Teachers do not need to overhaul entire units to begin applying concepts to drive cognitive engagement. Small, deliberate shifts can immediately create more “thinking space” for your learners. Below is a set of ready-to-use routines you can implement tomorrow. Each is aligned to the core moves described in last week’s blog on the theory of cognitive load. 

1.  The One-Minute Clarified Directions Check

Goal: Reduce extraneous load by ensuring students understand what they are being asked to do before they begin.

How to run it tomorrow:

1. Before releasing students to work, display the task directions.
2. Ask students to underline the verb and circle the product (e.g., explain, compare, create; paragraph, diagram, solution).
3. Have two students restate the directions in their own words while you listen for unnecessary complexity or ambiguity.
4. Revise on the spot if something is unclear.

Why it works: Students conserve working memory for thinking, not deciphering your directions.

CBE connection: Clear directions prevent extraneous load that can obscure what evidence maps to 2.0, 3.0, or 4.0 demonstrations. In other words, what looked like a lack of content knowledge was actually a lack of knowing how to execute the task being provided. We want evidence of their learning so you and the learner can properly determine the next steps to improve their status in the learning progression.

2. Micro-Chunking With Pause-and-Process

Goal: Manage intrinsic load so new content arrives in digestible pieces.

How to run it tomorrow:

1. Break a lecture, video, or reading into 2 to 4 (or more) short chunks.
2. After each chunk, ask students to complete a quick process prompt:
• List the two most important ideas so far (summary).
• Sketch a quick visual of how these concepts connect (summary).
• Write one question you now have (question).
• What do you feel will come next (prediction)?
3. Move to the next chunk only after processing.

Why it works: Working memory resets, giving students space to encode. This means a learner’s working memory will have more space to acquire and hold the additional foundational knowledge in the next chunks until they have time to process.

CBE connection: These micro-processes produce visible 2.0 and 3.0 evidence during instruction, and not only at the end. Using your scale, you can break the Scale Level 2.0 foundational knowledge into a series of intentional chunks and plan pauses that allow students to process and retrieve that knowledge. Remember that some students may already hold portions of the foundational knowledge through prior learning or experience; these learners may be able to process larger chunks without overload. This does not mean all students should be expected to do so. Thoughtful planning includes anticipating how you will adapt the execution of the lesson so every learner has the thinking space they need. For further guidance on structuring and adjusting learning experiences, see the elements in Design Area IV of the Marzano Academies Instructional Model.

3. Pre-Teaching Key Terms With a “Lite” Organizer

Goal: Lower intrinsic load before a complex task.

How to run it tomorrow:

1. Identify 2 to 3 essential terms or concepts needed for the day’s learning goal.
2. Provide a simple organizer with:
• Term
• Quick definition
• One example
• A quick sketch or image
3. Spend 3–4 minutes previewing these before the main task.

Why it works: Students enter the lesson with a schema already forming. Words anchor ideas, and ideas allow the mind to handle larger chunks of information at once. We rarely think in isolated components; instead, we think in meaningful wholes. For example, we say, “Open your laptop,” not “Lift the plastic shell containing a CPU, RAM, motherboard, and display panel and activate the operating system.” The schema of “laptop” frees us from thinking about every component. Words for the lesson give students a coherent mental structure so new information can attach more easily.

CBE connection: Stronger foundational knowledge leads to more reliable 2.0 evidence and smoother progression into 3.0.

4. The “Strip Away the Noise” Slide or Handout Edit

Goal: Reduce extraneous load by simplifying visual clutter.

How to run it tomorrow:

Select one slide deck or handout you will use tomorrow and quickly:

• Remove decorative graphics.
• Reduce text density by 30–40%.
• Align headings to the scale target or lesson outcome.
• Ensure all visuals directly support meaning.

Why it works: Cleaner visuals free cognitive energy for reasoning.

CBE connection: Clarity of presentation supports clarity of the learning target.

5. Two-Prompt Germane Load Boosters

Goal: Increase germane load by nudging students to make meaning.

How to run it tomorrow:

After teaching a concept, use one of these prompts:

• Explain why this idea matters for today’s scale target.
• Represent this idea another way (diagram, equation, analogy).
• Connect this concept to something we learned earlier this week.

Why it works: Taking 2 to 3 minutes after a chunk of instruction or at the end of class to prompt students to make intentional connections will strengthen schema construction. Learning becomes more durable when new information attaches to existing knowledge rather than remaining isolated. As you actively observe during these brief processing moments (using a “clipboard” to capture notes about levels of learning), you can quickly repair misconceptions and identify learners who have not yet secured the foundational 2.0 knowledge. These gaps may appear as misunderstandings (errors of misconceptions) or as missing information (errors of omissions), and early detection prevents them from compounding as students move toward 3.0 application.

CBE connection: These prompts generate authentic, visible 3.0 meaning-making evidence that shows how well students connect and apply ideas.

6. “Where Am I on the Scale Right Now?” Mid-Lesson Check

Goal: Help students monitor cognitive demands and locate their current understanding.

How to run it tomorrow: Halfway through the lesson, ask students to mark one of the following in their notebook:

• I’m at 2.0: I can recall or describe the basics.
• I’m moving into 3.0: I can start applying today’s idea.
• I’m overwhelmed: I’m stuck in the directions or the content.

