Recording and Representing Content: Direct Instruction Lessons

DIRECT INSTRUCTION LESSONS
Recording and
Representing Content
THE MARZANO COMPENDIUM OF

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
Recording and Representing Content
Copyright © 2016 by Marzano Research

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MARZ ANO COMPENDIUM OF INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
RECORDING AND REPRESENTING CONTENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
STRATEGIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Informal Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Summarizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Pictorial Notes and Pictographs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Combination Notes, Pictures, and Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Graphic Organizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Free-Flowing Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Academic Notebooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Dramatic Enactments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Mnemonic Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Rhyming Pegwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Link Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
REPRODUCIBLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

INTRODUCTION
In 2007, Dr. Robert J. Marzano published The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive
Framework for Effective Instruction. The framework, composed of three lesson segments, ten design
questions, and forty-one elements, was based on research showing that teacher quality is one of the
strongest influences on student achievement—that is, an effective teacher can positively and signifi-
cantly impact student learning. As such, The Art and Science of Teaching sought to identify specific
action steps teachers could take to improve their effectiveness.
In 2015, Dr. Marzano updated The Art and Science of Teaching framework to reflect new insights
and feedback. The Marzano Compendium of Instructional Strategies is based on this updated model,
presenting forty-three elements of effective teaching in ten categories. Each folio in the series addresses
one element and includes strategies, examples, and reproducible resources. The Compendium and its
folios are designed to help teachers increase their effectiveness by focusing on professional growth. To
that end, each folio includes a scoring scale teachers can use to determine their proficiency with the
element, as well as numerous strategies that teachers can use to enact the element in their classrooms.
Indeed, the bulk of each folio consists of these strategies and reproducibles for implementing and
monitoring them, making the Compendium a practical, actionable resource for teachers, instructional
coaches, teacher mentors, and administrators.

1
RECORDING AND REPRESENTING

CONTENT
The teacher engages students in activities that help them record their understanding of new
content in linguistic ways and represent the content in nonlinguistic ways. Research has shown that
representing information linguistically (summaries and notes) and representing information nonlin-
guistically (models, pictures, mental images) are both associated with gains in student achievement.
When information is both linguistic and nonlinguistic, students process information more thoroughly
and deeply.
Monitoring This Element

There are specific student responses that indicate this element is being effectively implemented.
Before trying strategies for the element in the classroom, it is important that the teacher knows how
to identify the types of student behaviors that indicate the strategy is producing the desired effects.
General behaviors a teacher might look for include the following.
• Students’ summaries and notes include critical content.
• Students’ nonlinguistic representations include critical content.
• W hen asked, students can explain the main points of the lesson.
Desired behaviors such as these are listed for each strategy in this element.
Teachers often wonder how their mastery of specific strategies relates to their mastery of the
element as a whole. Successful execution of an element does not depend on the use of every strategy
within that element. Rather, multiple strategies are presented within each element to provide teach-
ers with diverse options. Each strategy can be an effective means of implementing the goals of the
element. If teachers attain success using a particular strategy, it is not always necessary to master the
rest of the strategies within the same element. If a particular strategy proves difficult or ineffective,
however, teachers are encouraged to experiment with various strategies to find the method that works
best for them.

