Summer 2009 TIME

Derry Township School District

C. Goldsworthy

Essential Questions for this Session

What are the components of an instructional unit?

Under what conditions is unit planning necessary?

How do you develop an instructional unit?

Intended Outcomes

Consistent unit planning model used by all teachers in DTSD Apply best practices from established models (UBD,

LFS, DOL, etc.) Consistent use of unit maps for specified content areas

Post with written curriculum on district website Common/shared vocabulary that describes the teaching

and learning process

Effective instruction leading to improved student outcomes Effective instruction requires effective and efficient

planning

WII-FM?

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly…

What do we know about planning units of instruction?

Importance of collaboration

Being given maps versus creating maps with colleagues….

Three Types of Curriculum

Written Taught Tested

What SHOULD alignment look like?

Is this alignment?

Curriculum Instruction Assessment

This IS alignment…

Curriculum

Instruction

Curriculum

Instruction

Assessment

The ProgramThe Subject Area

The Course

Units are the building blocks of a complete curriculum...

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3...

So, when you create a unit...

You are first asked to place the new unit in its larger contextPacing of units is critical

What is a unit?

Let’s define it….

Benefits of Unit Planning

The Big Picture

Questions to Frame your Thinking: What is the central theme or topic?

Super-ordinate topic: What do I want students to learn about?

What is it that we want students to know and be able to do as a result of this unit of instruction? Declarative and procedural knowledge

How will we know that students “know” and “are able to do”? What will be the evidence of their learning?

Curriculum Planning

Frontloading Back loading

• Back loading has tightest alignment!

The ProgramThe Subject Area

The Course

Units are the building blocks of a complete curriculum...

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3...

Unit Design- Essential Components Standards To Be Addressed Unit Topic Unit Essential Question(s) Instructional Goals Summative Assessments

Formative Assessments Key Vocabulary Materials and Resources

Learning Targets

Clearly, clearly, clearly define the learning targets

Breaking Down the Components: Key Info on Each Component…

Let’s Start with PA Standards

Unit topics are organized by grouping Standards in subject area (cross-discipline)

PA StandardsStarting pointStandards prioritizedStandards mapped vertically and

horizontally• Who is teaching what, when

What about the Standards?

How do we work with the sheer volume?

How do we group the standards? How do we “unpack” the standards?

Unit Topic

What is the concept that I want students to learn about? Broad concept which relates many other

concepts, rules, principles, skills, attitudes, etc.

• Try this: “I want my students to learn about….”• Democracy• Fractions• Society and technology

Sometimes it is recommended to write the topic in a complete sentence…(DTSD Unit Maps)

Learning Targets – By Any Name… Objectives Behavioral Objectives Learning Goals Essential Questions/Key Questions

What is it that we want students to know and be able to do?

Why set and communicate goals?

“Learning goals provide a set of shared expectations among students, teachers, administrators, and the general public.”

“Goals that are specific in nature are more strongly related to student achievement than goals that are not.”

• (Marzano, 2009)

Goal Setting Improves Student Outcomes

Research results for goal settingClear evidence

Know and Be Able to Do…

Know: Declarative Knowledge Facts, concepts, generalizations Recognition and recall

Be Able to Do: Procedural Knowledge Processes, skills, strategies

• Not just hands-on! Execution

Levels of Thinking Cognitive domains

• Bloom’s Taxonomy• Marzano’s New Taxonomy

Unit Essential Question(s)

Reason for use: Focus students on the learning

• Must be posted in classroom and referenced throughout instructional unit

Tools to help teachers gather evidence of learning

• Directly aligned to summative assessment

Broad, overarching Can’t be answered with a Yes or No…

Whose “story” is it?

Who is an American? Who says?

Here’s an example for Essential Questions in History

Is “all fair” in war

(internment)?

WW II

Who should get

Green cards?

80’s 60’s

How much does race matter?

Instructional Goals:

Lesson Essential QuestionsKey questions are sequenced to unit

essential question(s)• Organize and set focus for each lesson

• Posted in classroom

• Planned by topic, not by day (may last more than one day)

• Must be assessed during and at close of lesson

Summative Assessment

Culminating product/performance task, or Culminating unit-level test During unit mini-summative assessments

• Does the culminating assessment provide opportunities for students to demonstrate each of the unit’s instructional targets?

Formative Assessments

Assessments “along the way”To inform your instructionTo provide students with feedback

“along the way”

Vocabulary

What are the key terms that support the learning targets that students must know?

Resources and Materials

What supports the unit essential question(s) and the key questions?

The Challenges…. Targets are not clearly defined Focus is on “fun” activities and projects

rather than the learning targets Culminating task (product, performance,

or test) is not aligned with stated instructional targets

Time spent on unit is not relational to weight of unit learning targets in context of PA Standards for the year/course

Here at DTSD..

Goal is to achieve consistency with unit maps, K-12In format and content

Plan – to develop a Unit Map guidebook

Your thoughts?

In Summary

Define an instructional unit Describe the components of an

instructional unit Try it!