Understanding by Design

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Understanding by Design

• And Differentiated Instructional Strategies

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Essential Questions

• The overarching concepts or principles.
• Reflect curriculum goals or standards.
• The key understanding you want the students to
  have after theyve completed the curriculum.
• Present your essential questions to students at
  the beginning of the year or your course.
• Post the questions so you can refer back to them.

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Unit Questions

• Provide specific content and facts about
  essential questions.
• They add depth and specificity.
• Unit questions provide a framework in which to
  differentiate activities.

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Four Standard Statements within the Academic
Standards for History An Overview

• Political and Cultural Contributions of
  Individuals and Groups
• Inhabitants (cultures, subcultures, groups)
• Political Leaders (monarchs, governors, elected
  officials)
• Military Leaders (generals, noted military
  figures)
• Cultural and Commercial Leaders (entrepreneurs,
  corporate executives, artists, entertainers,
  writers)
• How Continuity and Change Have Influenced History
• Belief Systems and Religions (ideas, beliefs,
  values)
• Commerce and Industry (jobs, trade, environmental
  change ,labor systems, entertainment)
• Politics (political party systems, administration
  of government, rules, regulations and laws,
  political and judicial interpretation)
• Transportation (methods of moving people and
  goods over time, transportation routes,
  circulation systems)
• Social Organization (social structure,
  identification of social groups, families, groups
  and communities, education, school population,
  suffrage, civil rights)

• Primary Documents, Material Artifacts and
  Historical Places
• Documents, Writings and Oral Traditions
  (government
• documents, letters and diaries, fiction and
  non-fiction works, newspapers and other media,
  folklore)
• Artifacts, Architecture and Historic Places
  (historic sites and places, museums and museum
  collections, official and popular cultural
  symbols, material culture)
• Conflict and Cooperation Among Social Groups and
  Organizations
• Domestic Instability (political unrest, natural
  and man-made disasters, genocide)
• Immigration and Migration (causes of population
  shifts,
• xenophobia, intercultural activity)
• Labor Relations (strikes and collective
  bargaining, working
• conditions over time, labor/management identity)
• Military Conflicts (causes, conduct and impact
  of military
• conflicts, wars and rebellions)

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Mapping the Curriculum

• A Curriculum Map is an outline of a unit built
  from both essential questions and unit questions.
• Curriculum mapping identifies
• Content, skills, and products for a particular
  unit
• Required curriculum standards.
• Exit points for differentiation.

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Curricular goals are the springboard from which
differentiation ought to begin.
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Teachers Can Differentiate
Content
Process
Product
According to Students
Interest
Learning Profile
Readiness
Adapted from The Differentiated Classroom
Responding to the Needs of All Learners
(Tomlinson, 1999).
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Comparing Traditional and Differentiated
Classrooms

• Consideration of student differences
• Use of assessment to plan instruction
• Use of student interest and learning style

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Differentiation Strategies

• All strategies are aligned with instructional
  goals and objectives.
• Specific strategy selection based on
• Focus of instruction
• Focus of differentiation

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Differentiation Strategies (continued)

• Group 1 Compacting
• Group 2 Independent Study
• Group 3 Interest Centers or Interest Groups
• Group 4 Flexible Grouping

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Examples of Differentiation Strategies

• Choice Boards
• Tiered Activities
• Learning Contracts

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Diner Menu Photosynthesis

• Appetizer (Everyone Shares)
• Write the chemical equation for photosynthesis.

• Entrée (Select One)
• Draw a picture that shows what happens during
  photosynthesis.
• Write two paragraphs about what happens during
  photosynthesis.
• Create a rap that explains what happens during
  photosynthesis.

• Side Dishes (Select at Least Two)
• Define respiration, in writing.
• Compare photosynthesis to respiration using a
  Venn Diagram.
• Write a journal entry from the point of view of a
  green plant.
• With a partner, create and perform a skit that
  shows the differences between photosynthesis and
  respiration.

• Dessert (Optional)
• Create a test to assess the teachers knowledge
  of photosynthesis.

