Transcript Planning with the End in Mind

Planning with a Focus on Student
Understanding
St. Amant High School
1
•
Whole Group Goal
Participants will deepen their understanding of the
components of the curriculum framework in order to impact
effective planning and teaching.

Curricular Framework
Big Picture
Guiding Questions
Grade Level Expectations (GLEs)
2
Essential Question
How is the framework for
the curriculum created with
a priority for student
understanding?
3

Read over the Hypothetical High School
Cross-Curricular Unit on The Holocaust

What about this unit represents best teaching
practices?
A Familiar Truth
The Holocaust units presents a familiar scene – an activity
oriented curriculum in which students participate in a
variety of learning activities. The unit is engaging for
students and is organized around a theme to provide
Interdisciplinary, real-world connections.
These are all great qualities within a curricular unit.
But questions remain….
Consider just the ENGLISH portion…
What are the big ideas and important skills to
be developed during the unit according to
the APCC?
Do the activities reflect those big ideas and
important skills?
What understandings will emerge from all
these activities and will endure?
Quick Activity

In your envelopes, find the slips of paper that
represent stages of planning instruction.

Put those slips in the order that you perform
them when starting a new unit.

Compare your sequence to that of your
neighbor’s. Discuss how they are alike or
different and WHY.
Stages in Backward Design Process
1.
Identify Desired Results
2. Determine Acceptable Evidence
3. Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction
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Identify Desired Results
stage 1

What do we want students to understand and be able to
do?

What enduring knowledge is worth understanding?

What should my students remember 50 years from now?

What essential knowledge should my students retain?
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Non-example of Enduring Understanding
Determine Acceptable Evidence
stage 2

Evidence (from assessment) has to show us
what students know and understand.

Teachers must recognize the difference
between a student knowing the content and a
student understanding that content.
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Plan for “Acceptable Evidence”
Ask yourself: What do I want to hear my
students say and what do I want to see my
students do to prove their understanding?
Then:
Plan assessments that give
students the opportunities to say and do
those things
• Throughout the unit
• At the end of the unit
Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction
stage 3

What activities will I use to develop my
students’ understanding?

How will the activities be organized to support
the level of thinking required?

How will I differentiate instruction so that all
students achieve the goals?
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The Equation
Curriculum Document
•Derived from
National/State Standards
• Louisiana Comprehensive
Curriculum
• Represents collective
wisdom
Students
•What do they already
know?
•What do they need?
•How do they learn best?
•What knowledge will they
need to truly understand?
Teacher
•Teacher knowledge of
content and curriculum
• Level of implementation
•for instructional
practices/strategies
• Lesson Design
• Understanding of students
Student Understanding
Curriculum Framework –
The Constant Variable
Big Picture
Guiding Questions
GLEs