Introduction: A Teacher’s Companion Then and Now
At GivEducation, we believe that technology should work with teachers, not against them. We’re made by teachers, for teachers and we are embracing the knowledge and experience we have develop tools which will help teachers the most. This blog post was written by Alex, a former teacher in England who has a history of using the Rosenshine Principles and has linked each one to a tool we offer. Here’s some words directly from him.
“During my time working in education, Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction were a constant companion as it is a research-backed blueprint for what great teaching looks like in practice. I still remember being an NQT and being handed Tom Sherrington’s Rosenshine’s Principles in Action; it genuinely revolutionised how I thought about teaching and learning. Rooted in cognitive science and real world classroom strategies, Rosenshine’s ideas have always been about clear, effective, and pupil centred teaching, everything great teaching should be. I always wanted to use more of Rosenshine in the classroom but I just didn’t have the time or head space to fully implement it, this is where the GivEducation Teacher Toolkit would have been so helpful in achieving this, and why I am so passionate about this technology.”
Used thoughtfully, the right tools can make these principles even more achievable, without losing the heart and soul of outstanding teaching. Built by teachers, for teachers, GivEducation’s tools are designed to do exactly that. Here’s how our tools link to each principle.
1. Daily Review: Making Learning Stick
Rosenshine says: Start lessons by reviewing previous learning to strengthen memory and understanding.
How GivEducation tools help:
- Comprehension Questions Generator: Quickly create retrieval activities linked to reading or topic work, making daily review fast, relevant, and personalised.
- Misconception Solver: Predict where pupils might struggle before you even teach, allowing you to plan interventions effectively. Combine this insight with Principle 6 to track actual knowledge progression.
Practical tip: Use a quick question from the Comprehension Questions Generator or Misconception Generator as a morning starter or exit ticket to keep essential knowledge fresh.
2. Presenting New Material in Small Steps
Rosenshine says: Avoid cognitive overload by introducing material step-by-step.
How GivEducation tools help:
- Story Book Creator: Break down complex topics into short, engaging narratives that pupils can easily access and build upon, particularly empowering for primary learners.
- Creative Writing Visualiser: Break down complex writing skills into bite-sized visual examples, helping pupils master one technique at a time before building towards more complex compositions.
Practical tip: Start a topic with a storybook narrative, then use the visualiser to zoom in on specific language choices, focusing on one new skill at a time.
3. Ask Questions
Rosenshine says: Good questioning deepens thinking and checks understanding.
How GivEducation tools help:
- AI Chat: Instantly generate curriculum-specific, tailored questions which are built around the National Curriculum to scaffold discussion.
- Comprehension Questions Generator: Target different reading skills (such as retrieval, inference, word meaning) to support differentiated questioning.
Practical tip: Use AI Chat to research a topic for study in your class, and then take this information and feed it into the Comprehension Question Generator to develop worksheets for use in lesson.
4. Provide Models
Rosenshine says: Show pupils how to think, plan, and work things out.
How GivEducation tools help:
- WAGOLL Creator: Produce exemplars that meet National Curriculum standards, clearly highlighting the features pupils should notice and replicate.
- Maths Stem Sentence Generator: Provide ready made scaffolds for mathematical reasoning, building clarity and confidence.
Practical tip: Display a WAGOLL alongside pupils’ own work to facilitate self-assessment and peer feedback conversations.
5. Guide Student Practice
Rosenshine says: Teachers should guide initial practice before independent work.
How GivEducation tools help:
- Scientific Enquiry Builder: Create scaffolded science enquiries that guide pupils carefully through targeted units of learning developed from the National Curriculum. This will build pupil independence without overwhelming them.
- Sensory Idea Hub: Offer accessible, tangible science lesson opportunities. This tool has been built with improving access to science for students with SEND.
Practical tip: Pair scaffolded enquiry activities with verbal prompts and stem sentencesto enable all students to access the curriculum.
6. Check for Understanding
Rosenshine says: Continually monitor pupils’ understanding and adjust teaching as needed.
How GivEducation tools help:
- Misconception Solver: Predict common pitfalls ahead of teaching and prepare your questioning or interventions accordingly.
- Document Analyser: Quickly verify curriculum, exam, or policy details to keep your lessons accurate and ambitious.
Practical tip: Use the Misconception Solver’s predictions to craft resources to help you catch and address gaps early.
7. Obtain High Success Rates
Rosenshine says: Ensure pupils succeed with strong guidance before moving on.
How GivEducation tools help:
- Comprehension Questions Generator: Set independent tasks with automatic answer sheets, making feedback faster and more actionable.
- AI Chat: Helps teachers scaffold learning and create personalised resources so they can all succeed.
Practical tip: Use AI Chat to create personalised learning resources for use in the classroom which will enable all students to have learning resources which meet their needs and allows them all to succeed.
8. Provide Scaffolds for Difficult Tasks
Rosenshine says: Provide temporary supports until pupils can work independently.
How GivEducation tools help:
- Maths Stem Sentence Generator: Provide ready-made stem sentences that pupils can independently use to explain their thinking clearly and accurately in math’s tasks.
- Comprehension Questions Generator: Quickly create personalised reading comprehension tasks linked to taught content, allowing pupils to practise retrieval, inference, and vocabulary skills independently.
Practical tip: Model the use of scaffolds explicitly early on, then gradually phase them out as pupils’ confidence grows.
9. Independent Practice
Rosenshine says: Pupils need time to independently practise what they’ve been taught, reinforcing understanding and fluency.
How GivEducation tools help:
- Comprehension Questions Generator: Create purposeful independent tasks that are aligned with prior learning. Whether you’re targeting understanding of the topic, Interpretation and analysis or critical response, we provide you a range of reading focuses to develop ready-made questions which reduce planning time, while being able to personalise to each students need while supporting knowledge retrieval.
- Maths Stem Sentence Generator: Encourage structured responses in maths lessons by equipping pupils with scaffolded support. These can be reduced from step 8 to encourage more independent work in unconfident students. This boosts independence, especially in multi-step or reasoning-heavy tasks.
Practical tip: Build a weekly routine where pupils complete a short, targeted task independently using questions generated by GivEducation tools. Reinforce the use of stem sentences to ensure they’re articulating ideas with precision and clarity.
10. Weekly and Monthly Review
Rosenshine says: Regular review strengthens memory and helps pupils retain what they’ve learned.
How GivEducation tools help:
- Misconception Solver: This tool identifies the common gaps or errors that pupils may still hold, even after initial teaching. Teachers can use this insight to create targeted review questions that actively address the most persistent misunderstandings. This means review time is spent meaningfully, correcting fragile knowledge rather than rehearsing what’s already secure. Over time, this ensures pupils not only retain information but refine and deepen their understanding of it.
Practical tip: Use the Misconception Solver to identify and build specific hinge questions for your weekly or monthly quizzes, ensuring every review session sharpens, not just repeats learning.
Final Thoughts: Keeping Pedagogy at the Heart
At GivEducation, we believe the magic happens in the classroom, not inside the technology. Our tools are not designed to replace teachers, but to free them to focus on what truly matters: inspiring, modelling, guiding, and shaping young minds. Our goal is to allow teachers to do this and not worry about background tasks, let GivEducation do that.
By connecting thoughtful technology to Rosenshine’s timeless, human principles, we can lighten teachers’ workloads without losing the personal touch that brings learning alive. Whether you are reviewing prior knowledge, guiding new learning, or checking for understanding, GivEducation offers a practical, trustworthy hand which is being built by teachers, for teachers.
If you’re interested in learning more, and would like to ask us another question, contact us at: hello@giveducation.co.uk
