Mini Lessons & DK Instant Expert Resources

Mini-lessons promote easy, regular skill-building

Find motivational mini lessons and the informational texts you need to reinforce key concepts. Plus, become an Instant Expert on Science and Social Studies topics featured in DK's award-winning mini lesson reference series.  Select a topic to get started!

What are Focused Mini Lesssons? 

A mini lesson is a short lesson with a narrow focus that provides instruction in a skill or concept that students will then relate to a larger lesson that will follow. A mini lesson typically precedes reading workshop or writing workshop, but it can serve as an introduction to a social studies, science, or math lesson. Mini lessons can be used to teach particular skills, extend previous learning, create interest in a topic and generate questions, or introduce strategies.

Why Should I Use Mini Lessons in My Teaching?

As Lucy Calkins explains in The Art of Teaching Writing, the mini lesson allows a teacher to convey a tip or strategy to students that they will use often (Calkins 1986).

Sharing tips and strategies in this way allows students to gain valuable, relevant skills on a regular basis without spending too much time on drills and worksheets that might otherwise be used to teach the same skills. The lessons can focus on any number of topics, including reading, writing, problem-solving strategies and skills, or even classroom procedures.

Using authentic student work as a springboard, teacher-created mini lessons can serve the needs of students by focusing on a single topic across multiple instructional levels.

Who are These Mini Lesson Resources For? 

TeacherVision's mini lessons and DK's Instant Expert resources can be used by teachers of all grades and subjects! Mini lessons can serve as a lead-in to a larger lesson in just about any subject area and can be as short as 5 minutes or as long as 15 minutes.

Looking for longer lesson plans? Visit our lesson plan hub or search by subject and grade!