Holistic instruction is the final piece — the one that pulls everything else into one place. It means looking at a learning experience as a whole, from beginning to end, with your eyes always on the one who matters most: the learner. It stands on two legs, and you need both: lesson design (how you build the experience) and lesson delivery (how you bring it to life). Grounded in the 3 R’s — relationships, relevance, and rigor — this course walks you through designing the opening, content, and closing; delivering with energy; and writing two objectives into every lesson, an academic one and a life skill, so kids leave with content and character, side by side. Because the goal was never a lesson that keeps kids busy. It’s learning that changes them.
Before You Begin
Step 1 — Read the Holistic Instruction eBook: Open the eBook.
Step 2 — Download the Holistic Instruction Implementation Playbook: Open the Playbook.
Step 3 — Download the Holistic Instruction Checklist: Open the Checklist.
Step 4 — Download the 7 Habits Lesson-Design Reference: Open the 7 Habits reference.
Step 5 — Download the 16 Habits of Mind Lesson-Design Reference: Open the 16 Habits reference.
Holistic instruction means looking at a learning experience as a whole, from beginning to end, with your eyes on the learner. It stands on two legs — lesson design and lesson delivery — and you need both. This opening lesson lays the foundation: the 3 R’s (relationships, relevance, rigor), that teaching and learning are reciprocal, the two objectives every lesson carries, and beginning with the end in mind.
Every plan begins with two objectives — an academic one and a life skill. Then comes the opening, which does three things: state the objective, activate prior knowledge (“what do you already know?”, often with a K-W-L chart), and build background. Plus a delivery tip baked into the design: give directions three ways — show it, say it, do it (visual, auditory, kinesthetic).
The heart of the lesson, and the part we’re tempted to skip. Content follows the gradual release of responsibility — I do, We do, You do — passing the baton from your hands to theirs, while you circulate and seize teaching moments. Then the closing (plan about ten minutes): review, reflect (Confirm, Tweak, Aha!), and debrief (What? So what? Now what? — and the next 72 hours).
The same lesson can be electric or flat — the difference is energy, and yours is contagious. This lesson gives you the Mickey Mouse Principle: on the days you don’t feel it, bring it anyway, because the kids deserve your best. It shows how — voice, movement, smiles and names, genuine delight, and relevance — and to Engage before you explain.
The first framework for that second objective: Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits, a kid-friendly map for becoming an effective person — from Be Proactive and Begin with the End in Mind through Synergize and Sharpen the Saw. You don’t teach them in a separate class; you use three moves — name it, set it as Objective #2, and debrief it — inside the learning you’re already doing.
The second framework: Costa and Kallick’s 16 Habits of Mind, which describe what good thinkers do when the answer isn’t obvious. Grouped so they stick — sticking with it, thinking well, taking in and creating, and heart and people — they become your menu for Objective #2. Pick one per lesson, name it, set it, and debrief it, growing character right alongside academics.
Everyone learns differently — so we give children more than one way into the lesson. This closing lesson is Universal Design for Learning: designing and delivering in every modality — visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and more — so every child has a real opportunity to engage. When you plan for the learners at the edges, you reach everyone in between.