Teaching for Understanding

1. Teaching for Understanding • Highlights of the Work of • Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe • Lynn Erickson & Others

2. Teaching for Understanding • What is understanding? What does it mean to really ‘get it’? How would you explain ‘understanding’ to a new teacher or a ‘non-educator’? • If that’s what understanding is, what follows? How does it impact planning (intentionally by design)? • How do we achieve teaching for understanding (vs good luck, flying by the seat of our pants, etc)?

3. ‘Backward Design’ • Transfer is the essence of ‘understanding’ & the point of schooling • Understanding is meaning making not ‘taught’ The big ideas of Designing for Understanding

4. What we typically do… • Identify content to be acquired • Brainstorm lessons to learn the content • Create an assessment to see if they learned the content Without checking for alignment Without checking for alignment

5. Before Planning for Understanding

6. HS English/Literature Unit Topic: Catcher in the Rye Unit • Activities • Read Catcher in the Rye over an eleven (11 day period). Each day there will be class discussion on aspects of the assigned reading with occasional writing prompts. • Activities: Over a 2 day period students will each select 2 activities to complete. • Play charades of important scenes from book. • Write 3 journal reflections of the student’s choice. • Write an obituary for Holden. • Write a song or rap about one of the characters. • Write a Dear Abby letter asking for advice and then respond using Holden’s point of view. • Write about a strong memory that something in the book reminds you of from your personal life.

7. HS English/Literature Unit • d. Group Project-In 2 days complete both activities. • Create a large map of Manhattan including familiar landmarks. Provide a map of where Holden through his weekend in New York. • Create a movie poster for Catcher in the Rye choosing modern actors to play the parts of characters. • Assessment • Vocabulary quizzes during the 11 days of reading. • Two activities from choices. • Two group projects. • Final Essay-This essay is open book and will allow students to choose one topic from six possible topics. The essay must be completed during the final period of the unit.

8. After Planning for Understanding

9. HS English/Literature Unit-Stage 1 Identify Desired Results • CONTENT STANDARD(S) • ICC Essential Concept and/or Skill: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. • Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. • Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement). • Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama.

10. HS English/Literature Unit-Stage 1 Identify Desired Results • ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS • Students will understand that… • Novelists often provide insights about human experience and inner life through fictional means. • Writers use a variety of stylistic techniques to engage and persuade their readers. • Some characters reflect common adolescent experiences but masks deep-seated personal problems about growing up and relating to others. • ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS • Students will keep considering…. • What is the relationship between fiction and truth? What truths can best be rendered fictionally? • Does Holden represent adolescence? Is he abnormal, or all adolescents “abnormal”? Who is genuine and who is “phony”? Why do people act phony? • How do authors hook and hold readers? How does J.D. Salinger engage you? • How do writers persuade their readers? • From: Understanding by Design

11. HS English/Literature Unit-Stage 1 Identify Desired Results • KNOWLEDGE • Students will know…. • The plot and characters of Catcher in the Rye • Various stylistic techniques that J. D. Salinger employed. • SKILL • Students will be skilled at… • Applying interpretive reading strategies. • Developing a well-reasoned hypothesis. • Applying the writing process to produce a draft and a revision of persuasive writing. • From: Understanding by Design

12. HS English/Literature Unit-Stage 2 Determine Acceptable Evidence Students will show their learning by- • Other Evidence: • Essay-Students write to explain Holden’s concern for authenticity. • Letter-Each student writes a one-page letter describing Holden from the point of view of another character. • Quizzes-Three quizzes on plot details during the course of the unit. • Journal-Responses to daily readings. • Transfer Task: • What’s Wrong with Holden? You are a member of an advisory committee for the hospital where Holden Caulfield is telling his story. After a close reading discussion of Holden’s account of the events of the preceding December, your task is to write: • A summary report for the hospital. • A letter to Holden’s parents explaining what is wrong with him. You should prepare for a meeting with the parents to explain and justify your analysis of Holden’s behavior. • From: Understanding by Design

13. HS English/Literature Unit-Stage 3 Learning Plan Summary of some learning events & instruction • Introduce Essential Questions as well as the final task and rubrics. • Read and discuss text using various discussion formats and collaborative groups. • Write daily journal entries on prompted and unprompted questions. • Research underlying psychiatric issues (depression, denial of death, alienation). • Interview adolescent psychologist via Skype to better understand adolescent mental health issues. • Invite a mental health case worker to role play dealing with various family members and friends. • Read and study the John Burns song that gives the book its title. • Review writing process. • From: Understanding by Design

14. US History/Contemporary History Unit Stage 1Identify Desired Results • CONTENT STANDARD(S) • ICC Essential Concept and/or Skill: History-Understand historical patterns, periods of time and the relationships among these elements. • Understand concepts such as chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to explain, analyze, and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity. • ICC Essential Concept and/or Skill: Literacy in History/Social Studies- • Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain. • Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence. • Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources. • From: Understanding by Design

15. US History/Contemporary History Unit Stage 1 Identify Desired Results • ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS • Students will understand that… • Race was (and continues to be) a crucial element in US life and politics. • We have a difficult time honestly reconciling our beliefs with the record on civil rights. • Racial, cultural, and socioeconomic differences can lead to misunderstanding, prejudice, oppression, and violence. • ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS • Students will keep considering…. • Do our stated ideals cause progress or mask hypocrisy? • What caused the race riots of the late 1960s? • Could they happen again? • Can the racial divisions that have plagued US society be erased? • From: Understanding by Design, Workbook

