 Integrating Unit Design with Field Experiences Jesse Orth and Jackie Chaney

How can I authentically arrange for field experiences as part of my curriculum? Goals:  Engage in conversation about authentic field experiences  Identify processes that support integrating field experiences into a curriculum  Examine specific examples of field experience integration  Discuss how these processes can be used, and adjusted, to meet your needs

 Authentic Field Experiences Engage in conversation about authentic field experiences

What is essential to “pulling off” an authentic field experience?

 Processes for Authentic Unit Design Identify processes that support integrating field experiences into a curriculum

Beginning with the end in mind…the why and how Moving from Standards to the Classroom (Backwards Mapping/ UbD) Unpacking Standards “Scrolling” Identifying desired results Designing authentic assessments Designing authentic learning/field experiences

“Unpacking”

Unpacking Standards  Unpacking Standards:  To implement the CCSS with fidelity requires a close read of the standards and appendices. In an effort to further understand the specific expectation of each standard, teachers unpacked the standards by identifying the verbs, nouns, and modifiers. This led to a professional conversation around WHAT was expected and HOW mastery would be demonstrated.

Scrolling IntegrationScroll

Scrolling  Scrolls:  Science and Social Studies as the backbone  ELA and Mathematics embedded in content  Authentic opportunities for integrations  Opportunities for transfer and performance  After reading Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching -Domain 1: Planning and Preparation, our teachers identified a need to plan differently! We were “disturbed” and this led to the arrangement of learning through Big Ideas. Grade level teams dove into the standards, wrote big ideas on post-its, had conversations about what made sense, and developed a year-long map of curriculum plans.

Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions  EU’s and EQ’s:  Standards are unpacked. Now what? What do the students really need to know and understand? Teachers worked diligently to create Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions that would be the foundation of all learning within units and learning experiences. These have become the simple statements that help make the learning meaningful and transferable.

Unit Planning  Unit Planning Process:  We have a scroll of the year… now what? The old scope and sequence provided from our county would not work…WCPS needed to change the way we arranged for learning. Understanding by Design was the answer to this dilemma: Stage 1- Desired Results, Stage 2- Assessment Evidence, Stage 3- Learning Plan. Many different planning templates were developed. This year, a process for developing a unit using UbD has helped grade levels collaborate/plan.

Summative and Formative Assessments  Assessment Photo Albums:  We use a “photo album” approach to assessing students both at the end of a unit and throughout a unit, as opposed to just a “snapshot” of their learning.

Learning Experiences  Learning Experiences:  What really matters… are our students learning? WCPS has shifted from a place of “doing” to a place of “learning!” Our students are engaged in meaningful learning experiences with clear and high expectations. There is coherence in what they just learned, are learning now, and will learn next! The teachers are empowered to make professional decisions based on knowledge of the standards and the students are equipped to demonstrate mastery!

Field Experiences  Field Experiences:  Now that students have had a variety of rich instructional experiences within the classroom, it is time for them to take their knowledge and skills beyond the classroom walls. Students now have the ability to go afield with a deep and abiding understanding of what they are seeing and experiencing. The field experience will enrich every aspect of the learning that was so carefully arranged for throughout the scrolling and unit development process.

 This work in action… Examine specific examples of field experience integration

Sultana and the Chesapeake Watershed Courtney Leard; 5 th Grade— Fountaindale Elementary  5 th grade teacher, Courtney Leard, received a grant through Sultana for the school year. Knowing that students would be participating in a “once in a lifetime” field experience, Courtney and her team worked diligently to embed authentic instruction and learning –throughout the year—that would maximize the experience. They began by closely examining the 5 th grade standards and asking key questions…  What are the performance expectations of these standards?  What’s essential for students to know and understand?  What will student “do” with this knowledge, and how will I know if they’ve mastered these standards?  What authentic integration and teaching can be done along the way to prepare them for this experience?  How can this transfer into an exhibition of learning ?

Sultana and the Chesapeake Watershed Courtney Leard; 5 th Grade— Fountaindale Elementary

Stream Study James Barnhart; 4 th grade Potomac Heights Elementary  James Barnhart, a 4 th grade teacher at Potomac Heights Elementary School, has arranged for a fully integrated experience utilizing a yearlong theme of “Environments.” In each of the content areas, Mr. Barnhart and his team explore the word “environments” through multiple lenses. In social studies students explore political, social and cultural environments and how each of those environments are changed, altered and forced to adapt. In science, students explore environments through a close look at their surroundings and how one small change can raise a whole host of implications. As students’ depth of knowledge and understanding grows and expands, Mr. Barnhart asks students to consider the environment of Hamilton Run alongside our school. Students study every facet of the stream from water quality to location to human impact. Students will take numerous trips to the stream to collect data and test various theories. At the end of the year, students travel to numerous other waterways to expand upon their understanding of watersheds and the environment. As a final culminating experience, local leaders are asked to sit in on a “hearing” where students present their findings and make recommendations to protect the health of both Hamilton Run and the greater Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Stream Study James Barnhart; 4 th grade Potomac Heights Elementary

Wetlands, K-5 Fountaindale Elementary Fountaindale is in its first year of building a wetlands and preparing for a stream restoration; the idea actually originated from a student who said, “Can we have a rain garden?” From there, resources and energy aligned. The school has partnered with 16 community organizations and sponsored a “wetlands work day” in which the learning community came together to plant, mulch, and design our Outdoor Learning Lab. In the spring, students will be completing their second round of outdoor learning. We also have two more “work days” in which planting will take place. Next year, the project will grow into further wetlands curriculum work and the beginning of the Hamilton Run restoration.

Wetlands K-5 Fountaindale Elementary

 “Next Steps” Discuss how these processes can be used, and adjusted, to meet your needs

Questions  What questions do you have for us?  What can we clarify?  What would you like us to discuss in greater detail?  What ideas do you have that we can provide feedback on?  Other?

Our Contact Information  Jesse Orth  Potomac Heights & Emma K. Doub Elementary Schools   Jackie Chaney  Fountaindale Elementary School 