Directions for learning tasks and explanations of content and/or learning tasks are clearly understood by learners.

Understanding what is to be learned, what to do, and how to do it are important elements of learning.

The teacher can provide explanations or directions, or learners can explain things to each other.

Learning tasks:

• are activities in which learners are engaged/involved that broaden their understanding of content, topics, ideas, and/or integration/coordination of skills

• vary from simple drill and practice to more complex tasks such as constructing creative solutions to problems through the generation and discussion of ideas

After reviewing descriptive writing and the characteristics of the paragraph, the teacher in a fourth-grade writing class gives the directions for a writing assignment involving a descriptive paragraph about the learners’ neighborhoods. The teacher calls upon a learner who accurately restates the assignment. Learners quickly engage in the assignment as the teacher moves around the room ensuring that all learners understood the task.

Fifth-graders in an "algebraic thinking" mathematics class look at a pattern of planting rows and the rate of planting by one man in a week. The teacher guides the learners through the steps involved in creating on an x, y axis the data on planting and the time it took to complete planting the rows. Learners are teacher led to complete an example on the board. The teacher monitors engagement by each learner as they complete the assignment independently.

In a Biology I class, the teacher explains levels of organization within living systems (organelle, cell, tissue, organ, etc.). Learners are then given a worksheet task depicting different living systems that is explained by the teacher and subsequently label different levels of organization without needing any clarification.

In an eighth-grade mathematics class, learners use information from a city bus schedule to complete graphs showing the arrival times for two bus routes. When learners are able to describe the assignment accurately, the teacher knows that the learners understand the directions and content for the task. Learners then proceed to complete the assignment.