Parkway School District St. Louis, MO.

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Parkway School DistrictSt. Louis, MO.
Authentic Education May 2009 Presenters Shelley
Levy Judie Maranucci Frank Champine

• Understanding by Design
• to enhance
• Professional Dialogue

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Please put phone on vibrate
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The Reality of Schooling at the Elementary Level
Language Arts
Here comes UbD
Class Trips
Social Studies
Math
Science
Parent Conferences
State Testing
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KWL-UbD
If the tree is UbD which kid are you? What would
you like to know about Understanding by
Design? What is your biggest concern about this
curriculum model?
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Overall Objective of the Workshop
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Organization of Workshop

• Process uncovering the 3 Stages of
  Understanding by Design
• Product Development of a common unit and
  transfer to a actual unit.
• Progress Our teams observations of YOUR TEAMS
  WORK

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How many buses does the army need to transport
1,128 soldiers if each bus holds 36 soldiers?
Answer from 30 31 Remainder 12!
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12 soldiers
??
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A Caveat

• Dont Confuse the Teaching with the Learning.

Misunderstanding Alert
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Foundations of Learning
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Foundations of Learning
Transfer
Acquisition
New Knowledge Skills
Making Meaning
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Three forms of learning

• You acquire facts you figure out what they mean
  you transfer your prior learning to new
  challenges.
• You acquire a skill you figure out a good
  strategy you apply all your skills to a new
  task, in context.

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Our workshop involves all 3

• You will acquire information about UbD
• You will draw conclusions from examples,
  generalize from experiences, and make sense of
  data
• You will transfer general understandings to
  specific cases and situations in which you work.

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Coverage vs. Uncoverage

• Coverage - what teachers do with content -
  Research states that rapid coverage without
  connections to concepts or generalization is not
  retained nor transferred.
• Uncoverage - Something students do through
  constructivist experiences. They own the learning
  and make meaning for themselves. This is retained
  and transferred.

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It is the students attempts to learn that causes
the learning not the teachers covering the
content or skills!
UNCOVERAGE IS LEARNING
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What went wrong?

• View this short video from the Harvard/M.I.T.
  study on the teaching of Math and Science.
• Listen to the talking heads from various
  universities.
• Jot down 3 things that resonate with you that are
  said in the learning analysis.
• DIALOGUE with your table mates and then share
  with the entire group.

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Continue. . .

• Dialogue Share your thoughts and explore the
  possible application to your own teaching
  experience. What might be going wrong in your
  classroom based on the awareness gained in this
  video?
• Collaborate List at least three things you
  might do to begin to make changes in your
  curriculum, assessments, and instruction that
  might increase the learning potential of your
  students
• Teach What teaching strategies might you add to
  this teachers tool box that might increase the
  understanding of this particular student and his
  classmates?

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Westward Movement and Pioneer Life

• Third Grade Unit on the Westward Movement
• Interdisciplinary
• Assessments
• Chapter Reading and questions
• Sarah Plain and Tall vocab.
• Memory Box Show and Tell
• Completion of 7 learning stations
• Reflection paper on the unit.

• Life on the Prairie Pioneer Day Activities
• Churn Butter
• Play 19th century games
• Send letter using sealing wax
• Play Dress the Pioneer-computer Simulation
• Make a corn husk doll
• Quilting
• Tin Punching
• Full day with Parent Visitation

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Analysis of the Unit

• THINK What are the strengths and weaknesses of
  this unit. Use Page 6 in W.B.
• DIALOGUE with table develop insights
• Apply UbD thinking to the unit see p. 7.
  Dialogue with table about what is revealed.
• COLLABORATE with table What might you do to
  improve this unit?
• DIALOGUE REVIEW PP. 89 What happened when
  UbD is applied to CIA?

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Conclusion What is UbD?

• View video clip Using UbD
• DIALOGUE
• What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses
  of the Backward Design model?
• Based on the examples provided in the video, what
  are implications of implementing this design
  model in your teaching?

