Lesson Closure

While the following description of lesson closure is drawn from research on 5 part and gradual release lessons, it can serve as a pretty universal set of principles for thinking about closure of most lesson types.

Lesson closure enables learners to communicate the results or products of their learning in their own words or symbols, further assessing their understanding and providing feedback. Learning gains are made visible to the group, and existing misconceptions are further problematized or clarified. Key ideas are reviewed and summarized. The goals of the lesson presented in the opening are revisited and students reflect on their progress towards the goals, providing an additional opportunity for the teacher to monitor student learning. Future lesson topics or directions may be highlighted connected to the broader learning sequence, essential questions or big ideas of the unit or course.

Closure is important because it allows students to consolidate their learning and bookends a lesson or learning activity as a "cognitive chunk." Without closure, students may have a hard time just "picking up where they left off" in the next lesson.

In planning lesson closures, teachers ask themselves:

• How will students share and get feedback on the results (or products) of their learning?
• How will you assess student understanding and address any mistakes, misunderstandings, or misconceptions?
• How will students review, summarize, or reflect on what they learned?
• How will you connect back to the learning outcomes?

These features should not be thought of as a checklist, and most lesson closures will prioritize some elements or purposes over others.

Here are some suggestions for closure activities via Edutopia: 22 Powerful Closure Activities