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THINK-TAC-TOE Book Report
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Tiered Activity Writing a Persuasive
Essay 4th6th Grade Classroom
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Choices

• Four strategies for providing student choice
  within tiered assignments
• Pathways Plans
• Project Menus
• Challenge Centers
• Spin-offs

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Pathways Plans

• Pathways are individual planners on which you or
  your students check off or cross out the skills
  theyve mastered and choose from a list of
  alternative activities.
• To create pathways, list your units skills on
  the left side of a sheet of paper. On the right
  side, list alternative activities that students
  can choose from when they loop out of skills
  instruction.
• In developing pathways, be sure to tier the
  activities according to challenge level or by
  complexity.
• Grades on pathways projects replace grades on
  skills work done by the other students.

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Project Menus

• A project menu is a numbered list of tiered
  assignments that you allow students to choose
  what theyd like to work on.
• Include checklists with quality criteria so that
  students clearly understand your expectations and
  can maintain high standards.

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Challenge Centers

• Challenge center projects stress new concepts,
  new content, or the application of skills.
• Challenge centers can be designed to focus on
  multiple intelligences.
• Provide step-by-step procedures on work-cards.
• Design evaluation checklists for projects.
• Have students use a work log to record the work
  they accomplish each day in challenge centers.
• Provide examples, samples, or models as necessary
  to explain assignments.

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Spin-offs

• Spin-offs are projects based on student
  interests. They may be done independently, with
  partners, or in small groups.
• For each kind of spin-off, the teacher provides
  the general topic.
• For teacher-directed spin-offs, you require that
  certain content or key ideas be included.
• Student-directed spin-offs allow students to
  differentiate their own instruction by making
  independent decisions about what theyll work on
  how theyll share their work.
• Spin-offs with a required product, allows
  students to choose their specific topic and the
  content or key ideas theyll include, while you
  assign the product that students will produce.

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Learning Contract 1
Name _______________________
My question or topic is
To find out about my question or topic
I will read
I will look at and listen to
I will write
I will draw
I will need
Heres how I will share what I know
I will finish by this date
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Learning Contract 2
To demonstrate what I have learned about
____________________, I want to
_ Write a report _ Put on a demonstration _ Set
up an experiment _ Develop a computer
presentation _ Build a model
_ Design a mural _ Write a song _ Make a movie _
Create a graphic organizer or diagram _ Other
This will be a good way to demonstrate
understanding of this concept because ____________
__________________________________________________
To do this project, I will need help
with _____________________________________________
_________________ My Action Plan
is________________________________________________
The criteria/rubric which will be used to
assess my final product is _________ _____________
_________________________________________________
My project will be completed by this date
_____________________________ Student signature
________________________________ Date
___/___/___ Teacher signature ___________________
_____________ Date ___/___/___
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Deciding When How to Tier an Assignment

• Five questions to ask yourself during planning
• Are there points when some students need more
  time to work on content or a skill and other
  students are ready for more advanced work?
• Is there an activity in which varied resources
  could be matched with student needs and
  readiness?
• Is there an activity in which the same materials
  could be used to work on both basic more
  advanced outcomes?
• Is there an activity in which students could
  benefit from working on the same outcome but
  doing different kinds of work?
• Is there an activity that could result in more
  than one way for students to show what theyve
  learned?

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Warm-ups and Cool-downs

• This technique provides some time to work with
  each group of students at the beginning or end of
  the class period.
• Examples
• Journaling
• Free Reading
• Content Webs
• Word of the day
• Sketchbooks
• Notetaking on textual materials
• Skill applications or challenges
• Daily language activity

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Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom

• Ongoing
• Instruction-dependent
• Student-dependent
• Informative for continuedinstruction

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Tips for Implementing Differentiated Instruction
Your Classroom

• Start slowly.
• Organize your classroom space.

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Inboxes
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Tips for Implementing Differentiated Instruction
Your Classroom (continued)

• Start student files.
• Start student portfolios.
• Use a clipboard.
• Use technology.

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Implementing Differentiated Instruction Your
District or School

• Start with committed staff.
• Look for existing resources/infrastructure.
• Start with one or two strategies.
• Try it and be willing to alter and extend.

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Implementing Differentiated Instruction
Additional Considerations

• Teacher support
• Professional development
• Adequate planning time

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Resources

• Assessment
• Curriculum-based Measurement
• www.studentprogress.org
• National Center on Accessing the General
  Curriculum (NCAC)
• www.cast.org/ncac/
• Access Center
• www.k8accesscenter.org