2
Scoring Scale
The following scoring scale can help teachers assess and monitor their progress with this element.
The scale has five levels, from Not Using (0) to Innovating (4). A teacher at the Not Using (0) level
is unaware of the strategies and behaviors associated with the element or is simply not using any of
the strategies. At the Beginning (1) level, a teacher attempts to address the element by trying specific
strategies, but does so in an incomplete or incorrect way. When a teacher reaches the Developing (2)
level, he or she implements strategies for the element correctly and completely, but does not monitor
their effects. At the Applying (3) level, the teacher implements strategies for the element and monitors
their effectiveness with his or her students. Finally, a teacher at the Innovating (4) level is fluent with
strategies for the element and can adapt them to unique student needs and situations, creating new
strategies for the element as necessary.
Scale for Recording and Representing Content
4 3 2 1 0
Innovating Applying Developing Beginning Not Using
I adapt behaviors and I have students I have students I use the strate- I am unaware of
create new strategies record and repre- record and represent gies and behaviors strategies and
for unique student sent content, and I content, but I do not associated with this behaviors asso-
needs and situations. monitor the extent monitor the effect on element incorrectly ciated with this
to which my actions students. or with parts missing. element.
affect students’
performance.
The following examples describe what each level of the scale might look like in the classroom.
Not Using (0): A teacher expects that her students will take notes if they need to, but she does
not provide them with any kind of strategies to do so.
Beginning (1): A teacher asks his students to use combination notes to record critical information
from a lesson. However, students are unfamiliar with the summarizing part of the organizer,
and because the teacher does not model or explain techniques for summarizing, many leave
that section of their notes blank.
Developing (2): A teacher teaches her class a mnemonic for remembering different units of
measurement. She uses the mnemonic effectively throughout the unit, but she doesn’t try to
determine if it enhanced their recall of the content.
Applying (3): A teacher has his class use academic notebooks to record information, ideas, and
reflections. He encourages students to write notes and record their ideas as diagrams or draw-
ings. At the end of every unit, the teacher asks students to go back through their notes to
amend any misunderstandings and respond to hypotheses made earlier in the unit. He then
collects the academic notebooks and reviews them to see how the students’ entries compare
to their assessment answers and scores.
Innovating (4): A teacher asks her class to use graphic organizers to record and represent critical
content. First, she provides them with several templates they can use to record their notes and
explains each purpose. She then puts students into small groups to complete their graphic
organizers. As they complete their graphic organizers, she walks around the room, checking
in with specific students whom she knows have been having difficulty with the content. At
the end of the lesson, she asks each group to explain why they chose their graphic organizer
and what it helped them understand about the content.
3
STRATEGIES
Each of the following strategies describes specific actions that teachers can take to enact this ele-
ment in their classrooms. Strategies can be used individually or in combination with each other. Each
strategy includes a description, a list of teacher actions, a list of desired student responses, and sugges-
tions for adapting the strategy to provide extra support or extensions. Extra support and extensions
relate directly to the Innovating (4) level of the scale. Extra support involves steps teachers can take
to ensure they are implementing the strategy effectively for all students, including English learners,
special education students, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and reluctant learners.
Extensions are ways that teachers can adapt the strategy for advanced students. In addition, some
strategies include technology tips that detail ways teachers can use classroom technology to implement
or enhance the strategy. Finally, each strategy includes further information, practical examples, or a
reproducible designed to aid teachers’ implementation of the strategy.

4
Informal Outline
In an informal outline, students use indentation to indicate the relative importance of ideas. They
write big ideas at the left side of the paper, and indent and list details under the big idea to which
they pertain. Students can also use numbering, bullets, or Roman numerals to organize information
and display its relative importance. The following example shows an informal outline for information
about different types of memory.
Working Memory
•What we are paying attention to right now
•May or may not be remembered later
•Can only handle a small amount of information at a time
Short-Term Memory
•Where we hold recent events and relatively new information
•Larger storage space than the working memory
•Not everything in the short-term memory will be permanently retained
Long-Term Memory
•The largest part of the memory
•Where all of our childhood memories are stored
•Information in the long-term memory is always remembered
Teacher Actions
• Helping students identify big ideas and details about a topic
• Helping students arrange big ideas and details about a topic in an informal outline format
Desired Student Responses

• Identifying big ideas and details about a topic
• A rranging big ideas and details about a topic in an informal outline format
Extra Support
• A
sking students to sketch small pictures or symbols next to each big idea in their informal
outline
Extension
• Asking students to select a big idea on their outline that they would like to investigate
further
Technology Tips
• Use audio recording software (such as Audacity) to capture oral student outlines. Students
may also use speech-to-text apps (such as Dragon Dictation) to convert their oral outlines
into text outlines.
• Have students use online word processing software such as Google Drive and note-taking
apps like Evernote to organize and record new knowledge in informal outlines.