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KNOWING vs UNDERSTANDING

• Divide the group into two large groups?
• Group 1 Knowing
• Group 2 Understanding
• Brainstorm as many synonyms for the word of your
  group as you possibly can. Please follow the
  rules for Brainstorming.
• You have 4 minutes to complete your Brainstorm

• Dialogue What are the implications for your
  curriculum, assessments and instruction if you
  want your students to understand what they are
  taught?
• What does teaching for understanding look like?
• Video clip of Kindergarten Teacher Using UbD
  teaching strategies ASCD Using UbD.
• Dialogue How are her teaching strategies
  reflective of helping students better understand
  what is taught?

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What is Backward Design?
Page. 5
Create your DESIRED RESULTS
Establish EVIDENCE of Understanding
Then, and only then
Develop INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
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BACK WARD DESIGNMETHAPHOR
STAGE 1 DESIRED RESULT
Architect Designs The HOUSE
Takes into consideration
Customers desires Building Codes Possible
Problems
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Metaphor continued
Stage 2
Does the design meet code? Does it meet the
standard? Will it be quality work? Are there
backup systems in place just in case?
Building Inspector Tests and assesses the design
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Metaphor continued
Stage 3
Carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc. Follow
the design and apply their crafts.
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Moral of the Story
If the Curriculum is not well designed, Assessed
well and Taught for Understanding the likelihood
that kids will get it and transfer it is slim.
THIS
INSTEAD OF THIS
When the construction crew does not teach for
understanding the outcome is.
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DEEPER LOOK AT BACKWARD DESIGN

• Turn to PP. 12 18 in W. B.
• Take some time to read, discuss and discern an
  hypothesis on the logic and flow of using
  Backward Design.
• Dialogue How does designing curriculum in this
  manner increase the likelihood of improving
  student learning?
• We will sit with you from time to time to share
  your collaborate on this questions. (10
  minutes).

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Using the Template

• What are BIG IDEAS? Where do they come from and
  How are they created?
• Turn to pp 71-75
• Take time to look over the pages and pay specific
  attention to p. 74 to see how BIG IDEAS shape a
  unit like the Western Movement.

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Where are Big Ideas found?

• Concepts
• Themes
• Issues or Debates
• Problems or Challenges
• Theories
• Processes
• Paradoxes
• Assumptions or Perspectives

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Meaning Making The Lunch Date

• Watch the video The Lunch Date
• What are the BIG IDEAS found in this video?
• Let us use this video as if it were the hook for
  a unit of study. How would this unit be designed?

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BIG IDEAS

• Take a few minutes and Dialogue about what you
  all actually saw.
• Return to page 71, review the meanings behind Big
  Ideas and their categories
• COLLABORATION - Go to page75 and develop as many
  Big Ideas about the Lunch Date as your table can.

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EXPAND YOUR THINKING

• Suppose you were using this video to kick off
  (anticipatory set) a unit in Math or Science.
  What Big Ideas in those disciplines might be
  FOUND IN THIS VIDEO that might be perfect BIG
  IDEAS in a unit of study in either of the
  disciplines?

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What does it look like?
Big Ideas Concepts
UNCOVERAGE
Facts
Facts
Facts
FACTS
Facts
Facts
Retained for the test
Facts
Facts
Facts
Facts
Retention and Transfer
COVERAGE
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TRANSFER TO YOUR TEACHING

• LETS MOVE FROM THE LUNCH DATE TO A UNIT YOU WILL
  TEACH NEXT YEAR.
• Think of the unit, any unit, write down the TOPIC
• Write down as many BIG IDEAS for that unit as you
  can think of. Collaborate with your table mates.

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UbD in the Primary Grades
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No big ideas for little kids??? Not so

• Never talk to strangers..but I am LOST!
• Do it myself vs. ask for help
• meaningful squiggles vs. nonsense squiggles on
  the page
• What if?

