GETTING TO THE CORE:UNDERSTANDING BY

DESIGN Jenny WadsworthJanuary 22, 2014

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

In effective classrooms, teachers consistently attend to at least four elements:

Whom they teach

Where they teach

What they teach

How they teach

If teachers loose sight of any one of these, the whole fabric of their work unravels and

the quality of their work is impaired.

The Understanding by Design method addresses all four of these elements.

Tomlinson & McTighe, 2005

Design:To have purposes and intentions; to plan and

execute-Oxford English Dictionary

THINK LIKE AN ARCHITECT An architect is guided by

building codes, customers, budgets, and aesthetics.

Just like…

Teachers are guided by standards, budgets, outcomes, and our

customers- students/parents.

Just like architects we have a clear picture of

where it is we want to go.

WHAT IS UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN?• Way of thinking more

purposefully.

• Content- focused design instead of results- focused design.

• Focuses on “uncovering” ideas.

• Standards for achieving quality control in curriculum and assessment design.

Wiggins & McTighe, 2005

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO UNDERSTAND?

•How do you know when the learner “gets it”?

•What’s the difference between “getting it” and mere accurate recall of what was taught?

•What does understanding as a goal require of our ‘designs’- our planning?

CAN YOU RELATE?

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

What We Typically Do…

•Identify content

•Brainstorm activities & methods

•Come up with an assessment

Understanding by Design

(Backwards Design)

•Identify desired accomplishments

•Determine acceptable evidence

•Plan learning experiences and instruction

Wiggins & McTighe, 2005

Stage 1: Desired ResultStandards/ Objective     Understandings…Students will be able to understand that…

Essential Questions:

Knowledge and Skills:

Stage 2: Assessment EvidencePerformance Task:Unit Pre-Assessment    

Other Evidence: 

Stage 3: Learning Plan  

STAGE 1: IDENTIFYING DESIRED RESULTS

•Enduring: has lasting, universal value

•Core ideas at the “heart” of the discipline

•Requires “uncovering” or “unpacking”

Questions to consider:

•What goals am I addressing?

•What should they go away having learned?

Knowledge includes…Vocabulary/

terminologyDefinitionsKey factual

informationCritical detailsImportant events

and peopleSequence/timelineThese questions

have a correct answer!

Skills Include…Basic skillsCommunication skillsResearch/inquiry/ investigation skillsThinking skills

(problem solving, decision making)

Study skillsInterpersonal or

group collaboration skills

STAGE 1: IDENTIFY DESIRED RESULTS

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

STAGE 1: DESIRED RESULT 

Science:K.1.1: Compare characteristics of animals that make them alike and different from other animals .K.1.1.2 Compare characteristics of living and non-living things in terms of their: structure, growth, changes, movement, basic needs.Math:K.O.A.5: Count to answer “how many” questions. About as many as 20 things.K.MD. 3 Classify objects into given categories, count the numbers of objects in each category and sort categories. Reading RL With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details. RI 2 With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. Research to Build Present Knowledge: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. Craft and Structure: Answer questions about unknown words in a text. Understandings…•Students will be able to understand that…•Animals have similarities and differences.•Animals interact with their surroundings while growing, changing and moving.•Animals need their habitat in order to survive so they can grow and change.

Essential Questions:How do animals grow, change, and move in the rainforest?How does change affect the animals in the rainforest over time?Why is the rainforest unique to the animals that live there?

Knowledge and Skills: •Students will know how the animals of the rainforest interact with their environment.•Students will define terms such as: conservation, rainforest, habitat, shelter, and canopy.•Students will describe various animals in the rainforest.•Students will be able to describe why it is important to conserve the rainforest related to the animal’s habitat.

STAGE 1: DESIRED RESULTS APPLIED

STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE•This is where Understanding by Design differs from the conventional unit design and planning.

•Before we plan the activities and lessons, we must plan the assessment.

