Develop a CBE Lesson

Video Transcription

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you are having a wonderful day today. Today we are going to develop a competency-based education lesson.

And for today's lesson, I have chosen a quote by Abraham Lincoln which states that, "the philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." And I think this really applies and it's important for us to think about when we create those unit plans and our lessons for our classrooms. Now by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explore the development of a competency-based education lesson from an Understanding by Design unit of study.

First, I want you to go ahead and take a look at that Understanding by Design unit plan that I've created before. So this is a unit plan for an English nine classroom that covers To Kill a Mockingbird. So you'll notice here, I've given you just an overarching clip of that unit plan that I created based on the stage one elements of the overarching plan for that.

Now when we take that unit plan and break that up into various lessons, there are a number of stages that we want to go through. Just as we look at those various stages when we created the unit plan from the overarching curriculum map, we're going to go through those same stages here.

So the first stage when we take a look at that unit plan to create a lesson is first, we want to make sure that we are going to develop that lesson as if it is the first day of working through that unit. So we want to look at those essential questions and the various ways that students are going to make meaning and gain knowledge and skills based on that unit.

So the first thing we do is we develop that unit as if it's day one. We want to ask ourselves, what are the elements of knowledge or skills that I want students to be able to reach by the end of this lesson? How do those skills for this in particular lesson connect back to the standards that I am using to help guide my overarching unit or my overarching class? What are the ways that I can connect this unit and this lesson to the essential questions that I've developed for the unit? So how does this lesson help me get back to those essential questions?

And most importantly, I think, how am I going to ensure that this lesson is the beginning of that meaning-making process for students to really help transfer that learning out of just this classroom and into the greater ideas of the unit, of the course, and what they can take with them beyond their work in this classroom?

Once you've been able to answer all of those questions, you have the introduction to your very first lesson. Next, we're going to take a look at stage two. In stage two, that is where we really focused in on determining the various elements of mastery and scaffolding, then that mastery [INAUDIBLE]. So we want to look at what evidence we're going to collect from students. And then, make sure that we are clear on how we're going to collect that evidence, and how we'll know that they have achieved mastery within that particular lesson, and that we're ready to move on to the next one.

When we do that, it might be important to really look first at, what evidence am I going to collect? It's probably a good idea to begin with a pre-assessment so we know where students are. And then we can look and see how am I going to be able to really move forward-- where are some of the gaps in what I need to teach versus what my students already know? And how can I scaffold some of that out to make sure that I'm reaching those students? So what evidence am I going to collect for that lesson?

Will there be any formative assessments that I include within this lesson-- the first lesson of my unit-- in order to really help assess where students are when we begin? I think formative assessments are always a good idea. And there are so many different ways you can incorporate them.

I want to know, what will I measure? If I am including some sort of assessment, what am I going to measure those students on? And how am I going to measure it so that I am clear on what it is that I need to be doing?

Once I've answered all of those questions, then I have really, the purpose for my lesson-- where it's going, and why I'm doing it.

Next, we get to stage three. Stage three is all about deciding what the activities will be for the lesson. So here what I'm looking at are I'm really asking myself, how am I going to work, as the teacher, to help facilitate or be the coach as we move through this particular lesson? I want to ask myself, what are the resources that I'm going to need for this lesson? Not only the physical resources-- what I need to make sure I have in my room-- but what knowledge are student's going to need to have in order to participate in this lesson?

I'm going to take a look at, what are some of my instructional strategies that I can use to really help get at that differentiated learning? And then moving right into that, how am I going to differentiate that learning? If I know that a student is falling behind, how am I going to help them? If other students are way ahead, how will I make sure that I reach them so the class time is relevant for them?

And how am I going to then really determine that students are ready to move on to the next lesson by the end of this lesson? How am I going to make sure that I get them to that point?

Once I've done that, then we have the plan for our lesson. What I'd like to do just briefly before I leave you today is take you through some general tips for lesson design, especially when you're working within an Understanding by Design lesson plan.

So the first is that your first lesson should really include some sort of free assessment. You want to make sure that if you're treating these students as individuals that you're not just assuming the knowledge that they're coming in with. Sometimes we assume that they know more than they actually do, but oftentimes, we assume that they know less than they actually do. And you might be able to get more tailored and personalized learning in there.

And you'll already be able to take a look at where some of the major gaps are going to be. And that really helps support that competency-based approach.

Next, you're going to want to make sure that you are including some of that domain-specific and academic-specific vocabulary. And making sure that you are giving students all of that base knowledge and vocabulary that they'll need to work through that lesson.

You're going to want to make sure that you are incorporating those formative assessments when you're designing your lessons. Finding those little ways to check in throughout each individual lesson so that you know that by the end of the unit, those students are on track. And they know that they're on track to present that mastery.

You want to make sure that what you're doing within your lesson is very student-centered. One good way to do this is by using a lot of those high quality questioning techniques. Making sure that you're including questions that really push students to think beyond just simple answers. Really getting them thinking about the way in which they're going to use this outside of just this classroom.

You're going to want to make sure that you consider the transitions between various lessons. And make sure that you're drawing some connection so that it doesn't feel very bifurcated, but that each lesson feels like it's building or connecting to the previous ones.

Make sure that you work to include elements of student feedback. If you do one lesson and you notice that there are a couple of things that worked better than others, go back and adjust your next lesson so that you're able to account for that as you continue.

And finally, you don't want to forget that there are ways to include that differentiation-- various pathways-- so that students are able to perhaps, even go through multiple lessons within the same class at different times. So that students are really making that learning process meaningful for themselves.

Now that we've reached the end of the lesson, you have been able to explore the development of a competency-based education lesson from an Understanding by Design unit of study.

Now that we've reached the end, what do you think would be the most difficult part of making sure that your Understanding by Design lessons match up with your overarching unit plan?

Now it's your turn to apply what you've learned in this video. The Additional Resources section will be super helpful. This section is designed to help you discover useful ways to apply what you've learned here. Each link includes a brief descriptions so you can easily target the resources that you want.