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Whenever there is

• A burning question
• A difficult decision
• A generalization
• An intelligent adjustment
• ...There is a big idea

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Key misunderstanding at work first, learn ALL
the basic stuff

• Not so!
• If this were true
• Children would never learn to speak their native
  language without teaching the basics first
• No 1st graders would be able to play in soccer
  games or use their computers and cell phones
  effectively
• No child would tell good stories until they had
  mastered English syntax, grammar, rhetoric

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Sequence Whole/part/whole

• Learning complex tasks requires a constant and
  meaningful back and forth between -
• part/whole,
• skill/performance
• learn some/apply what you know

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In other words

• You have to learn to THINK while you also learn
  the basics
• What does this somewhat unclear situation demand
  of me?
• Learning to judge the situation - what should I
  do HERE?
• How should I choose?

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Gradual Release of Responsibility in literacy

• I do, you watch
• I do, you help
• You do, I help
• You do, I watch
• This is a general schema for the development of
  transfer ability at any age, in any subject

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GENERALIZATIONS Broad statements that serve as
principles expressing the relationship of two or
more concepts.
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The Lunch Date

• Consider what you want the students to UNDERSTAND
  about this film and its Big Ideas.

What will be the UNDERSTANDINGS you want to
ENDURE and TRANSFER to other subjects and into
the students lives?
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Understandings require unpacking the standards

• Read your standards carefully
• Look for the NOUNS the concepts and Big Ideas
• Look for the VERBS the required student
  assessments

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Lets attack the development of understandings

• Look in your book at the 3 Circle Inventory
  (p.78)- What is important?
• Lets look at what an understanding is and how it
  is constructed.(PP.108-110)
• What are the common characteristics of an
  understanding?

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The Lunch Date- Understandings

• Turn to page 107 in your book.
• Use this concept attainment strategy to help you
  UNCOVER the meaning of and construction of
  ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS.
• Write two understandings for the Lunch Date

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Enduring Understandings

• Design Standards for Understandings p.115
• Framing Understandings p.116
• Goals or topics can shape Understandings
  p.111-113
• Critical Skills as Understandings PP 75-76
• 2 Types of Understandings P.114
• Now that you have understandings for The Lunch
  Date, TRANSFER your understanding to your
  teaching unit.

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The essential questions have no answers. You are
my question, and I am yours and then there is
dialogue. Questions unite people, answers divide
them. So why have answers when you can live
without them?
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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS? What are they? How are they
developed? What are their connections to the
standards and the generalizations?
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THE LUNCH DATE - ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• Turn to page 89-90 in your book.
• Examine several of these essential questions
  uncover a pattern.
• Again, we confront a concept attainment on
  ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS. Page 88.
• What are the essential questions that would drive
  our LUNCH DATE UNIT?
• Create 3 Essential Questions for our Unit.

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Essential Questions

• Design Standards for Essential Questions p. 91
• Essential Questions for Critical Skills pp 104-5
• Tips for using Essential Questions p.106
• Now that you have Essential Questions for your
  Lunch Date unit, TRANSFER the skill to writing
  questions for your teaching unit.

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Instead of thinking of content as stuff to be
covered, consider knowledge and skills as the
means of addressing questions central to
understanding key issues in your subject.
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The Lunch Date - Knowledge and Skills needed

• You have the Enduring Understandings
• You have the guiding questions of the unit.
• What content knowledge and skills must you teach
  NOW for the students to deeply understand the
  unit?

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ALIGNMENT ALERT!
STANDARD
ENDURING UNDERSTANDING/ GENERALIZATION
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
PAGE 86
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MisunderstandingAlert

• Most teacher believe the Standards must be
  COVERED by them, rather than their students being
  able to DO the Standard.

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HOW DEEP IS YOUR CURRICULUM?
FACTS/ content
SKILLS
SURFACE LEARNING- NO TRANSFER
CONCEPTS GENERALIZATIONS ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS
TRANSFER

• ARE YOU COVERING A GREAT DEAL, BUT YOU DONT HAVE
  TIME FOR DEEPER UNDERSTANDING?

REMEMBER, TEACHERS COVER, KIDS NO NOT