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Understanding by Design
What is teaching for understanding?
How can you unpack content standards to identify the
important big ideas that you want students to understand?
How do you know that students truly understand and can
apply their understanding in a meaningful way?
How can you design courses and units to emphasize
understanding rather than coverage?
What instructional practices are both engaging and
effective for developing student understanding?
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Curriculum Mapping
Curriculum
maps are valuable planning tools for teachers, helping them to begin with the end
in mind and chart a course for the year. Typically, annual curriculum
maps are organized by month or marking period and provide an overview of:
·
the enduring
understandings and overarching goals
·
the
standards-based essential skills and concepts
·
the methods of
assessment that the teacher and students will be working on throughout the year
(e.g., major writing assignments, projects, performances)
·
the major content
resources
Unit
curriculum maps include all of the above with the following additions:
·
the unit’s theme,
essential
question(s), and enduring
understandings
·
more detailed
notes on the formative and summative assessments to be used throughout the unit
·
the strategies
and best practices used to explicitly teach the standards-based
essential skills and concepts
·
a list of the multi-genre resources that will be used
throughout the unit.
Use the link below to explore some
templates:
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Curriculum%20Mapping/Index.htm
Suggestions to Use:
Four-Quarter Curriculum
Mapping - http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Curriculum%20Mapping/4Quartercurriculummap_legal.doc
Thematic Unit Template - http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Curriculum%20Mapping/Curriculum_Map_Unit_legal.doc
Steps
for Writing Big Ideas, Enduring Understandings, and Essential Questions
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Big Ideas/Enduring
Understandings have enduring
value because they:
Ø
Identify core concepts,
principles, theories, & processes
Ø
Serve to organize
important facts, skills, or actions
Ø
Will transfer to other
contexts
Ø
Require “uncoverage” – what are the abstract/complex ideas that
require genuine insight?
View examples from:
http://www.pac6.org/images/upload/Sample_Enduring_Understandings_v10.doc
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Good Essential Questions have
some basic criteria in common:
· They are open-ended and
resist a simple or single right answer
· They are deliberately thought-provoking, counterintuitive,
and/or controversial
· They require students to draw upon content knowledge and
personal experience
· They can be revisited throughout the unit to engage students
in evolving dialogue and debate
· They lead to other essential questions posed by students
Use the link to explore theme ideas:
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Essential%20Questions/Index.htm
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Sources:
http://www.pac6.org/images/upload/Sample_Enduring_Understandings_v10.doc
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Essential%20Questions/Index.htm