UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
TEACHER:
STAGE 1 – Identify learning goals
TRANSFER: Students should eventually be able to use what they learn, to...
Your Ideas
Definition & Examples
Think of transfer goals in
terms of long-term & hardwon abilities in which one
must respond to novel and
varied challenges, in realistic
situations.
Transfer is the use of a
repertoire of
knowledge, skill, and
understanding in a new
and challenging
context.
A skill is not a transfer goal; a
transfer goal involves many
skills – as well as strategic
thinking about which skill to
use when (as in the game vs.
the drill).
Examples:



Design Tips
Solve non-routine
math problems
Research and
present real-life
findings (e.g. water
quality, plant
growth, etc.)
Compare and
contrast two texts
on the same theme
The top-level Standard in
most Standards documents
identifies transfer goals; the
sub-standards under them
identify related skill and
knowledge goals.
For further information, see Module E in the UbD Guide to Creating High-Quality Units
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
1
UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
TEACHER:
STAGE 1: MEANING
Enduring understandings Students will come away understanding that…
Your Ideas
Definition & Examples
Understandings represent
the ‘moral’ of the unit ‘story’:
generalizations, cast as a fullsentence thesis statement,
that ties all the facts and
skills together.
An Understanding is a
hard-won conclusion –
generalizations or
insights inferred by
students, with teacher
help, from the learning.
In most cases, these
understandings will remain
the same for all students
even if the level of expertise
or sophistication of the
understanding varies due to
ability or background.
Examples: Students will
understand that –



Design Tips
History is the story
told by the winners
Writing is revision
Many of the most
important scientific
theories go against
common sense and
are easily
misunderstood
Sometimes it is easier to
identify the understanding
sought by first recalling the
common misunderstandings
you encounter in teaching
this topic.
For further information, see Module F in the UbD Guide to Creating High-Quality Units
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
2
UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
TEACHER:
STAGE 1 - MEANING
Essential questions Why…?
Your Ideas
Definition & Examples
An Essential Question is
a thought-provoking
and recurring query by
which we make sense
of our work, our world,
ourselves.
f
Examples:








To what extent…? Under what conditions…? When should you…? etc.
Design Tips
Essential Questions are not
important factual questions; they
are not leading questions. The
point of such questions is to keep
asking them, not quickly answer
them. (Put important factual
questions in the Knowledge &
Skill box).
EQs can be either thematic or
procedural (note the first 2
examples, to the left)
Who is a true friend?
What should I do
when I am stuck?
How credible is this
source?
To what extent is
geography destiny?
When should I
calculate and when
should I estimate?
How precise should I
be here?
What rights do I have?
What causes war?
What caused the Civil
War?
Your Essential Questions are
naturally related to the
UNDERSTANDINGS, but not
necessarily in a 1-1 relationship.
EQs can be “overarching” – very
broad, related to many units; or
“topical” – related just to this
unit). [Look at the last pair, to the
left]. Your course should contain
overarching Qs to provide
coherence and prioritization, to
which unit Qs link.
For further information, see Module F in the UbD Guide to Creating High-Quality Units
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
3
UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
TEACHER:
STAGE 1 - ACQUISITION
Knowledge & skill What facts, skills and conceptual knowledge must students possess in order to develop and demonstrate
understanding (meaning-making and transfer)?
Your Ideas
Definition & Examples
State your Knowledge and
Skill goals as questions: this
will shorten the list and make
clear the3 difference
between Essential Questions
and questions with definite
answers. (See some
examples, left)
Knowledge and skill are
discrete content goals.
The long-term goal,
however, is fluent and
flexible use of ‘content’
in performance.
Examples:





Design Tips
You will want to study
state/national standards to
determine which substandards related to specific
content that can be fully
addressed by this unit.
What is the water
cycle?
Where is the Table of
Contents?
What is the equation
for a line?
How do you
pronounce words that
end in ‘ough’?
Who wrote the
Federalist Papers?
For further information, see Module E in the UbD Guide to Creating High-Quality Units
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
4
UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
TEACHER:
STAGE 1: Relevant Standards
Given your other Stage 1 goals, what Standards not yet identifies might be involved? Which aspects of Mission or
long-term Program goals are you addressing in this unit?
Relevant Standards
Transfer Goals (from p. 5)
Meaning Goals (Essential Questions & Understandings from pp. 6-7)
Acquisition Goals (Knowledge and Skill Goals from p. 8)
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
5
UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
TEACHER:
STAGE 2 – Determine acceptable evidence
STAGE 2 Alignment – What the STAGE 1 Goals Imply for Evidence:
If the Transfer Goals (p. 1) are…
Then we need evidence that the student can…
If the Meaning Goals (pp. 2-3) are...
Then we need evidence that the student can…
If the Acquisition Goals (Page 4) are…
Then we need evidence that the student can…
For further information, see Module G in the UbD Guide to Creating High-Quality Units
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
6
UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
TEACHER:
STAGE 2: GRASPS – contextualizing the assessment task(s) & product(s) requirements
Use the GRASPS format to provide more detailed information about the performance task(s) through which you will assess students’
growing understanding.
GRASPS
Ideas for each aspect of the performance task
Differentiation options: how can I
build in the most options without
sacrificing the unit goals or
performance expectations?
Goal
 Establish the
goal, problem,
challenge, or
obstacle in the
task scenario.
Your goal in this situation/simulation is to...
Are there students in the class who need a more
sophisticated challenge: a problem that is less
well-defined (fuzzy), a more complex challenge,
more than one obstacle or an obstacle that is
more difficult to overcome?
Role
 Define the role of
the students in
the task.
 State the job of
the students for
the task.
Your role is...
Could students choose or be assigned roles that
are a close match to their interests and learning
profile? Do some roles require a more or less
sophisticated understanding of content?
(Be sure all roles remain authentic.)
Audience
 Identify the
target audience
within the
context of the
scenario.
Your audience is...
Might the audiences vary, for students at
different readiness levels? For example,
advanced students could be asked to present to
a more sophisticated or hostile audience; or
have to use more complex tools and/or
techniques with the same audience.
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
7
UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
Situation
The context is...the setting is...
 Set the context of
the scenario:
conditions,
impediments,
setting, etc.
 Explain the
situation.
Product
Your work should culminate in...
 Clarify what the
students will
create and why
they will create it
(in terms of the
goal of the
situation).
Standards and
Criteria
 Provide students
with a clear
picture of
success.
 Identify specific
standards for
success.
 Issue rubrics to
the students.
TEACHER:
For more advanced students, consider
making the context more complex and/or
less familiar to students. Consider providing
them with less prompting/scaffolding and
cues. Conversely, provide weaker students
with more scaffold (but have that level of
support reflected in the final rubric or
scoring method).
Provide product options that appeal to
varied student interests and learning
profiles – without sacrificing the desired
results, however. Thus, if your aim is to
assess writing ability here, then do not vary
the product. But if your aim is more general
– effective communication – then, permit
the kind of medium used – writing,
speaking, multimedia – to vary by interest.
Your work will be judged against...
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
Consider differentiating the rubric that you
will use to evaluate student performance.
For example, as noted above, have each
level differ by the amount of scaffold or
prompting provided by the teacher in
addition to the quality of the work. If you
include varied product options, be sure the
rubric reflects any differences in process or
expectation, particularly in terms of
mechanics of production.
8
UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
TEACHER:
STAGE 2: Criteria for performance tasks and prompts (from which rubrics will be built)
Criteria: For each assessment, identify the criteria to be scored. Examples of Criteria: Clear, Persuasive, Accurate,
Engaging, Thorough, etc.
Assessment Task
Criterion #1
Criterion #2
Criterion #3
Criterion #4
What should each trait be worth - given the assessment goals? Place the % weight or point value of each trait against the others, in the
circle inside each Criterion box
Checklists: For assessments that involve 2 choices e.g. yes/no, present/absent, right/wrong, etc., list the Checklist
Titles, below:
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
9
UbD unit drafting template
UNIT TITLE:
TEACHER:
STAGE 3 – Determine the learning plan
Honor the Unit Goals: Recall the 3 kinds of goals in a unit: transfer, meaning-making and acquisition of skill and knowledge.
Refer back to your STAGE 1 TMA Goals (pages 5 – 8) and your assessments in order to propose appropriate instructional activities:
Thinking about the unit
design…
T
M
A
Instructional Ideas, derived from analyzing the
demands of Stages 1 & 2
Thinking about implentation and
differentiation
What events will help students
practice and get feedback in
transfer - using the learning in
realistic ways?
Model, try, get feedback, adjust – some
students will need only a few attempts,
others will need many. How will you vary
time and opportunity while keeping everyone
engaged?
What activities will permit
students to make meaning help them draw inferences,
make generalizations,
consider implications, etc as
much as possible on their
own?)
Many students ‘naturally’ make connections
and inferences; others not only have
difficulty doing so but may not understand
what it means to do so. How will you help the
latter move beyond literal thinking - and
prompt their meaning-making as needed?
What learning experiences will
enable student acquisition of
knowledge and skill?
Remember that some students prefer a big
picture approach and others prefer a step-bystep approach. Some prefer significant
direction and prompting, others do not.
For further information, see Module H in the UbD Guide to Creating High-Quality Units
© Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe
10