5
• Ask students to use mind-mapping apps like Mindjet to create diagrams connecting main
ideas with supporting details. Students can then modify or elaborate on these informal out-
lines, saving multiple versions to record the progression of their learning.
• Have students use online publishing technology to collaborate on informal outlines. For
example, groups of students might use Wikispaces to create and post informal outlines
detailing main ideas and supporting details. Students can also publish on classmates’ wikis
and create hyperlinks to form a network of student work.

6
REPRODUCIBLE 7
Informal Outline
Name:
Topic or Title:
1. Main idea:

yy Detail:

yy Detail:

yy Detail:

2. Main idea:

yy Detail:

yy Detail:

yy Detail:

3. Main idea:

yy Detail:

yy Detail:

yy Detail:

Marzano Compendium of Instructional Strategies © 2016 Marzano Research

marzanoresearch.com/compendium
Summarizing
The teacher asks students to summarize content. Summarizing requires that students record
the critical content from a text or lesson. Summarization techniques often require multiple complex
cognitive processes and should be directly taught and modeled for students. Below is a scale that
describes different phases of summarization mastery that teachers can use to measure students’ ability
to summarize content.
Score 4.0 Students summarize critical information in their own words and generate their own conclusions about
the information.
Score 3.0 Students summarize critical information in their own words and demonstrate a clear understanding of
the information.
Score 2.0 When responding to prompts from the teacher, students are able to identify critical information in a
text or lesson.
Score 1.0 When responding to prompts from the teacher, students struggle to identify critical content or
information.
Teacher Actions
• Helping students identify critical information in a text or lesson
• Modeling what information to include in a summary
• L eading students in summarization activities

• Identifying critical information to include in a summary
• Providing summaries based on content and texts
• Including only pertinent details in their summary
Extra Support
• Using graphic organizers or prompts to guide students’ summaries
Extension
• A
sking students to draw conclusions and make generalizations about the content in their
summaries
Summarization Activities
• U
se summary frames to structure students’ early attempts at summarization. A summary
frame is a series of questions that focus on important elements of the content. Students
answer the questions and then use their responses to generate a summary. For example, in a
summary frame for a short story, the teacher might create a series of questions that ask stu-
dents to list the setting, characters, main conflict, and resolution of the story.
• S
how students how supplementary information, such as headings, images, and graphs, in
visual presentations of content and texts can help them decipher what the main idea and key
details are.

8
• P
ractice basic summarizing techniques by asking students to describe the plot of a familiar
movie or story in one to two sentences. Remind students that it is not necessary to retell the
whole plot; they should simply try to tell listeners the most important information in their
own words. For extra support, ask students to list the who, what, where, when, and why of
the plot before giving their summary.
• A
sk students to use a simple graphic organizer, like the following, to find the main idea and
key details from a short presentation or text. Using this kind of organizer can help students
understand what kind of information is important to highlight in a summary. For extra sup-
port, provide students with the main idea before the start of the lesson and have them fill in
the key details.
Detail 1 Detail 2
Main Idea
Detail 3 Detail 4
• W
hen students begin summarizing content, ask them to think about what they would tell
someone who had missed class to help them understand the important ideas from a lesson.
Have them practice what they would say with a partner. To encourage students to condense
their summaries to only the most critical details, have partners time each other to see if they
can summarize ideas in thirty seconds or less.

