Understanding by Design 2012
Allen Parish
March 12 & 13, 2012
Welcome
 Website for files
http://21stcenturyschoolteacher.com
Agenda
Tuesday
 Levels of Thinking and Questioning
 Incorporating Questioning into Lesson Design
 Writing Units and Lessons
 Lunch
 Writing Units and Lessons
 Peer Review of Lessons
Understandings
 Common core standards are not a curriculum.
 Common core standards align well with Understanding
by Design.
 The process of unpacking standards is critical to
understanding their implications for design, instruction
and assessment.
 Quality questioning leads to understanding and transfer.
Questions
 To what extent are the ideas of acquisition, meaning
making and transfer embedded in the Common Core
Standards?
 If the state is going to hand us a curriculum, why unpack
standards?
 What makes a good question? A good teacher
question? A good student question?
 How might our assessments be affected by Common
Core Standards?
Model Lesson Pilot Suggested Steps
 Before the lesson
 Study lesson to identify CCSS-aligned content and instruction.
 Read and analyze identified text; identify standards, questions to
ask, potential areas of difficulty for students, possible scaffolds
 During the lesson
 Observe/monitor and provide written or oral feedback
 After the lesson
 Engage teachers individually in formal reflection on the lesson
(i.e., Examine the CCSS-aligned practices (What did the lesson do?
What did the lesson not do?) What went well? What could be
improved?)
 Engage entire faculty in reflection/discussion; ask individual
teachers to demonstrate understandings for colleagues
 Gather examples of CCSS-aligned student assignments and
student work
Questioning in the Classroom
Three-Minute Pause
What role does questioning
play in your classroom?
Steps to the Inquiry Process
 Higher-level questions are essential to facilitating
conceptual understanding. The inquiry process is
facilitated by skillful questioning and provides students
with the opportunity to become independent thinkers
who master their own learning.
COSTA’S LEVELS OF QUESTIONING
Level One:
The answer can be found in the text (either directly or
indirectly)
Very concrete and pertains only to the text.
Asks for facts about what has been heard or read
Information is recalled in the exact manner/form it was
heard
COSTA’S LEVELS OF QUESTIONING
Level Two:
 The answer can be inferred from the text.
 Although more abstract than a Level One question,
deals only with the text
 Information can be broken down into parts
 Involves examining in detail, analyzing motives or
causes, making inferences, finding information to
support generalizations or decision making
 Questions combine information in a new way
COSTA’S LEVELS OF QUESTIONING
Level Three:
 The answer goes beyond the text.
 Is abstract and does not pertain to the text
 Ask that judgments be made from information
 Gives opinions about issues, judges the validity of ideas
or other products, justifies opinions and ideas
COSTA’S LEVELS OF QUESTIONING
LEVEL ONE:
Define
Describe
Identify
List
Name
Observe
Recite
Scan
LEVEL TWO:
Analyze
Compare
Contrast
Group
Infer
Sequence
Synthesize
LEVEL THREE:
Apply
Evaluate
Hypothesize
Imagine
Judge
Predict
Speculate
Level Three questions require students to go beyond the concepts or principles they have learned and to use
these in novel or hypothetical situations.
TOPIC
Level One
(complete, count, match,
name, define, observe,
recite, describe, list,
identify, recall)
Level Two
(analyze, categorize,
explain, classify, compare,
contrast, infer, organize,
sequence)
Level Three
(imagine, plan, evaluate,
judge, predict, extrapolate,
invent, speculate,
generalize)
Science
What is a gene?
What is a chromosome?
Compare and contrast
genes and chromosomes.
Spanish
Conjugate the Spanish verb
“ser” in the present tense.
Elaborate on the
similarities and differences
of the preterite and past
tenses in the Spanish
language.
When, if ever, can x^2=2x.
Use what you know about
genes and chromosomes to
predict a trait in a child.
“Invent” a new Spanish
regular “ar” ending verb.
Use it in 6 sentences, using
different tenses and persons.
Mathematics Evaluate this expression:
3x^2 if x=4.
History
Which amendment in the
Constitution gives citizens
the right to bear arms?
English
In the book The Giver, what
did Jonas’ mom do for a
living?
Compare and contrast
societal conditions in the
US that impacted the
inclusion of the second
amendment in the US
Constitution with
conditions today.
Use examples from the
book to elaborate on the
theme of balancing
freedom and security.
