Often, students’ eyes glaze over when a teacher mentions abstract concepts like “democracy,” “photosynthesis,” and “integer.” Such “glazed” effects can be avoided by using the Concept Mastery Routine to help students analyze such concepts in a logical, non-threatening way.

At the heart of this routine is a form called the Concept Diagram. In partnership, the teacher and students use this diagram to analyze the characteristics of a key concept that are always present, sometimes present, and never present in examples of the concept. They also generate examples and non-examples of the concept, figure out a larger category to which the concept belongs, and create a definition for the concept.