9
Pictorial Notes and Pictographs

The teacher asks students to use pictorial notes and pictographs to illustrate new content. Pictorial
notes may serve as an accompaniment to written notes or, in some cases, as the primary note-taking
form. Pictographs, like pictorial notes, may be accompanied by text for clarification. Pictographs are
often used to represent data in mathematical charts. In place of numbers, images are drawn to indicate
how much of a certain item each category has. Additionally, pictographs can be simple drawings that
express words or phrases. Following is an example of a pictograph that compares the number of apples
harvested from three orchards. Students could be asked to draw this kind of chart before completing
a word problem that uses these data.
Left Fork Orchard
Smoky Hill Orchard
Goose Creek Orchard
= 100 apples
Pictographs can use any kind of image for any amount, as long as there is a clear key that defines the
symbols for the students and teacher.
Teacher Actions
• Helping students identify information to include in pictorial notes
• Providing prompts for student-generated pictorial notes and pictographs
• Providing students with data to compare in pictographs

• Using pictorial notes to record processes, cycles, and general notes
• Using pictographs to compare data
• Using pictographs to represent words and phrases
Extra Support
• P
osting examples of various kinds of pictorial notes and pictographs students can use to
record content
Extension
• A
pictographs and pictorial notes

10
Pictorial Notes Example
The Water Cycle
Precipitation
Condensation
Evaporation
Collection

11
Combination Notes, Pictures, and Summary

Students record written notes about the content in the left-hand column of a chart, pictographs
or pictorial representations of the content in the right-hand column, and a summary of the content
in the lower section of the chart.
Notes Picture
Foreground
Background
Closest to the viewer
Largest scale
Midground
Midground
Space between foreground and background
Medium scale
Background
Farthest from the viewer Foreground
Smallest scale
Summary: Most paintings or pictures have a foreground, midground, and background. The foreground contains the
objects which appear the closest because of their large scale, the midground is the space between the background
and foreground, and the background contains objects that appear farthest from the viewer because of their small
scale.
Teacher Actions
• Helping students identify information about content to include in notes
• Helping students create nonlinguistic representations for information in their notes
• Helping students summarize the content in their notes

• Identifying important information about content to include in their notes
• Using nonlinguistic representations in their notes
• Summarizing the content in their notes
Extra Support
• P
osting examples of various kinds of pictures and diagrams that students can use in the
“pictures” section of their notes
Extension
• A
summaries

12
REPRODUCIBLE 13
Combination Notes Organizer

Name:
Subject:
Notes Picture
Summary:

Graphic Organizers
Students record their knowledge using graphic organizers that correspond to specific patterns
commonly found in information. Common text structures include sequence, description, comparison,
causation, and problem/solution. These nonlinguistic representations can be combined with other
note-taking strategies (like combination notes, pictures, and summary).
Teacher Actions
• Explaining different kinds of graphic organizers and their purposes to students
• Helping students use graphic organizers to express information

• Explaining the relationships shown by different graphic organizers
• Using graphic organizers to accurately represent information
Extra Support
• P
osting pictures of specific graphic organizers and the informational patterns they corre-
spond to in the classroom for students to refer to
Extension
• A sking students to create their own graphic organizers for specific informational patterns

14
REPRODUCIBLE 15
Sequence Graphic Organizer

Name:
Topic:

16 REPRODUCIBLE
Description Graphic Organizer

Name:
Topic:

REPRODUCIBLE 17
Comparison Graphic Organizer

Name:
Topic:

18 REPRODUCIBLE
Causation Graphic Organizer

Name:
Topic:

REPRODUCIBLE 19
Problem/Solution Graphic Organizer

Name:
Topic:
Problem:
1. 2. 3.
Solution:

Free-Flowing Web
Students place big ideas in central circles and then use lines to connect big ideas to smaller circles
that contain important details about each big idea. Unlike a simple description graphic organizer, a
free-flowing web should connect multiple sub-topics by showing how they relate to a central topic.
A free-flowing web works well for organizing students’ knowledge about an advanced concept or
process. Teachers can ask students to complete a free-flowing web individually, but it can also serve as
a group or whole-class review activity. The following example shows a free-flowing web for the topic
of pollution. Recycling
Cars
Alternative
Industry Solutions Energy
Causes
Agriculture Pollution
Laws
People
Types
Land
Air
Water
Teacher Actions
• Helping students identify the relationships between big ideas and details for a topic
• H
elping students show relationships between big ideas and details for a topic in a free-flow-
ing web

