Backward Design - Stage I
The focus in Stage 1 is "big ideas" - making sure that our
learning goals are framed in terms of the important
concepts, issues, themes, strategies etc. that are at the heart
of learning for understanding. Research on learning
has conclusively shown that students need to see the Big
Picture if they are to be able to make sense of their lessons
and, especially, transfer their learning to new lessons, new
issues and problems, and real-world situations.
UbD in a Nutshell, Grant Wiggins 2006
Stagttage 1 : Desired Results
Stage:age
. An "understanding" -
A question is essential if it -
:1as no simple "right answer" that can
be looked up.
• is .the "moral of the story" of the unitan important inference the learner is
helped to draw
1
is meant to be investigated, argued,
loked at from different points of view
(not answered with finality)
• is transferable to other lessons,
subjects, contexts
Knowledge and Skill • states what students should know and
be able to do as a result of the unit
• reflects both the targeted knowledge
and skill and the enabling knowledge
and skill implied in the understandingrelated goals
• is usually not obvious, may be
counter-intuitive-and therefore prone
to misunderstanding
raises other important questions, and
f the question itself can be fruitfully
questioned
• is an insight, not a truism
laturally arises in everyday life, and/
or in "doing" the subject
• makes sense of otherwise discreet
facts - it "connects the dots"
constantly and appropriately recurs;
can fruitfully be asked and re-asked
lver time, and as a result of further
learning
• is a specific generalization, a full
sentence proposition: "The student
will understand THAT ... "
--
UbD in a Nutshell, Grant Wiggins 2006
Elements of Backward Design: Stage 1
Essential Learnings:
Essential Questions:
Enduring Understandings:
Knowledge and Skills:
Elements of Backward Design: Stage 1
Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design, Tomlinson and McT7ghe
Essential Learnings:
What relevant goals (e.g. content power standards, course or
program objechves, learning outcomes) will this design address?
Essential Questions:
What provocative questions will foster inquiry, understanding,
and transfer learning?
Enduring Understandings:
• What are the big ideas?
• What specific understandings about them are desired?
.... Y1
•
• What specific understandings about them are desired?
• What misunderstandings are predictable?
Knowledge and Skills:
• What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result
of this unit?
• What should they eventually be able to do as a result of such
knowledge and skill?
Tips for Finding Big Ideas
Understanding by Design, Wiggins and McTighe
Transferable Concepts
abundance/ scarcity
adaptation
aging/ maturity
balance
change/ continuity
character
community
conflict
connections
cooperation
correlation
courage
creativity
culture
interactions
cycles
interdependence
defense / protection
democracy
invention
discovery
justice
diversity
liberty
environment
loyalty
equilibrium
migration
evolution
mood
exploration
order
fairness
patterns
harmony
perspective
honor
production
proof
repetition
rhythm
survival
symbol
system
technology
tyranny
variable
wealth
Questions
Why study ... .? So what?
What makes the study of ... "universal"?
If the unit on .,. is a story, what's the "moral of the story"?
What's the "big idea" implied in the skill or process of. .. ?
What larger concept, issue, or problem underlies ... ?
What couldn't we do if we didn't understand ... ?
How is .,. used and applied in the larger world?
. What is a "real-world" insight about...?
What is the value of studying ... ?
Related and Suggestive Pairs
absorb & reflect
action & reaction
capital & labor
constant & variable
continuity & change
factor & result
fate & freedom
harmony & dissonance
idiom & language
important & urgent
light & shadow
literal & figurative
matter & energy
meaning & syntax
nation & people
nature & nurture
power & governance
sign and signified
structure & function
sum & difference