⭐ The Art of Modelling: Chunking Modelling

Breaking down the “I Do” to support working memory and fluency

🎨 Why Modelling Matters So Much in Primary

This post kicks off a short series on The Art of Modelling, exploring how, when, and what we model to help children learn well.

In primary, modelling isn’t just helpful, it’s integral to building the foundations of knowledge. For novice learners, we’re not just building knowledge, we’re shaping the very structure of that knowledge. We’re laying the first layers of schema, so we need to be exceptionally clear, deliberate, and explicit in showing how we think, what we prioritise, and what “good” looks like.

That’s why modelling is so crucial. It steers attention, prevents misconceptions, and makes learning visible before it’s practised.

As Emma Turner notes, CPD can sometimes gloss over modelling, which in turn implies a lack of value. She also highlights how tech and content overload can crowd it out. And Rachel and Alex remind us that modelling isn’t just a lesson opener, it’s a strategy that should guide thinking across the whole sequence.

So, in this first post, we’re starting with just that: how modelling can be chunked across a lesson to support understanding, reduce overload, and break larger concepts down.

💡 Let’s Get Stuck In

Modelling isn’t optional.

It’s how we direct attention, reduce working memory overload, and show pupils how experts think. When we model well, we make the invisible visible. We narrate the decisions, we slow down the process, we highlight what matters.

But here’s the problem: The “I Do” often gets dumped at the start of a lesson like it’s the warm-up act. Then we move swiftly to “We Do” and “You Do,” assuming the modelling has done its job.

But we wouldn’t expect a teacher to model how to make a lasagne from start to finish before allowing the children to practice. Common sense would tell us that we would model each step separately, with students following along in an I Do, You Do, repeat type way.

🧠 In reality, one big modelled chunk is sometimes not enough, especially for novice learners in Primary. When the process is complex, we need to chunk the modelling, spacing it across the lesson in manageable parts that match where pupils are in the learning.

🔧 I Do, We Do, You Do are Tools

The “I Do, We Do, You Do” model gets thrown around a lot, and in theory, it works. It acknowledges modelling as an explicit part of the teaching sequence. But as Rachel and Alex recently wrote, ‘the danger is in seeing it as a 3-part structure, as if you move from one phase to the next in a straight line.

In practice, effective teaching often means looping back and using techniques as tools that are revisted or split into parts to reduce cognitive load. For example:

I Do Part 1 → We Do Part 1 → I Do Part 2 → We Do Part 2 → You Do Part 1 and 2 → I Do (but now in response to feedback)

That’s what I mean by chunked modelling. Let’s look at some examples of what this looks like…

🧱 What Chunked Modelling Looks Like