• Identifying relationships between big ideas and details for a topic
• Using free-flowing webs to show relationships between big ideas and details for a topic
Extra Support
• H
aving students use different colors to show the topic, main ideas, and details on their
free-flowing webs
Extension
• A sking students to include different perspectives about a topic in their free-flowing webs
Example Uses of a Free-Flowing Web

• To compare the causes, effects, and possible solutions for a major global, political, or cul-
tural issue
• To delineate different opinions in an argument or perspectives on a topic
• To diagram the steps, uses, purposes, and origins of a procedure
• To map the setting, players, and effects of an important historical event
• To describe the major story elements (such as plot, characters, setting) of a book or short
text
• To compare the different sub-categories within a category

20
Academic Notebooks
Students organize compilations of their notes to provide a permanent record of their thinking and
make corrections to their thinking as they review previous entries. Students should date their entries
and record reactions, questions, answers, and assessments of their progress. Students can also make
entries reflecting their conclusions and insights.
Teacher Actions
• Creating a system to keep track of students’ academic notebooks
• Helping students organize their notes to create a permanent record of their learning

• B
ringing their academic notebooks to class or using the teacher’s organizational system to
keep track of their notebooks
• Organizing notes by date to keep track of learning
• Accurately recording information in their academic notebooks
Extra Support
• U
sing loose-leaf notebooks as academic notebooks, and having students make entries on a
different page each day so they can take pages out and rearrange them as necessary
Extension
• A
sking students to select topics from their academic notebooks that they would like to
investigate in greater depth
Technology Tips
• Have students record their notes, reactions, and questions in a variety of media formats. For
example, students can use audio recording software such as Audacity, text-to-speech apps
such as Dragon Dictation, or video recording software on tablets, laptops, or smartphones
to archive new knowledge in audio journals or video logs.

21
22 REPRODUCIBLE
Academic Notebook Entry

Name: Date:
Subject: Topic:
Details about what I learned:
1.

2.

3.

Summary of what I learned:
Questions I have about what I learned:

Dramatic Enactments
For this strategy, students role-play characters or act out scenes, processes, or events. They can also
use their bodies to create symbols for concepts such as radius, diameter, and circumference. While
dramatic enactments can be highly engaging for students, they can be superficial if handled incor-
rectly. Teachers must budget time in class for students to explain the explicit connections between
their enactments and the content they represent.
Teacher Actions
• A sking students to act out scenes, processes, or events being studied
• A sking students to use their bodies to express concepts being studied

• Acting out scenes, processes, or events being studied
• Using their bodies to accurately express concepts being studied
Extra Support
• A
sking volunteers to participate in role plays or demonstrate body representations for the
whole class before asking all students to participate
Extension
• A
sking students to select important scenes, processes, events, or concepts from the content
to be the subject of dramatic enactments and justify their selections
Technology Tips
• Have students use digital video tools (such as cameras or smartphones) to record, edit, and
share dramatic representations of new content knowledge.
Qualities of Effective Dramatic Enactments

• Students must have a strong understanding of the content before performing a dramatic
enactment. While students can engage in research and more extensive investigation of a
topic before performing a dramatic enactment, if this is a new strategy in the classroom it
may be beneficial to directly teach key information. Creating dramatic enactments can also
help clarify and distinguish content for students, but only if they have the requisite back-
ground knowledge.
• Dramatc enactments should engage students’ creativity and critical thinking skills. Dramatic
enactments often ask students to reimagine content as something else or create a metaphor
between content and movement. This concept might be challenging for students at first, so
provide several examples for students to watch or help them map out a plan for their enact-
ment before practicing it. If possible, save recordings of previous years’ enactments or find a
similar activity online that students can reference while working on their project.

