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!