanding, by turning it into a game and replacing it with better checks.
FreeOpens at tipsforteachers.substack.com
Three big areas for development in teaching for 2026-7 (opens in a new tab)
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
From hundreds of lesson visits, Sherrington names three priorities for most schools, inclusive teaching, responsive teaching and teaching through talk, and links to his earlier writing on each.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Explicit instruction: One-page guide (opens in a new tab)
Jamie Clark · One-page guide · Australia
Summarises Anita Archer and Charles Hughes's model, including the lesson opening, body and closing and the input, question, response, monitor and feedback cycle.
FreeOpens at jamieleeclark.com
Turn and Talk: A Small Move That Changes the Room (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion · Substack · 2025 · USA
The Teach Like a Champion team shows how to set up a tight Turn and Talk, from the prompt and time cue to how teachers listen in and follow up afterwards.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachamp.substack.com
On the transformative power of teaching first (opens in a new tab)
Rebecca Birch (On Education) · Substack · 2024 · Australia
Birch explains how the TAPPLE sequence from Explicit Direct Instruction changed her secondary English teaching, walking through each step and what it is not, including its effect on workload.
FreeOpens at rebeccabirch.substack.com
Two Small Secrets To (Cold Call) Success (opens in a new tab)
Doug Lemov (Doug Lemov's Field Notes) · Substack · 2026 · USA
Using a classroom video, Lemov highlights two small details that make cold calling smoother and more positive, including polling the class after a short writing task before calling on anyone.
FreeOpens at douglemov.substack.com
Show 21 more
Cold calling: How to make every student think (opens in a new tab)
Jamie Clark (DistillED) · Newsletter article · 2025 · Australia
Explains cold calling as an invitation to join the thinking rather than a way to catch students out, with dos and don'ts drawn from Doug Lemov and Tom Sherrington.
FreeOpens at newsletter.jamieleeclark.com
Whiteboard Work: More Than Just 'Show Me' (opens in a new tab)
Ben Cooper (WAGOLL Teaching) · Substack · 2026 · UK
A primary headteacher shows how mini whiteboards can do more than quick checks, supporting memory, drafting and working through ideas during a lesson.
FreeOpens at wagollteaching.com
Powerful habit changes for more inclusive teaching (opens in a new tab)
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
A practical list of small changes from Sherrington's training, including cold calling done well, structured think-pair-share, whole answers, show-me boards and rehearsal, all aimed at involving every student in thinking.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Tip #47: "Can you get us started..." (opens in a new tab)
Craig Barton (Tips for Teachers) · Substack · 2024 · UK
Barton shows how rephrasing a cold-call question as an invitation to begin, rather than to give the one right answer, lowers the stakes and gets more reluctant students contributing.
FreeOpens at tipsforteachers.substack.com
Explicit Direct Instruction: One-page guide (opens in a new tab)
Jamie Clark · One-page guide · Australia
Summarises Hollingsworth and Ybarra's lesson design, from learning objective to periodic review, with student engagement norms such as choral reading, pair-shares and whiteboards.
FreeOpens at jamieleeclark.com
Student response systems: Technique guide (opens in a new tab)
NSW Department of Education · Technique guide · Australia
Opens at education.nsw.gov.au
Students can’t learn in cultures of perfectionism or opting out (opens in a new tab)
Nathaniel Swain · Substack · 2026 · Australia
Swain describes two classroom cultures that block learning, opting out and perfectionism, and explains how a deliberate culture of error and expected participation helps students take the risks learning needs.
FreeOpens at nathanielswain.substack.com
Why I hate popsicle sticks for cold calling (opens in a new tab)
Haili Hughes · Substack · 2026 · Australia
Hughes explains why drawing names at random is not the same as purposeful cold calling, and how teachers can choose who to ask based on what they need to find out.
FreeOpens at hailihughes.substack.com
How Cold Call Builds a Community of Learners (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion · Substack · 2025 · USA
Explains how to use Cold Call warmly and predictably so every student expects to think and answer, and how it gives teachers a truer picture of what the class understands.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachamp.substack.com
Reflecting on researchED Ballarat 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Alex Blanksby (VIC Maths Notes) · Substack · 2026 · Australia
A Victorian maths teacher shares his takeaways from sessions at researchED Ballarat 2026, a large Australian conference on evidence-informed teaching, starting with a keynote on opportunities to respond.
FreeOpens at vmnalex.substack.com
Learning through talk (opens in a new tab)
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
Sherrington uses a simple memory model to explain how talk supports learning, and argues that if talk helps students learn, routines must give every student the chance to talk, not just a few.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Research Bite #56: Updated meta-analysis of the research on response cards (opens in a new tab)
Craig Barton (Tips for Teachers) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Barton summarises a meta-analysis of 29 studies finding that response cards, where every student answers at once, lift participation and quiz results and reduce off-task behaviour compared with hands up.
FreeOpens at tipsforteachers.substack.com
Checking for understanding (TAPPLE): One-page guide (opens in a new tab)
Jamie Clark · One-page guide · Australia
Practical techniques for checking every student's understanding during a lesson, including choral response and the TAPPLE questioning sequence, so teachers can adjust teaching on the spot.
FreeOpens at jamieleeclark.com
On cold calling (opens in a new tab)
Rebecca Birch (On Education) · Substack · 2024 · Australia
Birch makes the case for cold calling in secondary classrooms as a lever for equity, citing research that it increases voluntary participation, and offers advice on making it work well.
FreeOpens at rebeccabirch.substack.com
The Most Important Habit in Your Classroom is Easy to Overlook (opens in a new tab)
Doug Lemov (Doug Lemov's Field Notes) · Substack · 2026 · USA
Lemov shares a video of a teacher building the habit of following directions, and explains why such everyday routines are the hidden foundation for rich learning moments.
FreeOpens at douglemov.substack.com
Mini-whiteboards revisited (opens in a new tab)
Jamie Clark (DistillED) · Newsletter article · 2026 · Australia
Treats mini-whiteboards as a whole-class participation routine rather than just a checking tool, covering the why and how of using them well.
FreeOpens at newsletter.jamieleeclark.com
The Questioning Traps: When Routines Lose Their Purpose (opens in a new tab)
Ben Cooper (WAGOLL Teaching) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Explains how questioning routines like turn and talk and cold call can lose their purpose, and how to make questioning draw on the knowledge pupils need.
FreeOpens at wagollteaching.com
Formative Writing: Writing to Discover What You Think (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion · Substack · 2026 · USA
Shows how brief, low-stakes writing mid-lesson, such as a Stop and Jot, gives every student time to think before discussion and lifts the quality of what they then say.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachamp.substack.com
Valuing every voice: The false premise that 'hands up' respondents are more worthy of being listened to (opens in a new tab)
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
Sherrington explains why relying on hands up lets confident students dominate, and makes the case for routines that ensure every student's thinking is heard and explored.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Research Bite #73: Why peer discussion improves student performance on in-class concept questions (opens in a new tab)
Craig Barton (Tips for Teachers) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Barton explains a study testing whether students improve after discussing a concept question because they understand it or copy classmates, and what it suggests about using peer discussion in lessons.
FreeOpens at tipsforteachers.substack.com
Teaching some versus teaching all (opens in a new tab)
Jamie Clark · One-page guide · Australia
Based on a Tom Sherrington blog post, this one-pager lists six things to check so that every student, not just a few, is attending, thinking and making meaning.
FreeOpens at jamieleeclark.com
Research 1
Supporting Teachers' Use of Opportunities to Respond (opens in a new tab)
MacSuga-Gage and Simonsen · 2015 · Systematic review
Opens at cbmt.franciscan.edu