23
• Students should be able to describe the choices they made in their dramatic enactments.
Teachers can ask students to write a short summary of why they chose to structure their
enactment the way they did or have students explain their reasoning verbally for the class.
• Dramatic enactments should encourage students to explore different perspectives, cultures,
time periods, and characters. Dramatic enactments can be particularly useful to help stu-
dents put themselves in someone else’s shoes. Teachers can have students create short dra-
matic enactments that explore unique perspectives and then ask students how the dramatic
enactment helped them better understand that perspective.
• Dramatic enactments should not focus on students’ acting or performance abilities. Not all
students will feel comfortable with the idea of performing in front of their peers. Teachers
should encourage students to present clearly and confidently, but remind students that the
enactment is primarily about engaging with the content and learning from their own as well
as their classmates’ performances.

24
Mnemonic Devices
A teacher uses mnemonic devices to help students remember, record, and represent critical content.
Mnemonic devices often link content to symbols, imagery, and patterns of sound to strengthen the
memory of the user. A teacher can lead students in the use of mnemonic devices to encourage their
continued engagement with content.
Teacher Actions
• Creating a collection of facts and concepts that need to be memorized
• Demonstrating different mnemonic devices students can use
• Asking students to recall information using a specific mnemonic device

• Identifying facts that are important enough to be memorized
• A ssociating information with different mnemonic devices
• Successfully recalling information using mnemonic devices
Extra Support
• Working as a class to develop and practice a mnemonic
Extension
• A
sking students to use a decision-making matrix to decide which information is important
enough to be memorized
Examples Mnemonic Devices

Acronym mnemonics: Probably the most common acronym mnemonic is ROY G. BIV, which
represents the spectrum of colors found in the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, vio-
let). Students can create their own acronym mnemonic by using the first letters from a series of words
to create a new word. Acronym mnemonics can be helpful when trying to remember items that belong
to a category or steps in a process or procedure. Another common acronym mnemonic is PEMDAS
(parentheses, exponents, multiply, divide, add, subtract) which represents the order of operations for
equations. If the acronym by itself doesn’t seem memorable enough, try using the first letter of each
word to create a short expression. For instance, some teachers take the mnemonic PEMDAS one step
further by using the expression “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” to represent the steps in the
order of operations.
Music mnemonic: Music has long been a useful mnemonic device; many students learn the
alphabet or the quadratic equation using a melody. Advertisers also frequently take advantage of this
mnemonic by setting their slogans to catchy melodies. For best use of this strategy, set a list of steps
or facts to a song or melody that most students will be familiar with. Students can create their own
music mnemonics by using the melody of a nursery rhyme, pop song, or common folk song to help
them remember facts, dates, processes, and other lists of information. Extend this activity by having
students create a short music video to accompany their music mnemonic.

25
Image mnemonic: Students draw an image to help them remember content. Unlike pictorial
notes, an image mnemonic may not represent a fact or concept directly but may instead capitalize on
the sound or other qualities of the concept to create a memorable, often silly, image. For example, in
order to remember that pi is the ratio of the circle’s circumference to its diameter, a student might
draw a whole pie balancing on top of half a pie. In this kind of mnemonic, while it is important to
create a memorable image, it is equally important that the student is able to link the image to the fact
or concept to be remembered, so it is essential that the connection between the image and content is
not too tenuous.
Spelling mnemonic: One example of a spelling mnemonic, “you always want two desserts, but
you only want one desert,” is used to help students remember that dessert has two of the letter “s”
and desert only has one. Students can create their own spelling mnemonics to help them remember
the spelling of words that they often forget. This activity works well for distinguishing between two
words that are very similar in spelling or sound. Teachers and students can use images, pithy phrases,
or other devices to design a spelling mnemonic.

26
Rhyming Pegwords
Students use this strategy to remember a list of facts or information. The method uses a set of
concrete images that rhyme with the numbers one through ten, such as the following.
One is a bun. Six is a stack of sticks.

