1. The Unit Structure: A Crash Course
Meeting the Needs of Struggling and Succeeding Students

2. An Organizational Approach
Lessons that help students acquire & integrate new core knowledge
Traditional Test
Lessons that help students extend, refine & use knowledge
Holistic Performance Assessment
Logical progression of lesson plan objectives that increase in critical thinking levels

3. Understanding by Design, ASCD, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, 1998
Master teachers identify course or subject Unit Concepts within the framework of Team and Subject Outcomes. They use standards and their own experiences to articulate major concepts that build upon what students know already and that challenge them to extend and deepen that knowledge; each concept becomes a “folder” for the many ideas within the unit. The language of Wiggins and McTighe is helpful in identifying folder concepts: Unit Concepts address essential questions and create enduring understandings.
Science and social studies teachers often state their Concept as an essential question; others use major concepts that encourage enduring understandings. Whether a question or an understanding, the Unit Concept serves two purposes: to integrate smaller ideas (and standards) into the larger folder it represents; and, to identify what is most important in a course, rather than what is most interesting, recognizing that what is important can be made interesting with thoughtful instructional planning. Rarely do Concepts correspond to textbook chapter titles.
One consideration of teachers that facilitates unit-level planning is recognizing the kind of Prior Knowledge that students bring to the Unit from their earlier educational experiences. Without such acknowledgement, high school biology courses simply extend the vocabulary of middle school life science courses and seventh grade language arts courses substantially repeat fifth grade experiences: misconceptions persist, students are bored and opportunities for engaging with thoughtful concepts are missed. Teachers who expect students to activate and build upon prior knowledge can then challenge students to extend and deepen their concepts and thinking.

4. Backward Design…teaching with the end in mind. Covering vs. Uncovering
Many times teachers can rely heavily on a textbook to frame our curriculum.
We choose instructional activities that will ensure that we “cover” all the information in the book.
Problems with “covering” material
Often leads to lower level understanding
Material is most often delivered “pre-digested” by someone else, usually the teacher

5. Covering vs. Uncovering (cont’d)
As teachers, we often assume that because we have connected all the dots, the students will see the overall picture.
Unfortunately, the students often see the stars without seeing the constellation.
Instead of covering the standards, we should seek to uncover the standards.
Uncovering the standards forces students to use higher level cognitive skills to connect the dots which lead to the Big Idea we want them to understand.

6. The Big Idea
Backward design focuses on defining the Big Ideas that we want our students to know before selecting the instructional activities for a unit
Focusing on the Big Idea (or Enduring Understanding) forces us to really think about what “knowing” looks like
Three basic parts to backward design
Identify the results that we desire
Determine what evidence supports that desired goals have occurred
Design activities that will make the desired results happen

7. The Process
We have outlined the goals that we desire as an Archdiocesan system of schools at the team/department level, the course level, and the unit level.
We will begin thinking about what “knowing” the material looks like when we consider performance assessments and rubrics.
We will select instructional activities that will lead our students to the Big Idea when we create our Unit Structure.

8. Unit Components Unit Goal Performance Assessment & Rubric
A&I Lesson Plan Objectives
Traditional Test
E&R, UKM Lesson Plan Objectives
Lesson Plans & Assessments
Work in groups to make a graphic organizer or concept map that illustrates the relationship between these components. Be creative! Share as large group. (20 minutes total.)

9. Unit Structure: 5 Phases
Description
3-5 Acquiring & Integrating LPs
3-5 lessons that help students acquire and integrate new knowledge and build toward at least a basic achievement of the Unit Goal
Traditional Test
Assesses the core concepts and skills and Unit Goal achievement at least at an unsophisticated level
Extending & Refining LPs
1-3 lessons that help students extend and refine knowledge
Using Knowledge Meaningfully LP
1 lesson that helps students use knowledge in a new, meaningful way
Performance Assessment
Holistically assesses student achievement of the Unit Goal I&I
-E&R may consist of helping students integrate Unit Concept into the Course Narrative in sophisticated ways
-Performance Assessment, which may or may not derive from the Using Knowledge Meaningfully LP, that assesses the Unit Goal achievement level by each student (I&I) in an academic or real-world situation.

