SHAWN TRAN EDU 650: TEACHING, LEARNING AND LEADING IN THE 21 ST CENTURY DR. CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON OCTOBER 7, 2013 Backwards Design Lesson Planning

Elements of Effective Lesson Design Students have a clear understanding of the unit/lesson objectives Students build schema through eliciting prior knowledge Students create evidence of developing ideas Students are active learners Assessments are authentic and have a tangible product Assessments match learning objectives (Jones, Jones, & Vermette, 2011)

Pitfalls in Planning Effective Lessons Learning Outcomes: what the student should learn Learning Activity: what the student does to achieve the outcome Two key mistakes in lesson planning:  Focusing energy on developing activities that are “hands-0n” without being “minds-on”  Focusing on coverage of the material – just make it through the textbook (Newman, 2013)

Good Learning Objectives Clear, complete, and specific Consists of knowledge, skills, and attitudes expected of students Specific enough to be measurable Objective drives the specific activity Examples:  Student will create a bar graph to illustrate classroom preference for a chosen topic (CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.B.3)  Student will categorize 10 two-dimensional shapes (CCSS.Math.Content.K.G.B.4)  Student will compare and contrast the main characters from two core literature books (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.9) (Newman, 2013)

Backwards Design Lesson Planning Begins with identifying what the students need to learn Three stages:  Stage 1: Identify the desired results (outcome)  Stage 2: Identify the assessment evidence  Stage 3: Identify the learning plans (activities) (Newman, 2013)

Stage 1: Identify the Desired Results Identify the classroom needs  Community location  Resources  Socioeconomic level  Educational background Identify individual student needs  Special needs students  Necessary accommodations Identify curricular priorities  State and local standards (objectives)  Essential questions  Prerequisite knowledge (Childre, Sands, & Pope, 2009)

Stage 2: Identify Assessment Evidence Move students beyond memorization to a deeper understanding of content, application, and relation to other concepts Examples of evidence:  Performance tasks or prompts  Oral or written prompts  Quizzes or tests  Informal assessments (observations, discussions, anecdotal records) Include detailed rubrics to clarify expectations and guide student performance (Childre, Sands, & Pope, 2009)

Stage 3: Identify the Learning Plan Design learning activities  Engage students with essential questions and vocabulary  Make content meaningful by connecting to real life experiences  Break instruction into manageable parts  Integrate assessments throughout the unit Ensure all student accommodations from Stage 1 are supported (Childre, Sands, & Pope, 2009)

Backwards Design Lesson Plan Grade 1, Mathematics

Stage One: Identify Desired Results Established Goals: CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.A.1 Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. (Common Core State Standards Initiative)

Stage One: Identify Desired Results Understandings Students will understand that: Combining two groups of objects illustrates the concept of addition. A number sentence is the numerical representation of manipulatives. Essential Questions What does addition mean? What are two ways to represent a number sentence? Students will know… Addition facts with a sum of less than 20 Horizontal and vertical number sentences Students will be able to… Add two numbers to represent addition Write a number sentence in the horizontal and vertical format Explain the process of addition to a partner (adapted from Newman, 2013)

Stage 2: Assessment Evidence Students will create an visual representation of a number sentence in their math journal.  + ★★★★ =  ★★★★ Students will write a corresponding numerical number sentence in their math journal (horizontal and vertical). Students will describe the process of addition to a partner.

Stage 3: Learning Plan Target vocabulary: number family, partners, number sentence Read aloud: The Mission of Addition by Brian P. Cleary Mini-lesson: 2 partners make a number family, number sentence is the written representation of a number family Activity:  Use manipulatives to create a number family  Illustrate the number family in your math journal  Write a number sentence to represent the number family  Tell your partner how you created your number sentence

References Childre, A., Sands, J. R., & Pope, S. (2009). Backward Design. Teaching Exceptional Children, 41(5), Common Core State Standards Initiative. Jones, K., Jones, J., & Vermette, P.J. (2011). Six Common Lesson Planning Pitfalls – Recommendations for Novice Educators. Education, 131(4), Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the dots. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.