Two is a shoe. Seven is heaven.
Three is a tree. Eight is a gate.
Four is a door. Nine is a line.
Five is a hive. Ten is a hen.
To remember a fact or piece of information, a student associates it with one of the concrete images. For
example, a student might want to remember the following list of information about ancient Egyptian
civilization:
1. Egyptian civilization developed along the Nile River in Africa.
2. The Egyptians used a system of writing called hieroglyphics.
3. The Egyptians built the pyramids as burial places for their pharaohs.
To remember these facts, the student might connect the first item to the image for the number one,
a bun. He or she might picture a hot dog bun with the Nile River flowing through the center of
it. The second item would be connected to the image for the number two, a shoe—perhaps a shoe
with hieroglyphics written on the side of it. The third item in the list would be connected to the
image of a tree, for the number three. The student might imagine a tree whose leaves and branches
had been trimmed to create a pyramid shape. These images help the student ensure that he or she
has remembered all the items in the list. This strategy is especially helpful with long lists of facts or
lists that must be recalled in a certain order.
Teacher Actions
• Creating a list of facts that need to be memorized
• Helping students attach information to each pegword image

• Identifying facts that are important enough to be memorized
• A ssociating information with different pegwords and images
• Successfully recalling information using pegwords and images
Extra Support
• A
sking students to draw pictures of the images they use to associate information with each
pegword
Extension
• A
sking students to use a decision-making matrix to decide which information is important
enough to be memorized

27
Rhyming Pegwords Example

Fact 1: The Greek alphabet was the first to have vowels.
AEIOU
Fact 2: Greece has more than a thousand islands.
Fact 3: The Ancient Greeks held the first Olympic Games.

28
Link Strategy
Students use this strategy to remember facts or information by first creating symbols or substitutes
for important ideas and then linking those symbols or substitutes together in a narrative. A symbol
is an image that reminds one of important information, like a rainbow to represent the concept of
an arc. A substitute is a word that is easy to picture and sounds like the information one is trying to
remember, like the word ark to remember the concept of the arc of a circle.
Teacher Actions
• Creating a collection of important ideas that need to be memorized
• Helping students create and link together symbols or substitutes for important ideas

• Identifying important ideas that need to be memorized
• Creating symbols and substitutes for important ideas
• Linking symbols and substitutes together into a narrative or easily remembered sequence
• Successfully recalling information using the link strategy
Extra Support
• Creating video versions of students’ linking narratives (involving symbols and substitutes)
Extension
• A
sking students to create video versions of their linking narratives and asking the class to
guess what information the narrative is supposed to help them remember
Example Use of Link Strategy

This example was designed to help students remember the scientific process. There are generally
six steps in the process: (1) ask a question, (2) do background research, (3) construct a hypothesis,
(4) test the hypothesis by doing an experiment, (5) analyze the data and draw a conclusion, and (6)
report the results.
Prince Science went on a quest with his handy magnifying glass to look for the magic hippo.
He went through many perils, but trusted his horse, Dart, to draw him to the hippo’s conclave.
Afterwards, the hippo and the Prince developed quite the rapport.
Quest: Quest sounds like question and stands in for the first step of the scientific process.
Magnifying glass: Magnifying glass stands in as a symbol for research.
Hippo: Hippo is a substitute for the word hypothesis.
Perils: Perils is a substitute for the word experiment, because it sounds similar.
Dart and the hippo’s conclave: The phrasing of this sentence is meant sound like and be a sub-
stitution for data and draw a conclusion.
Rapport: Rapport is a substitute for report.

29
REPRODUCIBLES
Teachers can use the following reproducibles to monitor their implementation of this element. The
reproducible titled Tracking Progress Over Time helps teachers set goals related to their proficiency
with this element and track their progress toward these goals over the course of a unit, semester, or
year. Tracking Teacher Actions and Tracking Student Responses allow observers in classrooms to
monitor specific teacher and student behavior related to this element. Teachers themselves can also
use the Tracking Student Responses reproducible to document instances of student behaviors during
class. The Strategy Reflection Log provides teachers a space to write down their thoughts and reflect
on the implementation process for specific strategies related to this element. Finally, this section pro-
vides both a student survey and a teacher survey, the results of which provide feedback about teachers’
proficiency with this element.

