Cory often uses whole-class instruction to initiate or close a lesson, but most of the class period involves group work, with small clusters of three or four students working together to grasp a concept or refine a skill. Students are assigned to a group by the teacher based on their current level of readiness for what they are studying, or, on occasion, by their interest in a particular application for the math skill they're studying. Typically, Cory uses a tiered assignment with two, three, or four activities at different levels of readiness. There is usually more than one small group working at the same readiness level. Members of each group have their own activity sheet with problems, directions, and additional information as needed.
Students work together, helping each other to understand and correct their work.
The teacher monitors the students' work, answering questions only if the group members can't figure something out. Students take a quiz and have a homework assignment every day. Quiz and homework problems are at varying levels of difficulty. All the problems are on a single handout, but Cory differentiates them by assigning specific problems to each group. At the same time, students are encouraged to try more challenging problems if they wish.