Prove whether or not the
operation y, is
commutative, given that
ayb=a^2-b
If there were a
constitutional amendment
that prohibited ownership of
weapons by citizens, how
might American society be
affected?
Speculate as to how your
community would change if
some of the societal controls
embraced by the members
of Jonas’ community in the
book The Giver, were
embraced within your
community.
Sample Questions Level 1:
Gather and Recall Information (Gathering/Input)
Ask Level 1 questions to identify what students know about the
problem or question and connect to prior knowledge.
•What do you know about your problem?
•What does __________mean?
•What did you record from your class notes about ____?
•What does it say in the text about this topic?
•What is the formula or mnemonic device (ex. P-E-M-D-A-S)
that will help you identify the steps necessary to solve the
problem?
Sample Questions Level 2:
Make Sense Out of Information Gathered (Processing)
Ask Level 2 questions to begin processing the information gathered,
make connections and create relationships.
•Can you break down the problem into smaller parts? What would
the parts be?
•How can you organize the information?
•What can you infer from what you read?
•Can you find a problem/question similar to this in the textbook to
use as an example?
•What is the relationship between ______
and ______?
Sample Questions Level 3:
Apply and Evaluate Actions/ Solutions (Applying/Output)
Ask Level 3 questions to apply knowledge acquired and connections made
to predict, judge, hypothesize or evaluate.
•How do you know the solution is correct? How could you check your
answer?
•Is there more than one way to solve the problem? Could there be other
correct answers?
•Can you make a model of a new or different way to share the
information?
•How do you interpret the message of the text?
•Is there a real life situation where this can be applied or used?
•Can you explain it in a new and different way?
•Could the method of solving this problem work for other problems?
•How would you teach this to a friend?
TOPIC
Level One
(complete, count, match, name,
define, observe, recite, describe, list,
identify, recall)
Name the elements that make up
water.
Level Two
(analyze, categorize, explain,
classify, compare, contrast, infer,
organize, sequence)
Level Three
(imagine, plan, evaluate, judge,
predict, extrapolate, invent,
speculate, generalize)
What is the definition of a trapezoid?
What happened to the litmus paper
when inserted in the liquid?
Recite the Preamble to the
Constitution.
Evaluate the expression (3x+5)^2
if x = -2.
Analyze the character’s intentions in
the scene.
Distinguish one candidate’s platform
from that of the other candidate.
Explain how involvement in war
impacts the economy.
Arrange the following numbers in
order from smallest to largest:
Use four 4s and math operational
symbols to create expressions that
equal the numbers 1-10.
What will California’s population be
like in 2050 if we continue to grow
as we have for the past 10 years?
Make a plan to complete your
science fair project.
Imagine that you were in the
character’s position, how would you
react?
Create an invention that uses at least
three types of simple machines.
Applying the principles espoused in
the Fifth Amendment, how would
you decide the case of:
Three-Minute Pause
How can Costa’s levels of
questions be used in
conjunction with A, M, T
goals and the Common Core
Standards?
Writing Questions
 Create level one, two, and three questions for your
lesson
 Share—Triple Whip!
Work Time—Model Lesson Design
Math Resources
 Math Design Collaborative
 http://www.mygroupgenius.org/mathematics
 Formative Lessons
 http://map.mathshell.org/materials/lessons.php
 Sample Questions
 http://www.gips.org/learning/CurricularAreas/mathematics/K-12-Curriculum-Framework
English Resources
 Socratic Seminars
 http://www.nwabr.org/education/pdfs/PRIMER/PrimerPieces/SocSem.pdf
 http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/academics.cfm?subpage=1260
 Unpacking Examples
 http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/common-coretools/
 Writing Continuum
 http://www.epsilen.com/CCSSO/continuum/?system_name=ejoCFRujtMA=&selecte
d_system_name=ejoCFRujtMA=
 Questioning and close reading model (Hunt Institute)
 http://www.youtube.com/watchv=Ho_ntaYbL7o&feature=related
Lunch
Work Time—Model Lesson Design
 Continued . . .
Peer Review Protocol
Groups of three
Two talk—author listens
Peer Review
What evidence is there of student
acquisition, meaning making, and
transfer
 To what extent is there alignment with the
unpacked standard(s) and AMT?
Is there an appropriate balance of
level one, two, and three questions?