Understanding by Design
AKA Backwards Design with
application to the IEP
Understanding By Design AKA Backwards
Design
UBD Template
What is an established
Goal?
Standards (not
benchmarks)
Common Core Standards
established goal
-
Go to the common core web site
Click on language arts
Click on 6th grade
What area is our case study student struggling with? What
standards is not being met at this time for the student?
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4
Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words
and phrases based on
grade 6 reading and
content, choosing flexibly
from a range of strategies.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3
Know and apply gradelevel phonics and word
analysis skills in decoding
words.
Facet of Understanding
ExplanationInterpretationApplicationPerspectivesEmpathySelf-Knowledge-
effectively use and adapt what
we know in diverse and real
contexts- we can “do” the
subject
via generalizations or
principles, providing justified
and systematic accounts of
phenomena, facts and data,
make insights connections and
provide illuminating examples
or illustrations
show metacognitive awareness;
perceive the personal style,
prejudices, projections, and
habits of mind that both shape
and impede our own
understandings; are aware of
what we do not understand;
reflect on the meaning of
learning and experiences
ExplanationInterpretationApplicationPerspectivesEmpathySelf-Knowledge-
tell meaningful stories; offer
apt translations; provide a
revealing historical or
personal dimensions to ideas
and events; make the object
of understanding personal or
accessible through images,
anecdotes, analogies and
models.
find value in what others might
find odd, alien, or implausible;
perceive sensitively on the
basis of prior direct experiences
see and hear points of view
through critical eyes and ears;
see the big picture
What will the students
understand?
-there are 7 syllable
types to English words
and that these syllable
types help to
determine their
pronunciation
-English is a
combination of our
languages and the
Latin/Greek layers are
made up of roots,
affixes and combining
forms: knowledge of
these will help to
determine the
meaning of the word
Essential Questions
In what sense should a question be deemed
“essential”?
The best questions push us to the heart of
things- the essence.
Can be global or topical
Essential Questions- requires probing inquiry
and transfer of knowledge
Essential are not about learning “stuff”
Essential Questions Sort
Fact or Activity Based
Questions
Essential Questions
What are the three states of
matter?
How can we know if the author
was serious?
How many whiskers does a cat
have?
Is the universe expanding?
What is the value of place
value?
What is Greenwich standard
time?
When is it wise in cooking to
deviate from the recipe?
What colors do Vera Wang
purses come in?
What are the 5 components of a Are numbers real?
research based reading
program?
What is “third” world? Is there a What does the acronym IEP
“second” or “fourth” world?
mean?
How do you microwave a
How do authors use story
potato?
elements to establish mood?
Why does English
appear to be so
complicated?
Understanding vs Fact Knowledge
“An understanding
makes a claim using
facts.”
What will the student
know and do?
Know: 7 syllable types
and the 125 most
frequent morphemes
of English
D0: Will be able to
decode any multiple
syllable word and
attempt to gleam
meaning from French,
Latin or Green words
based on structural
analysis.
Benchmarks of the
Standard
Benchmark of the Standard
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4
– CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4a Use context (e.g., the overall meaning
of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a
sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
– CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4b Use common, grade-appropriate
Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a
word (e.g., audience, auditory, audible).
– CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4c Consult reference materials (e.g.,
dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to
find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its
precise meaning or its part of speech.
– CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4d Verify the preliminary determination of
the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred
meaning in context or in a dictionary).
Benchmark of the Standard
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3
– CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3a Identify and know the
meaning of the most common prefixes and
derivational suffixes.
– CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3b Decode words with
common Latin suffixes.
– CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3c Decode multisyllable
words.
– CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3d Read grade-appropriate
irregularly spelled words.
Stage 2 of the UBD Process
What evidence can show that
students have achieved the
desired results?
What assessment tasks and
other evidence will anchor
our curricular units and thus
guide our instruction?
What should we look for, to
determine the extent of
student understanding?
Think like an Assessor
Goals
What performance evidence signifies they have been
met?
Essential Questions
What evidence would show
the learner has deeply
considered them?
Understandings
What would show the learner
“got it”
Not a teacher
Do we even
know if the
student did this?
Did the student
have to explain
rows, columns
or patterns?
Examples
Is this evidence
that they can
count to 100?
Is this evidence
that they have
developed “one
hundredness”?
