As new ideas/concepts/activities begin, they are integrated with past and future learning.

Definition(s) and/or Explanation(s)

Integrating new concepts with prior and future learning enhances continuity and transfer of learning.

Linking past and future learning includes asking questions, using demonstrations, and soliciting learner examples.

In a writing class on the format of letter writing, the use of headings has already been learned. The teacher next explains how to structure the body of a letter text and how the text body varies with formal and informal letter headings. Examples of informal (to friends) and formal (to the city mayor) text and headings are then shared with and discussed by learners. Learners then practice writing headings and text in small groups.

New

Elementary

In an elementary geography lesson on the Rockies, the teacher asks the learners to recall, from previous lessons, how location and altitude affect climate. After reviewing pertinent factors, the teacher directs all learners to describe the type of weather they would expect to find in Denver in September.

Secondary

1. In a tenth-grade US History class, the teacher introduces the concepts of the executive and judicial branches of government and asks how they compare to the legislative branch discussed the previous day. Learners are then asked to think about how understanding checks and balances in government is important to the principles of democracy to be discussed later in the unit.

2. The teacher begins an honors physics class with a demonstration of principles of transfer of motion through solid bodies using a series of suspended metal balls. After observation, learners are asked how their observations relate to the concept of force learned the prior day. The teacher then explains how the events observed relate to today’s topics of transfer of motion, drag, force, and terminal velocity.

New

Secondary

In a secondary social studies class, after a review of important concepts related to WW I, the teacher begins a unit about WWII by asking the learners to identify the issues left unresolved by the peace agreements of WW I.