Lesson Planning Using UbD I

Video Transcription

Hello, and thank you for joining me today to discuss lesson planning using Understanding by Design-- part 1. These are the questions that we're going to be able to answer by the end of today's tutorial.

What does a lesson plan that incorporates the first two steps of Understanding by Design look like? And what are some tips and strategies for using the first two steps of Understanding by Design?

Well, a quick recap-- remember, Understanding by Design is sometimes also called backwards design. And it's composed of three stages. In stage 1, we discuss the desired outcomes and goals of the lesson. In stage 2, we pick out the acceptable evidence, which includes both a summative performance event and formative assessments. And in stage 3, we come up with the actual learning plan.

Part of Understanding by Design is incorporating the six facets of understanding. In stage 1, the teacher is establishing goals, key understandings, essential questions, and key knowledge and skills. In this application lesson, second grade students are going to be learning about the different zones of the ocean.

Well, the goals this teacher has established is that students will be able to identify the three zones of the ocean, and students will be able to name the different life forms in the different zones. Students will understand and be able to discuss why certain life forms can only survive in certain zones. And students will compare and contrast the different zones.

So this leads us to what are the big understandings. They will understand the significant differences of each of the zones of the ocean. And students will understand why there are these different zones and why these differences even exist.

And then based on their understandings of the significant differences, students will understand why certain life forms can only survive in specific zones, and why others can actually go from zone to zone.

So what are my essential questions? These are supposed to be broad, big idea questions. So my first one is, why are there different zones of the ocean. What are some major differences between the sunlight, twilight, and midnight zones, and what are some major similarities? And what is your favorite zone and why?

So the fourth question there, what are some major differences, there could be right or wrong answers to this question, which makes it questionable as to whether it is actually an essential question, or an essential learning question. But I think it qualifies as an essential learning question because it can still create some debate.

The key knowledge and skills. Students should be able to compare and contrast the different zones of the ocean, as students should be able to identify the different zones.

If you remember from the six facets of understanding, the lower-order thinking skills would be something like identifying. And then the higher-order thinking skills are going to include things like comparing and contrasting and making assumptions.

And then students should be able to label what zone a certain life form lives in based on that life form's characteristics. So this goes beyond just the lowest level of identifying information. It's based on the information I have about this life form and based on the information I have about the different zones of the ocean, which zone is best suited for this life form. So they're actually making judgments. They're analyzing the information.

And then students should be able to discuss the characteristics of their favorite zones. And this is going to encourage students to have those different perspectives and also have empathy, because maybe one kid really likes the midnight zone because they like the angler fish. They think it's really cool and it was their favorite scene in Finding Nemo.

But maybe another kid really enjoys coral reefs and think it's very pretty. So they like the sunlight zone. This is going to inspire discourse. And it's also going to help create a little bit of that empathy and having different perspectives.

Stage 2, this is where you think of the performance events. So students will collaborate with one another to create a puppet show featuring fish from the different zones to explain the similarities and differences of those zones. So we have a couple of different things that we need to take into consideration.

And the first thing is, what is the goal. The goal is that students will demonstrate their understanding of the different zones of the ocean through a puppet show. This is going to encourage collaboration because students are going to be working in groups.

It's also going to be a cross-curricular activity. This, let's say, is an arts-enhanced school. I'm actually basing it on my children's own school that they go to, which is an arts-focused school.

So they have drama class. They're going to be incorporating those drama skills. They've art class. They're going to be creating sets and they're going to be creating puppets. So that becomes cross-curricular.

They're also going to be writing a script. So maybe this is going to incorporate a little bit of what they're learning in English class. Then the students are going to take on roles. And they're also going to be acting.

What are the different roles that the students can take on? Well, let's say in a typical group of five kids you're going to have five different roles.

One is going to be the leader of the group. So they're going to keep time. They're going to make sure people are focused. They're going to lead the group in the work that they're doing. That doesn't mean that they make the final decision. They just keep people on track.

Next, we have a recorder. This person is going to write down everything the group says so that we have a record of what went on. So if there's any confusion, we can just refer back to the notes.

Then we're going to have an art director. This person is going to make sure that we are creating the sets, we're creating the puppets, we're writing the script, et cetera.

You're also going to have a fact checker. This person is going to be making sure that, if you say the angler fish lives in the midnight zone, that the angler fish actually lives in the midnight zone.

And then you're going to have a liaison. This is going to be the child who is going to be interacting on the group's behalf with other groups and with the teachers who are the stakeholders in this project.

It can be hard to decide, should I assign the roles because I know Joe Schmo is a really strong leader who's going to keep people on task.

Or should I let the kids randomly choose the roles? I think a good idea is to have the roles that you're going to use for every group work on pieces of paper that are laminated on a chart. And then the back of that piece of paper would describe in bullet points what's the responsibilities of that role are. And then you can pull those pieces of paper out and say, OK, you're the leader, you're the recorder, et cetera. Or, you can have the children go choose what role they want from that chart.

It's actually something I've done, even at the high school level. When you let the kids choose, they take more ownership in the project. And you can also make a caveat that you cannot be the same role twice in a row.

So if you're like me and you're doing a lot of group projects, you're going to be keeping a record of who was the leader last time. That person now has to be the recorder.

Then you have the audience. So who is this performance event for? This is one of the aspects that can make it really a meaningful performance event. In this case, our audience consists of the teacher, the classroom peers, kindergarten and first grade students, as well as parents.

And we also have the situation. So the situation is just the context of the task. And the context of our task is, why are there different zones of the ocean. And then also, what is your favorite zone and why?

So these are the questions that we're going to be answering. This is the situation we're facing in our presentation.

And then we have the performance. And again, the performance is going to be a puppet show featuring handmade fish puppets and sets. And the show will demonstrate the differences and similarities between the different zones of the ocean.

And the standards by which we're going to grade this are going to be across curricular rubric to incorporate drama, art, science, English, any discipline we can think of. And then it's also going to be aligned with common core.

Other evidence, which are going to be the formative assessments we do along the way to this larger assessment, are quizzes, homework, worksheets, group conferences with the teacher, and a step-by-step process for the project.

I think the last one is the most important. Even though I mostly teach high school students, I still do a step-by-step process for every major project or paper that we write. And I actually grade them on every step of the process so that they can see it is a process. And each step is equally important.

I think this is even more important with little guys, like the second grade scenario, because they might be overwhelmed by this big project with just one due date. So by creating a step-by-step process, they can turn it a little bit at a time, get it approved, and move forward.

So it's time to stop and reflect. I want you to think about for a minute what, if any, stage of Understanding by Design are you currently using. Next, what do you think would be the most challenging aspect of using Understanding by Design in your classroom and why?

Some tips for planning with Understanding by Design is to consider stage 1. Remember to think broadly about the big ideas of the unit. Remember, stage 1 is when you think about what you want the students to learn.

Stage 2, which is how are you going to assess them, think of a variety of assessment possibilities. Don't rely all on homework. Don't rely all on quizzes.

Have a variety. Mix it up. Differentiate, even for each child, or for groups of children.

So today, we talked about what a lesson plan that incorporates the first two steps of Understanding by Design looks like. And we also talked about some tips and strategies for using the first two steps of Understanding by Design. We're going to talk about the third step of Understanding by Design in a future tutorial.

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 description so you can easily target the resources you want.

Thank you for joining me, and happy teaching.