16. HS English/Literature Unit-Stage 1 Identify Desired Results • KNOWLEDGE • Students will know…. • History of the modern civil rights movement. • Key leaders of the civil rights movement. • Political strategies used to achieve civil rights. • Government efforts to promote equality. • Impact of changes in laws on opportunity. • SKILL • Students will be skilled at… • Interpret historical documents. • Evaluate the effectiveness of government efforts to promote equality. • Role-play historical figures. • From: Understanding by Design, Workbook

17. HS English/Literature Unit-Stage 2 Determine Acceptable Evidence Students will show their learning by- • Other Evidence: • Quiz on readings: key events, leaders, and strategies of the civil rights movement. • Essay: Did the Kerner Commission reveal or sidestep the issue of race relations? • Transfer Task: • Kerner Commission Role-Play: Students role-play being members of LBJ’s Kerner Commission to determine the causes of urban rioting in the ‘60s. (Your goal is to determine why the urban riots happened. You must report to the president and the country on why the violence happened and what can be done about it. As a group, produce a collective report that must be thoughtful, thorough, and clearly presented. Your personal contribution will be judged through journal entries, observations of work, discussion, and sections of writing you contribute.) • Key Criteria: Historically accurate, clear and complete explanation, sound reasoning based on evidence, and correct grammar/mechanics in writing. • From: Understanding by Design, Workbook

18. HS English/Literature Unit-Stage 3 Learning Plan Summary of some learning events & instruction • Performance Task Overview: Using documentary sources and role-playing based on provided background information, students investigate, as though they were a government commission, the race riots of 1968. Their purpose is to discover what happened, why it happened, and what could be done to prevent it from happening again, as President Lyndon Johnson charged his own investigative commission to do. Some students play roles of participants in the events, others act as commission members. When the commission presents its report, all make comments for improvement. Finally, students study the aftermath to see if racial relations have improved since 1968. • From: Understanding by Design, Workbook

19. After students have studied some information about the 1950s and early 1960s, they should understand that thee was a strong consensus in the US in the mid-1960s for social justice. At this point, students should do the background reading on the race riots in 1968. Ask the students what questions come to mind. They should be puzzled about how the nationwide consensus fell apart and violence broke out in the cities. They might be encouraged to wonder about relationships- to the Vietnam War, for example, or to more militant, separatist African-American groups. Eventually they should define the questions President Johnson defined for the Kerner commission: What happened? Why did it happen? What can be done to prevent it from happening again?

20. 2. Divide the students into role-players (with role information sheets) and commission members. Send the commission members to the “archives” (your collection of documents on the history of racial relationships in the 20th century), and show the role-players the segments of “Eyes on the Prize” that deal with Elijah Mohammed, Malcolm X, the Black Power Movement, Martin Luther King’s northern strategy (and his assassination), Chicago and Detroit. This helps them to visualized the environment in which their characters lived, and understand the tension that erupted. This enables students to convey the emotional side of their role, which is so important for the commission to experience. The commission members need to be coached to develop questions on the basis of the documents they read, to test hypotheses they might have, given what they learned about patterns of discrimination, racism, or any changes for the better. Give them a list of the people who will come to “testify” (with their occupations or positions) so that they can prepare appropriate questions.

21. Appoint a chair and have the commission begin hearings. It may take a few days to get through 10 “witnesses,” but if the questioning is good and the witnesses are able to develop credible answers on the spot, the task is well worth the time. • Allow the commission time to discuss its findings and to develop a report that is in outline form and presented orally. While doing this role-players are doing journal entries and begin to develop their own ideas about what caused the riots. • Discuss the commission’s preliminary report. Be sure to have the commission members identify the sources of their information for the benefit of the role-players. The role-players should note that some historical perspective is helpful in analyzing this situation. Then have the students read the excerpts from an actual preliminary report, or some excerpts from the Kerner Commission report. • Assign the students the paper on what happened and why. Take time to intentionally link their learning this conceptual unit with the paper. Provide a detailed rubric and review frequently as you coach students through the paper writing process. • Return to the essential questions originally posed and work through them with the new perspective of the students. • NOTE: There is much more to develop the learning plan with #1-7 being the primary considerations.

22. “Unpack”the CONTENT STANDARDS to derive the big ideas, key knowledge/skills Select/develop ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS to guide inquiry into the big ideas. Frame the big ideas as specific ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS Identify key KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS. STAGE 1-Identify Desired Results

23. Designing for Understanding • STAGE 1-Identify Desired Results • STAGE 2-Determine Acceptable Evidence (assessment) • STAGE 3-Learning Plan (learning experiences & instruction)

24. References and Resources • Cruz, E. (2003). Bloom's revised taxonomy. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Technology.http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/bloomrev/start.htm • Dalton, J. & Smith, D. (1986) Extending children’s special abilities: Strategies for primary classrooms.http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm • Ferguson, C. (2002). Using the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy to plan and deliver team-taught, integrated, thematic units. Theory into Practice,41(4), 239-244. • Forehand, M. (2008). Bloom’s Taxonomy: From emerging perspectives on learning, teaching and technology. http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy • Mager, R. E. (1997). Preparing instructional objectives: A critical tool in the development of effective instruction, (3rd ed.). Atlanta, GA: The Center for Effective Performance, Inc. • Pohl, Michael. (2000). Learning to think, thinking to learn: Models and strategies to develop a classroom culture of thinking. Cheltenham, Vic.: Hawker Brownlow. • Tarlinton (2003). Bloom’s revised taxonomy.http://www.kurwongbss.qld.edu.au/thinking/Bloom/bloomspres.ppt. • University of Illinois, Center for Teaching Excellence (2006). Bloom’s taxonomy. www.oir.uiuc.edu/Did/docs/QUESTION/quest1.htm • Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005) Understanding by design. Expanded 2nd Edition. Alexandria, Va: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.