Analyse the Task First

The strategy, as published

Exactly as it appears on the card

Part of Forethought & Planning in 06 Metacognition & Self-Regulation, where it sits alongside its neighbouring strategies, the infographic and the thinking for the whole area.

Why you might use it

The problem it may help with

The first minute of a task is often spent writing, which is the problem. Zimmerman found that strong learners break a task into its demands before starting; weaker ones answer the question they assumed they were asked, and find out at marking time.

Two questions do most of the work here: what is this question really asking, and which prior topics does it draw on? Both come before the first line goes down.

What it might look like

One version of it, in a classroom

A worded maths problem goes up on the board. Before anyone solves it, the class annotates it together: the quantity actually being asked for is circled, the topics it draws on are named at the side, and the step most likely to catch people out gets a warning mark. Only then do pupils attempt it, and the annotation stays visible.

What to notice

Reading what happens

• Pupils who start writing the moment the task lands. Speed of starting is not a good sign here.
• Whether the demands pupils identify match the ones you had in mind. The mismatches tell you what to model next.
• Misreadings surfacing during analysis rather than in your marking pile. That is the strategy doing its job.

Things to think about

Before and while you use it

• Model the analysis aloud before expecting pupils to do it; the questions look obvious to an expert precisely because the expert no longer notices asking them.
• It costs a few minutes at the start of the task. Budget for them, because they are usually repaid at the end.

Related strategies

Where this connects

• 🎯 Set the Goal First Zimmerman: planning begins with a specific, proximal goal, not a vague aim. Have students state what a good answer to this question looks like before they start writing it. 06 Metacognition & Self-Regulation · Forethought & Planning
• 📜 Pick a Strategy on Purpose Flavell: planning means selecting an approach, not defaulting to one. Have students name which method they will use for this problem and why, before the first line goes down. 06 Metacognition & Self-Regulation · Forethought & Planning
• 🎯 Separate Intention from Task The learning intention is what to learn, not what to do. Finishing the task is not the same as achieving the learning. Keep them distinct in your planning and in what you say to students at every stage of the lesson. 02 Formative Assessment · Clarify Learning Intentions
• 🗣 Think Aloud Rosenshine: model the process, not the product. Use a visualiser or screen share to think aloud live. Narrate your decisions as you work. Make invisible expertise visible to all. 05 Explanations & Modelling · Modelling & Worked Examples

The wider thinking

Where the evidence sits

Task analysis is the opening move of Zimmerman's forethought phase: the reading of demands that everything downstream, goal, strategy and monitoring, depends on. The card’s attribution stands as published: Zimmerman.

The fuller picture, sources included, is in further reading and evidence for Metacognition & Self-Regulation.