10. Lesson Plans that Benefit All, Especially Struggling, Students
Phase
Description
Acquiring & Integrating LPs
The first 3-5 lessons
help all students acquire and integrate new knowledge
focus clearly and without distraction on the Unit Goal
build toward at least a basic achievement of the Unit Goal
Traditional Test
Assesses core concepts and skills and Unit Goal achievement at least at an unsophisticated level
Instructional activities in these Lesson Plans also benefit All, Especially Struggling, Students:
The first 3-5 lessons
often begin with teacher-centered activities
include teacher-directed pair/group assignments
include systematic formative assessments
move students from teacher-reliance to self-reliance
may include some tiered in-class and HW assignments at Basic, Proficient, and Advanced levels

11. Purpose of the Traditional Test
Assess the Unit Goal via knowledge and skills from the Acquiring and Integrating lesson plans
Inform the teacher and student about areas for improvement
Emphasize knowledge that is at least “Important to Know”

12. Test Components that Benefit All, Especially Struggling, Students
Assess Unit Goal achievement at different levels of sophistication
Focus on the Unit’s “Knowledge Important to Know”
Begin with questions that instill confidence in students
A comfortable test length
Focus on content rather than reading
Begin with unsophisticated before sophisticated questions.
Used Tiered questions
Gauge time so that all students can finish the main sections and at least attempt the more complex sections

13. Lesson Plans that Benefit All, Especially Succeeding, Students
Phase
Description
Extending & Refining LPS
UKM LP
1-3 LPs after the Traditional Test
challenge all students to deepen or broaden their thinking about the Unit Concept
often use tiered assignments with Basic, Proficient, and Advanced questions
offer failing students additional chances to show Unit Goal achievement
academic or real world use of Concept
Performance Assessment
Assesses Unit Concept attainment in a holistic manner, often requiring student decision-making
These lessons
Begin with an efficient review of TT questions on core concepts and Goal achievement, often done by pairs with class discussion for confusions.
May include some direct-instruction, but are more student-directed
Include appropriate products to hold students accountable
Often use pairs and group working on tiered assignments
Both E&R LP Assessments include a BASIC Goal level question to allow failing students further opportunities to demonstrate Goal achievement
The UKM LP may be the basis for the Performance Assessment

14. Extending & Refining Lesson Plans
Lesson Plans following the Traditional Test
Generally Student-centered to develop self-reliance
Challenge succeeding students to engage with sophisticated instances of the Unit Goal and Concept
Allow failing students to revisit and meet the Unit Goal
The most unique and effective element of the Unit Structure is that units do not end with the Traditional Test, but extend the Unit to allow failing students to meet the Unit Goal and succeeding students to be challenged.
This requires moving more deeply to extend knowledge or refine existing knowledge. These lesson plans are often skewed toward group work and differentiated instruction.

15. Extending and Refining Knowledge
“Extending” takes knowledge beyond its current context
Knowledge related to new contexts or future Units
“Refining” takes existing knowledge deeper
Knowledge from A&I Lesson Plans
Knowledge from previous Units
Examples to Follow.

16. Common Extending and Refining Activities
Differentiated Group Work
Comparing and Contrasting
Error Analysis
Induction/Deduction
With clear directions and accountability through collecting focused and timely products, pairs and groups of students can engage in these activities that build upon the fact that students have acquired and integrated the web of core concepts and skills of the unit. Additional new knowledge may be introduced to deepen or broaden the pre-Traditional Test knowledge, and that may require additional direct instruction on the part of the teacher. However, the purpose of these Lesson Plans throughout the year is to increasingly shift responsibility from students to teachers. Well-planned E&R LPs move students toward self-reliance by expecting pairs and groups to think independently and not look to the teacher for answers.

17. Using Knowledge Meaningfully
Answers the question – “Why is this important to learn?”
Situates knowledge in real life or meaningful applications
Often leads into the Performance Assessment
Almost entirely student-centered
Examples:
Science – Pond water analysis behind the school
History – Creating a history blog on oral histories of WWII veterans
Elementary Math – Converting recipe cards to make a double or half batch of cookies
Religion – Planning a liturgy as a class
Foreign Language – Writing a shopping list and having a short dialogue with a “grocer”
PE – Playing a zone defense on the basketball court
English – Writing a poem of choice
Elementary – Identifying different members of a community; Outlining a Christmas List
ACE Collaborative 2012

18. Performance Assessment
Purpose: To provide a culminating, holistic unit assessment in which students demonstrate achievement of the Unit Goal through performance of a task.
Basis: Students with different learning styles can demonstrate achievement in a holistic way that differs from the typical Traditional Test.

19. Constructing Performance Assessments
Projects and presentations are only performance assessments if:
They allow students to demonstrate achievement of the Unit Goal
The performance at the level of the Unit Goal is attempted independently & individually (I&I) and on previously unseen material
Younger students and ELLs may benefit from scaffolds and graphic organizers
Good performance assessments often allow students to make decisions about the content

20. Some Helpful Resources
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Performance assessment
Performance task
Authentic assessment