George Lucas Educational Foundation

60-Second Strategy: Framing the Lesson

When teachers make their teaching and learning goals clear to their class, every activity has a purpose and every student understands what they’re doing.

October 4, 2023

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At P.S. 249, the Caton School, in Brooklyn, New York, kindergarten teacher Julie Jay starts nearly every lesson by stating exactly what she wants her students to learn. She closes by circling back and having the kids share what they just learned—and how they know they’ve got it. This brings clarity to her classroom, she says, and makes it clear how every part of the lesson relates back to her objectives. On top of that, the built-in reflection helps the learning stick.

Schools That Work

P.S. 249 The Caton School

Public, Urban

Grades PK-5

Brooklyn, NY

At P.S. 249 in Brooklyn, New York, about half of the student body are from Spanish-speaking countries—but what might be considered a language challenge for some has been turned into an opportunity here. The school’s dual-language Spanish program starts in kindergarten. Nearly every teacher is trained to teach English as a second language, and consistent with best practices in ELL, standards remain high despite understandable gaps in language comprehension. Through a robust math curriculum, engaging science days, and a new way of doing professional development that frames classrooms as teaching labs, the neighborhood school not only brings out the best in kids—it has become a high performer over the past decade.

Earned an America’s Best School Award from the National Center for Urban School Transformation in 2023.
Received a Blue Ribbon Award for Exemplary Performance from the U.S. Department of Education in 2021.
Named a Reward School for 2 years in a row (2018–19) for high academic achievement—with no significant gaps between subgroups—by the New York Department of Education.