Lesson Planning: A Backward Design Approach September 22- week 4

Warm Up  Last week we discussed science misconceptions and their prevalence in our society. Choose a position and argue either that it is worthwhile to spend time to change them or not harmful to allow students to continue to possess them.  (5 min)

Group Discussion of Warm Up  Pros?  Cons?  So what is the intrinsic value of scientific knowledge and understanding if so many of us live our entire lives with misconceptions? Is there an intrinsic value to correct scientific knowledge?

Lesson Planning  Planning is important bc without it they’re just activities.  Last week’s demo- the activity on-line vs. a fully informed lesson plan  Scheduling everything is challenging  Planning lets you get the most out of your instructional time.  The lost minutes equation… X minutes *6 periods a day *180 days a year= Let x =5….. Let x =10….

Backwards Design What is it? What value is there to it? How do you do it?

What is Backward Design  Backward design is a way of designing lessons and curriculum wherein you start with the goals and objectives of the lesson/unit and move backwards from your goals to decisions regarding instructional methods.  Typically it has three parts or stages.

Stages of a Backward Design 1. Identification of desired results or outcomes. 1. What are your learning goals? What specific skills and knowledge should students master? 2. What are the big ideas students need to walk away with? 3. What knowledge is important that students be familiar with? 2. What evidence indicates adequate learning? 1. How will you collect this evidence? 2. What assessments will give you this evidence? 3. How will you teach it? 1. Now how can you teach to meet those goals? 2. Plan instruction

Process of Backward Designed  Phase one- Determine what my personal goals are….  I want to teach my students about ecosystems and the relationships in them….  Define Learning goals  What will they learn?  Ensure match to standards  Is this something that is part of your teaching?

Backward Design- phase 1 Name: Subject/Course: Ecosystems Topic: Ecosystems Grade Level: 6-8 Desired Results Established Goal(s)/Target(s) —What will students know and be able to do  The students will be able to understand and define an ecosystem by describing and identifying the main components such as consumers, producers, predators, and decomposers.  Students will be able to describe relationships between consumers, producers, predators, and decomposers.  Students will be able to describe the relationships of populations of organisms  Students will be able to describe the interrelationships among populations of organisms in an ecosystem. Standards covered:  Systems, classification, order and organization Benchmarks:  MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental factors influence the growth of organisms.  MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.  MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.  MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.  MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Moving into Phase 2…  Figure out what defines your evidence.  THIS NEEDS TO BE EXPLICIT AND DETAILED (THINK KERSHNER, SWELLER, and CLARK and DIRECT INSTRUCTION)

Backward Design – phase 2 Assessment Evidence  What is your evidence of Learning:  The students successfully define the terms producer, consumer, decomposer, predator, prey, apex predator, and trophic level.  Students demonstrate an ability to articulate the relationships between members of an ecosystem.  Students successfully draw a food web and explain the relationships between those web participants. Therefore:  If I want evidence of the declarative knowledge encompassed in the terms producer, consumer, decomposer, predator, apex predator, and trophic level I need assessment questions that are either short answer or multiple choice. Assessment Mechanism- Short answer and multiple choice quiz asking for definitions.  If I want evidence of student understanding of the relationships between members of an ecosystem I need an assessment that provides students with a chance to explain their understanding. Assessment Mechanism- Short answer paragraph assignment asking students to explain interlocking relationship between members of an ecosystem.  If I want evidence of student ability to successfully design a food web and explain the relationships therein, I need an assessment that asks for students to create a visual representation of a food web. Assessment Mechanism- Food Web drawing in-class activity

Example of Poorly Done Evidence Assessment Evidence  What is your evidence of Learning:  The students will complete assessment activities at the end of each lesson. In addition, the second activity is an assessment.  The final activity will allow students to use the information presented in the previous four lessons. This will also be the final assessment for this learning module.

Difference BTW these Phase 2s  Good one has specific learning evidence that can be collected, measured, and interpreted.  Poorly done one gives no thought to the actual knowledge, and allows for the already possessed assessments to be retrofitted to the lesson plan. This is not true backward design.

Moving in Phase 3  Now I can start asking myself how I can best teach to these goals.  What instructional methods will best meet the goals of my students?  Are there special considerations for my class?  Planning the lesson

Backward Design- Phase 3  Objectives: The students will be introduced to the topic of ecosystems., see phase 1 for specific learning goals. Prep  Write vocabulary and definitions on butcher paper  Depending on the number of students within the classroom make appropriate number of ecosystem cards. Ecosystem cards are index cards with the role of each member of the ecosystem written on them (examples attached). They tell the role of player within the ecosystem as well as relationships between members. These will vary based on what ecosystem you are using.  Tape a grid with the appropriate number of squares (roughly one per student) on the floor. This will be your game board. The Lesson:  Partner student in pairs or rough groups of 3-5. (1-2 minutes)  In small groups have them jot down what they know about the listed vocabulary words for the lesson. (3-5 minutes)  Have groups share what they know. Correct any misinformation at this point. (5-10 minutes)  Explain to students that today we are playing a game called Eco-Stratego. Explain the rules of the game. (5 minutes)  Hand out ecosystem cards (5 minutes)  Play one round of the game (10-15 minutes)  Start whole class discussion of outcome (10 minutes)  Return students to small groups to compare earlier predictions with actual outcome. (10 minutes)  Follow up

Practicing Backward Design  Now it is YOUR turn to backwards design a lesson. I will give you phases one and two and you will do phase three. Don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be perfect and I know it may not be your area of expertise. Just do your best to plan a lesson that will teach to the objectives stated.  20 min

Review  What worked?  What didn’t?  Share some lesson plans?

Take 2  Now you get to do it again, only this time I am going to give you only the first phase of the backward design and you will need to do the last two.  25 minutes

Three Things We Covered Today 1. Backward Design 2. How to effectively plan a lesson 3. Laddered Scaffolding

Preview of Next Week  Safety in the Lab  Teaching thru Deductive Models  Lecturing  Demos