•Gather lots of informal evidence along the way in a variety of formats.

PERFORMANCE TASK

• Conceptualize real world situations.

• Calls for exploration of the subject

• Allows students to rehearse, practice, consult, get feedback, and refine performance.

STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCEPerformance TaskUnit Pre-Assessment:KWL Chart-Whole ClassAs a class discuss prior knowledge about the rainforest in the first section. Students will generate questions they want to learn about the rainforest.  Picture of the Rainforest:Students will illustrate picture of what they think the rainforest looks like. This will include drawings of animals they think live in the rainforest. Unit Mid AssessmentThe journal entry about why the rainforest is important will serve as a way to determine understanding of the unit.   

Unit Post Assessment: “Save the Rainforest Poster”-Students create a poster about saving the rainforest and its animals. Students will demonstrate that they understand the importance of conservation and what it means. Particular attention will be paid to the animals and why it is important to help save their habitat.  Other Evidence:•Shared writing of The Great Kapok Tree.•Journal entries on animals in the rainforest as well as describing the rainforest. •Creating graphs about rainforest animals.•Creating story innovations to help learn about where the animals live and to reinforce sight words. •Class charts created together for various topics of the rainforest.•Handwriting practice.•Practice with decoding words.•Shared writing lessons about the rainforest animals

STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE APPLIED

STAGE 3: LEARNING PLAN•Ensure the students know WHERE the unit is headed and WHY.

•Hook students in the beginning; HOLD their attention.

•Provide students opportunities to RETHINK and REVISE.

•Build opportunities for students to EVALUATE and self assess.

•Be TAILORED to reflect individual talents, interests, styles and need.

•Be ORGANIZED to optimize deep understanding.

Lesson Plan: Outline/timeline

Day 1 Pre Assessment: Create a class KWL chart. As a class brainstorm prior knowledge about the rainforest and animals. Students draw a picture of what they think the rainforest looks look.Introduction to the Rainforest: After we do the KWL chart, students will see a slideshow about the rainforest that features animals and sounds of the rainforest. First the students will listen to the sounds, discuss what was heard and write it down They will watch the slideshow. Brainstorm what animals they saw.

Day 2:Introduce vocabulary words related to the unit. Create a chart. Define the word as well as have a place for a picture of the word.Read the story The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. Use higher order thinking questions to discuss story. Retell the story when finished: beginning, middle, and end.

Day3:Review the story and vocabulary. Start the story innovation book- I Live in the Kapok TreeStudents will create a floor graph for sorting the ways the animals move in the rainforest.  

Day 4: Journal Entry: If you could be an animal in the rainforest, what would you be? Tell why?

Day 5: Flip book of the layers of the rainforest. Sort the animals into layers whole class. Students create their own book for sorting animals.

Day 6:Center Rotations: Beginning Sound Match; Centers to review rainforest concepts; Count the Spots: A number matching activity - Students will count the dots on the jaguars and match them to the correct number that is on the tree.

Day 7:“What would they say?” Shared writing lesson and higher order thinking lesson about Rainforest conservation.

Day 8: Post Assessment: Create posters about the rainforest and the animals.

Day 9:Fill in what they learned on the KWL chart.Interview students orally about what they learned about the rainforest. 

STAGE 3: LEARNING PLAN APPLIEDStage 3: Learning Plan

PICTURES OF MY PROJECT

LET’S GET STARTED!

Together in groups, start with Stage 1. Find the HPS Content Wiki Curriculum Maps for Science.

Decide which Essential Standard your group wants to develop.

Follow the template and start building your Understanding By Design unit.

RESOURCESUnderstanding By Design Presentation By Dr. Jennifer Russell

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/847471

McTighe, J. & Wiggins, G. (2005). Understanding by design. Columbus, Ohio: Pearson.

Tomlinson, C.A.& McTighe, J. (2006). Intergrating differentiated instruction and understanding by design. Alexandria, Va:Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.