Teacher has the students bring from home a poster that indicated they have counted
100 objects as a way of demonstrating their understanding of 100. Teacher refers to
the state standards that references the “idea” of number and place value.
Rigor
high but realistic expectations
depth over breadth
cross-curricular integration
stated outcomes
curriculum mapping
Does the 100
day activity
meet the
criteria of
rigor?
Assessor vs Activity Designer
Assessor
Activity Designer
What would be sufficient What would be fun and
and revealing evidence of interesting activities on
understanding?
this topic?
Given the goals, what
What projects might
performance tasks must
students wish to do on
anchor the unit and focus this topic.
on instructional work?
Sort out the assessments …
take a few minutes in small groups to look at the
brainstormed list of assessments from earlier
in the presentation…
Are these fun tasks because they are
interesting?
Are these rigorous instructional tasks that really
get at their knowledge?
Continuum of Assessments
Assessments on the continuum
take a few minutes to place the brainstormed
list of assessment on the continuum of
assessments
Is there a balance of assessments? What is
missing?
Authentic Assessment
is realistically
contextualized
allows for
rehearse,
practice, consul
and feedback
to refine
requires
judgment and
innovation
challenges
students to use
a repertoire of
knowledge and
skill
asks the
students to
“do” the
subject
replicates
“adult”
challenges
Authentic Assessment
based upon these criteria which assessments
from the brainstorm list would meet the
criteria of authentic?
How could they be changed to be an authentic
assessment?
Case Study Student
• How do we assess if the case study student
has progressed towards her goals?
– Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and phrases based on
grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly
from a range of strategies
– Know and apply grade-level phonics and word
analysis skills in decoding words.
Progress Monitoring
1. Identification of the
syllable types in a word
analysis task
2. Reading Multiple
Syllable words
3. Identify Prefix, Root
Word and Suffix in Latin
based words
4. Identify the two
combining forms in
Greek based words
5. Reading text with words
that contain multiple
syllables and text with
words that contain
bound morphemes
Turn it into an IEP Goal
Example
By May 2013, Angie will identity the syllable types in any
given multiple syllable word and read the word accurately
from 14/25 to 25/25 as measured by a phonics inventory of
multiple syllable words during language arts as measured
by the special education teacher.
By May 2013, Angie will extract the meaning of English
words of Latin or Greek origin by reading and identifying
the meaning from 0/25 to 25/25 as measured by a
morphology inventory during language arts as measured by
the special education teacher.
UBD Stage Three Instructional Tasks
If the desired result is for learners to …
Meet the standard
Understand that
Consider the questions
Then you need evidence of the student’s ability to…
That suggests the need for specific tasks or test like…
And the learning activities need to…
The learning activities need to…
Group A
When are
students most
fully engaged?
Group B
When is
student
learning most
effective?
The learning activities need to…
Group A
When are students most fully engaged?
-hands-on
-involves mystery or
problems
-provides variety
-personalize the
challenge
-cooperation and
competition
-real-world
-provocative interaction
(case study, mock trial)
-authentic learning
Group B
When is student learning most effective
-focused work ;clear goals
-understanding of the
purpose/rational
-models and exemplars are
provided
-clear criteria that allows for
monitoring progress
-limited fear and maximal
incentive to try harder, take
risks and learn from mistakes
-Ideas are concrete and real
-students self assess reflect
and adjust
WHERETO
W- Where the unit is headed and why
H- Hook and Hold attention
E- Equip with necessary tools and experience
R- numerous opportunities to Rethink, Reflect
and Revise their work
E- Evaluate progress and self access
T- Tailored to reflect individual needs
O- Organized
Before and After
• read textbook section
life on the prairie
• Read Sara Plain and
Tall
• Pioneer- life truck
artifact
• Prairie Day Activities
– churn butter, 19th
century game, seal
letter with wax, etc
• KWL
• Sub Oregon Trail 2
with Journal entry for
Prairie Day Activities
• Other Fiction and
non-fiction text
• time line maps of a
journey west
• Scoring rubric for
memory box task
Specially Designed Instruction
Treatment
1. The history of English
lessons
2. Word Origins Sorts
3. Discovery based lesson
on the syllable types
4. Direct instruction on the
schwa and accented
syllables
5. Direct instruction on
Latin roots
6. Build new words from
the Latin roots
7. Find words from the
content classes to feedforward before
instruction
Transfer of Knowledge