Valerie Jankowski
ISLT 9471
Skillset 1 Assignment
Part 1: Reflection/Comparison of ISD Approaches
Original Instruction Plan
I am a library media specialist in a K-6 school.
It is my responsibility to teach
information literacy and research skills to the students. I have each class for one hour a week.
During that hour, I teach a lesson and have library checkout with the students. I need to make
sure that the lessons fit the amount of time that I have with those students (usually about 40
minutes) but are also effective.
Second grade students are introduced to the dictionary during my library class. Since I
have a limited amount of time, I focus on choosing activities that could be taught within that
period of time. The only objective I was given was that "students will be taught how to use the
dictionary". Many of my lessons or activities using the dictionary are adapted from plans I
found online or lesson idea books. The lessons vary in their focus: from teaching the students
the different parts of the dictionary page (entry words, guide words, definition) to teaching the
students why we use a dictionary (how to spell a word, how to say a word, the meaning of a
word). The students are also using learning dictionary skills with their classroom teacher during
regular class time although their class work is usually photocopied worksheets from their
workbook. They are not using the same dictionary we use in the library. I create some of my
own worksheets and use one of them as a summative assessment at the end of the quarter.
When the student go on to third grade, we spend a couple of weeks reviewing the dictionary
during their library time.
Most of the students retain little, if any, information about the
dictionary from what they were taught in the second grade. Both the students and myself felt a
fair amount of frustration both during and after the unit.
ISD - Backwards Design Model
My school district is implementing the backwards design model as part of our districtwide professional development plan. After learning about backwards design from both my
district and my reading in this course so far, I believe that using the backwards design model
will greatly improve my dictionary unit.
The biggest benefit I could see is that even though I am limited by time, the backwards
design model would keep my lessons focused on what I want my students to know at the end
of the unit. Since I am introducing the dictionary to second grade students, my objective needs
to be more basic and focused. Rather than using the very vague objective "students will be
taught how to use the dictionary", the students should instead be able to answer the essential
question: "What is a dictionary and when should I use it?". Students will first need to be able to
answer the question "what is a dictionary" before they can determine when they would use
one. The next step in backwards design is creating the assessments which would then be used
to guide the activities that are used. I would first create a formative assessment determining if
the students know what a dictionary is. After determining that they can answer that question,
we would then move on to identifying when we would use a dictionary. Because backwards
design narrowed down exactly what I want my students to know, my activities would be more
focused. These activities would include more "real life" situations of when a dictionary would
be used rather than fill in the blank worksheets. This dictionary unit would be much more
manageable and concise than my original unit.
Part Two: Systematic Instructional Design
What does it mean to use a "systematic" instructional design process?
When a systematic instructional design process is used, the designer or instructor
follows a certain order to ensure that the training or instruction is successful. All of the relevant
information and circumstances are taken into account so that the best results can be achieved.
Instead of focusing on the content, the systematic instructional design process looks at the
problem or learner to determine what is emphasized or taught will actually solve the problem.
How would you know if a systematic process is actually used?
I work in an elementary school that is beginning to implement the backwards design
model which is a type of a systematic instructional design process. I have seen lessons that are
created using instructional design and lessons that were created looking only at the content.
The lessons created using the instructional design are more focused and the students perform
better on the assessments. I believe this is because the activities they completed during the
unit or lesson were designed with the assessment in mind. These units or lessons also include
an essential question which guides the teacher and the students.