A Personal Tracking Matrix (examples) is an effective structure for managing this process. For learners, the matrix makes their progression visible; they can see how daily acquisition of foundational knowledge accumulates toward the critical mass required for demonstrating understanding or skill at Scale Level 3.0. For teachers, the matrix provides a rapid, unobtrusive means of checking for understanding across the class. If more than one-third of students indicate they are “overwhelmed,” this is a signal to pause instruction, reduce extraneous or intrinsic load, and recalibrate before moving forward.

Why it works: Students gain metacognition; teachers gain diagnostic clarity.

CBE connection: This routine reinforces one of the core practices of competency-based education: learners monitor their progress in relation to clearly defined performance levels and use that information to guide their next steps. By identifying whether they are operating at 2.0, moving toward 3.0, or experiencing cognitive overload, students engage directly with the scale as a learning tool rather than a scoring device. This supports the development of learner agency, fosters accurate self-assessment, and provides timely evidence that teachers can use to adjust instruction. In a CBE system, these mid-lesson checks help ensure that students move to higher levels of performance only when they have secured the foundational knowledge necessary for success.

7. Cognitive Load–Smart Grouping

Goal: Group students in ways that lighten the load and sharpen focus. We refer to this as Adaptive Execution. Feel free to reach out to us through the Learning Lab Community within the Learning Hub and ask for more details on how to use this type of planning, or attend an office hour and ask your question to the various Marzano academies faculty.

How to run it tomorrow: Choose a learning target and group students based on what kind of support they need. You can use this flowchart as a reference. Feel free to ask questions.

• Group A (Directed Study): The learner needs vocabulary or concept reinforcement (intrinsic load support). This support should come from the teacher or a more knowledgeable other (MKO) to correct the errors of omission (they simply did not acquire and encode the foundational knowledge), or errors of misconception (they acquired the foundational knowledge but encoded it incorrectly or linked it to an incorrect prior idea).
• Group B (Guided Study): Needs clarified steps or a model (extraneous load reduction). They need more time to build fluency or automaticity around the target concept or skill.
• Group C (Independent Study): Ready for explaining or connecting (germane load increase). They are ready for application tasks either at the Scale Level or 4.0 levels. You can confidently estimate the learner has acquired a critical mass of the foundational and can successfully retrieve it.

CBE connection: Learners experience scale-aligned support based on evidence, not guesswork.

8. Worked Example → Faded Example Routine

Goal: Scaffold intrinsic load during problem solving.

How to run it tomorrow:

1. Provide one fully worked example.
2. Have students annotate: Where did the reasoning happen? Where could errors creep in?
3. Then give a faded example where some steps are completed, and some are blank.
4. Students fill in the missing reasoning.

Why it works: Students transition from observing to doing without overwhelm.

CBE connection: The faded example reveals whether learners can independently generate the reasoning that sits at the 3.0 level.

9. The 30-Second “What’s Essential Here?” Reset

Goal: Redirect attention to the heart of the task.

How to run it tomorrow: Set a timer for specific intervals, like every 5 , 7, or 10 minutes. When the timer sounds, pause and ask students to write a 30-second response to:

• What is the essential thinking this task requires?
• What must I understand or be able to do to show 3.0 today?

Why it works: Students prune away irrelevant details and direct their cognitive effort toward making meaning. Retrieving the key elements of the concept strengthens the retrieval pathway and increases the likelihood that the knowledge will be accessible in future contexts. This form of questioning also develops essential metacognitive skills, such as pushing the limits of one’s own knowledge and skills, and seeking accuracy. A comprehensive list of these skills can be found on the Peak Curriculum website, an online tool developed by Dr. Marzano to help learners engage with the knowledge and processes associated with metacognition and life skills. Through this routine, students learn to focus on the learning itself and experience the productive struggle that arises when they do not yet have all the information they need, reinforcing the importance of maintaining clarity as they work toward accurate, complete responses.

CBE connection: This routine strengthens key competencies that sit at the heart of a CBE environment. As students retrieve essential information, monitor the accuracy of their thinking, and recognize gaps in their understanding, they engage directly in the self-regulation and reflective processes required for credible demonstrations of proficiency. These behaviors mirror the expectations embedded in Scale Level 3.0, where learners not only demonstrate their levels of understanding and ability but also do so with intentionality and accuracy. By helping students experience what it feels like to need clearer information and then guiding them in how to resolve that need, the routine reinforces the skills associated with learner agency, including goal-directed behavior, persistence, and monitoring of progress. The resulting evidence becomes part of the student’s ongoing progression on the proficiency scale, ensuring that movement toward higher performance levels is grounded in authentic understanding rather than task completion alone.

10. End-of-Class Thinking Space Audit

Goal: Build teacher awareness of cognitive load patterns.

How to run it tomorrow:

For the teacher, at the end of the lesson, jot three quick notes:

• Where might extraneous load have crept in today?
• What parts of the lesson carried high intrinsic load? Did students have enough scaffolds?
• Where did students show productive (germane) effort?

Use this 90-second reflection to adjust tomorrow’s plan.

Try One, Not All

Choose one strategy to test tomorrow.

Choose a second to test later this week.

Watch for the moment when students stop spending energy figuring out the task and start spending energy thinking about the content.

That shift is the essence of creating thinking space.

If you’d like to swap ideas or share how you’re using retrieval in your setting, jump into the Learning Lab: post in the Community Channels, join an office hour, or send a direct message to the Learning Hub Faculty. We’d love to see the retrieval routines you’re testing out and what your students are discovering they can do from memory.