30
REPRODUCIBLE 31
Tracking Progress Over Time

Use this worksheet to set a goal for your use of this element, make a plan for increasing
your mastery, and chart your progress toward your goal.
Element:
Initial Score:
Goal Score: by (date)
Specific things I am going to do to improve:
3
Score on Element
0
a b c d e f g h i j
Date
a. f.
b. g.
c. h.
d. i.
e. j.

32 REPRODUCIBLE
Tracking Teacher Actions

During an observation, the observer can use this form to record the teacher’s usage of
strategies related to the element of recording and representing content.
Observation Date and Time: Length of Observation:
Check Strategies Description of What Was Observed

Strategies You
Intend to Use
Informal Outline
Summarizing
Pictorial Notes and

Pictographs
Combination Notes,
Pictures, and Summary
Graphic Organizers
Free-Flowing Web
Academic Notebooks
Dramatic Enactments
Mnemonic Devices
Rhyming Pegwords
Link Strategy
Other:
Other:

REPRODUCIBLE 33
Tracking Student Responses

A teacher or observer can use this worksheet to record instances of student behavior
to inform planning and implementation of strategies associated with recording and repre-
senting content. Any item followed by an asterisk is an example of undesirable behavior
related to the element; the teacher should look for a decrease in the number of instances
of these items.
Observation Date and Time: Length of Observation:
Behavior Number of Instances

Using notes to record critical content
Using graphic organizers to record critical

content
Creating pictures or pictographs to

represent critical content
Providing summaries for content
Explaining the reasoning behind

summaries
Using an academic notebook to record

ideas and notes
Creating mnemonics to remember content
Using mnemonics to remember content
Demonstrating how they represented

content
Performing a dramatic enactment that

relates to content
Other:
Other:

34 REPRODUCIBLE
Strategy Reflection Log

Use this worksheet to select a strategy, set a goal, and reflect on your use of that
strategy.
Element:
Strategy:
Goal:
Date How did it go?

REPRODUCIBLE 35
Student Survey for Recording and Representing

Content
1. My teacher asks me to show my learning using pictures, charts, and
diagrams.
Neither Agree
Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree
Nor Disagree
2. My teacher uses activities that help me draw, sketch, or otherwise show my

learning (besides writing about it).
Neither Agree
Nor Disagree
3. My teacher asks me to summarize what I have learned using graphic

organizers, charts, diagrams, or pictographs.
Neither Agree
Nor Disagree
4. When I take notes, I often draw diagrams or pictures to show information.
Neither Agree
Nor Disagree
5. My teacher helps me create mind pictures to organize and remember

important information.
Neither Agree
Nor Disagree
6. I can usually explain the main idea of a lesson.

Neither Agree
Nor Disagree

36 REPRODUCIBLE
Teacher Survey for Recording and Representing

Content
1. I ask students to record critical content through the use of notes or other
linguistic representations.
Often Sometimes Rarely Never I don’t know
2. I ask students to record content using nonlinguistic representations,

including graphs, pictures, graphic organizers, and flow charts.
3. I ask students to write summaries of content.
4. I show students how and when to use different graphic organizers.
5. I ask students to explain the reasoning behind their representations of

content.
6. I ask students to identify critical content.
7. I use mnemonics in class to help students remember critical content.


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DIRECT INSTRUCTION LESSONS

THE MARZANO COMPENDIUM OF

Copyright © 2016 by Marzano Research

Director of Content and Resources: Julia A. Simms

MARZ ANO COMPENDIUM OF INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Pictorial Notes and Pictographs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Combination Notes, Pictures, and Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

MARZ ANO COMPENDIUM OF INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

MARZ ANO COMPENDIUM OF INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES