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InTASC Standard #7: The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context
Introduction to Unit Planning
Introduction to Unit Planning
In order to determine where students should be by the end of a given unit, backwards planning is crucial. I utilize my unit plans to understand student learning across a given unit based on my knowledge of content as well as real world scientific phenomena. I recognize that not only may student learning needs change over time, but also that the environment within which students are learning may change. Thus, even though I always have a unit plan in place, I do also recognize the need to adjust the storyline and assessments I utilize to support students in mastering both scientific content and growing as scientists.
Curricular Arc
Curricular Arc
In order to support all of my learners in rigorous content that crosses disciplines and incorporates my students' own needs and community contexts, I must create effective unit plans. I take curriculum provided to me by my district, and I then alter it such that it fits and supports my unique learners and their strengths and needs. The order of my unit planning process is as follows: I first use the unit storyline and calendar given by the IQWST curriculum. Next, I incorporate IQWST unit standards to align with the curriculum. I then create my own altered unit plan, plan unit assessments, and collaborate with colleagues to make unit plans cross-disciplinary. Following, I alter plans such that they are student-driven and connected to my own teaching pedagogy. I must maintain flexibility and adaptability of unit plans over the course of the year as well so that unit plans fit my learners' unique strengths and needs. These different aspects of my curricular arc are interdependent and interconnected. All components allow me to lead all of my students to success over the course of a unit based on rigorous content and standards, knowledge of my learners, and ability to remain adaptable.
1) Unit Storyline and Calendar
1) Unit Storyline and Calendar
To begin the unit planning process, I first consult the unit storyline and calendar from my district's curriculum. My curated unit plan modifies this IQWST curriculum and combines that resource with my own materials based on my understanding of my students and my teaching context. I utilize the IQWST-generated unit storyline as a starting point. This document helps me comprehend what investigations, learning goals, and anchoring phenomena are needed in order to support my students in reaching mastery. Given that I am combining the IQWST resources with my own, self-curated, materials that work best for my students, this document ensures consistency across my plans. Specifically, studying and interpreting this IQWST storyline helps ensure that my students in my classroom still experience the same opportunities and achieve the same learning targets that the IQWST curriculum details.
Unit Storyline Example
This "Unit Overview" or storyline created by IQWST helps me ensure that I use the same unit-driving question and plan for similar learning goals, phenomena, in my own curated unit plan. My plan is driven by my students and my own unique teaching context. Thus, I utilize the learning goals and objectives highlighted here but include activities and examples that make sense given my learners' background knowledge, interests, and contexts. For example, for the question, How is stuff the same and different? I had students share with their tables in a Turn and Talk because they love to collaborate on topics related to their preferences, such as how their favorite foods are the same and different.
Unit Calendar Example
In addition to consulting the Unit Storyline, I look at the Unit Calendar for a timeline of the curriculum's lessons. This Unit Calendar helps me understand my pacing for this unit, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? I do not write the lessons in my own calendar but utilize this document instead to help me stay on track with the unit lessons and objectives. This enables me to elongate the lesson for additional class periods as needed, depending on the extent to which students meet the objectives. In this way, I can adjust my instruction to support all learners while still ensuring that they are on the path towards mastery of all of the unit's objectives and essential questions.
2) Unit Standards Alignment
2) Unit Standards Alignment
Following analysis of the Unit Storyline and Unit Calendar, I consult the Unit Standards Alignment. It is important that I understand which standards connect with each lesson in a unit so that whatever I create myself, it is still aligned to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The majority of the formative and summative assessments I employ during a given unit are self-created based upon my understanding of my students and my ability to connect learning to the particular context in which I teach. However, it is important to also draw upon the activities and labs highlighted in the IQWST curriculum. This standards alignment thus ensures that I cover every part of each NGSS standard in a unit and that everything I create corresponds to scaffolded, phenomena-based labs, activities, and informational texts. All activities performed in the classroom, therefore, have a direct purpose and help lead students towards mastery on the unit's objectives. Further, all planned materials and supports help lead students toward being able to thoughtfully answer the question, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? backed by scientific evidence and in-depth reasoning.
Unit Standards Alignment Example
This IQWST unit standards alignment outlines the activities (A), readings (R), homework (H), and lessons (L) that are tied to each NGSS performance expectation (PE), disciplinary core idea (DCI), science and engineering practice (SEP), and crosscutting concept (CCC) for this introduction to chemistry unit, How can I make new stuff from old stuff?
3) Teacher-created Unit Plan
3) Teacher-created Unit Plan
After consulting the curriculum's Unit storyline, calendar, and standards alignment, I am ready to create my own unit plan, adjusted to fit my classroom and my students. Specifically, in order to determine where I want my students to end up, I need to understand, in depth, the standards that students will be required to master. In my unit plans, I list the specific NGSS performance expectations as well as the supporting standards required for the unit. This ensures that every assessment I create and every instructional strategy I plan is based upon rigorous and relevant standards. In addition, my unit plan includes scientific understandings and essential questions that I developed through interpretation of the standards. I can effectively utilize these concepts, drawn from the standards, to create objectives for the upcoming unit. Additionally, I can utilize the essential questions to create meaningful Do Now, Turn and Talk, and exit ticket questions. I can further use these essential questions during conversations with students to probe and extend their thinking or support them in reaching mastery for a given objective.
For example, our first unit of the year is an introduction to chemistry. Students grapple with the question, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? In previous years, due to a lack of budget and direction, I have created my own chemistry unit plan, deciding myself how I would incorporate the required standards into purposeful learning cycles. However, this year, our district has given us a curriculum to adopt called IQWST. Thus, in this sample unit plan, I curated aspects from both my previously created materials along with requirements from this new curriculum.
Teacher-Created Unit Plan Example
The first unit of the year, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? introduces students to matter, its properties, its interactions, and its application in real life. By the end of the unit, students should be able to demonstrate mastery on these standards. Students should also be able to understand the unit's scientific principles as well as answer all essential questions. I created a plan for all students to achieve this through daily instructional differentiation, a variety of pedagogical strategies that support different learning styles, and through my choices in assessment.
Mastery is demonstrated purposefully through formative and summative assessments that are given during the learning cycle.
See Instructional Strategies section to learn more about how I purposefully use a variety of learning techniques to support all students in meeting or exceeding mastery for any given unit.
Unit 1 Plan-final.docx4) Backwards Planned Unit Assessments
4) Backwards Planned Unit Assessments
After my teacher-created unit plan, I backwards plan to create the unit's assessment. Backwards planning a given unit for my 7th grade science classroom requires determining how I will assess my students at different times during the lesson cycle and in various ways. Assessments must be timely and make sense to my students in the arc of the unit. If students are not first supported in comprehending material through a variety of differentiated instructional strategies, then they will not accurately be able to demonstrate their knowledge on an assessment. Thus, assessments must be included purposefully in the unit plan. Given that this unit, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? is the first unit of the year, I am still learning who my students are and what strengths they carry. As such, assessments that I created before the unit began may be altered before students are given these assessments, such that they are purposeful and differentiated.
Unit Assessments Examples
Summative and formative assessments are created for my introduction to the chemistry unit, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? After I brainstorm initial ideas that are specific to my students, directly connected to NGSS performance expectations, and rigorous in science content, I work to create the assessments. Ultimately, assessments are based upon NGSS standards, scientific principles, and essential questions detailed earlier in the unit plan. They also take into consideration differentiation for English Language Learners (ELLs,) and students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). I used the results of these assessments to alter my unit and lesson plans. For example, after students completed the Density Tower lab, I found that students understood what density looked like qualitatively, but they still did not have a complex understanding of what density is quantitatively nor how to calculate it. This is an important concept and one that emphasizes mathematical skills as well. Thus, as a result of this assessment data, I created additional opportunities for practicing calculating density through math.
See "Math Planning examples" in the Long-Term Planning section or "Math Cross-over" in the Lesson Planning section for more detail about how I used this knowledge of learners to adjust my instruction.
Element Project.docThe Elements Project is a summative assessment for Unit 1. This project determines student mastery on the following objective, MS PS 1-1: Develop models to derive the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
I know that many of my students are kinesthetic learners, who learn best by creating and using models, (from survey and classroom data). Learning by doing is especially important in our chemistry unit where it is extremely difficult to understand the concepts of matter and molecules without using models. Thus, this project capitalizes both on learners' strengths, because they are creating models, while also working to deepen their understanding of atoms and molecules through modelling.
Supporting every student in Assessments
When backwards planning my unit assessments, it is crucial that I provide opportunities for all students to succeed on tests. I utilize data from students' iReady reading scores, as well as IEP and ELL accommodations to create multiple versions of each test. All students are still supported in meeting rigorous learning goals, tied to class content and science standards; however, they are able to demonstrate mastery in the way that makes the most sense to them. Supporting every learner is critical in daily plans as well as unit assessments.
Below are examples of three different versions of an assessment created purposefully to support all of my learners. The IEP/ELL version of the test employs differentiation strategies including a word bank, more images, additional space for student work, and larger text size. To support my ELL students and students with IEPs I also read the fill in the blank section of "Chemistry Test 1" out loud to support my auditory learners. Assessments are meant to provide me with critical information about where students are in their learning and where they still need to improve. Thus, I must support all learners in truly demonstrating what they have learned.
Differentiated Test - High Example
Here is an example of a student who received the "high" version of the chemistry test. This student was able to use their knowledge of the content to exceed mastery. This test was rigorous. At the same time, I made sure to capitalize on student strengths by including drawing as an option for the long-response question and by preparing students with study questions that were similar to the kinds of questions asked on the test.
Differentiated Test - IEP/ELL Example
Here is an example of the differentiated IEP/ELL version of the same test. To support these students, I included a word bank, more images, less questions, additional space for student work, larger text size, and options for answering the long-response question. This student was able to exceed mastery on this assessment with these alterations compared to his previous assessment in which he needed intervention.
5) Student-Driven Alterations of Unit Plans
5) Student-Driven Alterations of Unit Plans
After I analyze my district-provided unit materials, as well as create my own unit plans, I am not yet finished with the unit planning process. My unit plans must be student-driven and adjusted to meet my students were they are; it is essential that I embed content that is relevant for and important to my particular students as well as create a learning environment that will best help them meet mastery objectives. At the beginning of the year, students and families fill out surveys that enable me to understand their family and community contexts more fully. Although I actively work to build student relationships and get to know students over time, this initial data helps me to adjust unit plans so that student interest is purposefully included (this is discussed in more detail in my long-term planning section). For example, many of my students this year are inquisitive about the fate of our world and are passionate about scientific advocacy. Thus, in this first unit, I made sure to design a summative assessment where students tackle the question, What are plastic water bottles made out of and how can we re-use them to make new materials? It is critical that I entwine students' passions, skills, knowledge, and background understandings and context explicitly into my unit plans so that students reach mastery and find the learning within the unit meaningful to their own lives.
In addition to creating student-driven assessments, I also use student data to alter the classroom layout based on student mastery for a given unit. Based on the activities and assessments of a unit, I create a purposeful classroom layout. For example, for Unit 1, we engage in different kinds of labs and experiments as well as station activities. Thus, I purposefully placed a lab bench in the center of the room such that all students could interact with teacher demonstrations. Students were also grouped into pods of four so that they could collaborate during these hands-on experiences. In order to determine the specific students who would be grouped together for the unit, I utilized scientific literacy data - a combination of student iReady ELA scores and mastery in science class thus far this year. In the seating chart, green represents students who meet or exceed mastery in scientific literacy, orange are students who are approaching mastery, and students in red are those that need intervention. If students demonstrate a remarkable amount of growth in their literacy levels over the course of the year, I may alter their designation and adjust seats as necessary. This student-data-driven alteration of the classroom layout helps students collaborate more effectively with peers who will both build upon their strengths and support them in correcting misunderstandings.
Student-Driven Assessment Example
Student interests in environmental advocacy inspired me to create this student-inquiry question based on plastic pollution. I utilize this question as an assessment in Unit 1, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? Following this investigation, students create their own models regarding plastic re-use and generate alternative solutions to replace plastic entirely.
This student demonstrated a way to re-use plastic water bottles by turning plastic into blades for wind mills, which could be used as a renewable energy resource.
Student-Driven Classroom Layout Example
Here is the iReady diagnostic data from one of my three science classes. After reviewing this data, I create purposeful seating charts. Green represents students who meet or exceed mastery in scientific literacy, orange are students who are approaching mastery, and students in red are those that need intervention. If students demonstrate a remarkable amount of growth in their literacy levels over the course of the year, I can alter their designation.
Seating charts and layouts change every unit. For our first unit, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? I wanted to create seating that allowed for a significant amount of student collaboration and communication. I also wanted to create a layout that would allow me to walk between table groups and correct misunderstandings. Further, for this entire unit, demonstrations were conducted from the center lab table so that all students could observe them.
6) Continuous Flexibility and Adaptability of Plans
6) Continuous Flexibility and Adaptability of Plans
To ensure that my unit plans lead to efficacious, long-term student learning, I must continue to adapt my plans as the unit progresses. Specifically, I work to make unit-level content applicable to students' lives and the real world. For example, when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last Fall, many of my students' families were impacted. Given my knowledge of my learners, their communities, and the importance of this real world topic, I adjusted my plans. Specifically, I chose to include a mini unit on the science of hurricanes, especially as this natural phenomenon relates to climate change and coastal communities. Students could relate well to this content because of the impact Hurricane Maria had on people they knew and because they also live in a coastal community. This direct experience, together with science class content, helped students better understand the impacts of climate change. More specifically, this hurricane mini unit allowed students to research the current impacts of hurricanes globally, devise potential solutions, and brainstorm what events like these may mean for coastal communities in the future. It is necessary to remain flexible and continuously adapt my plans such that unit plans correspond with my knowledge of my learners and my knowledge of current science news. In these ways, my science teaching remains relevant and rigorous for my particular students.
Adaptable Unit Plan Example
hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-35487-article_and_quiz.pdfIt is crucial that I allow for adaptability of my plans such that the learning in science class relates to what students know and care about.
Here, students learned about the impact of Hurricane Maria through a leveled text based on student average reading levels. This information enhanced students' scientific literacy skills, while also informing them about a scientific topic that is relevant and that they care about.
Following reading the informational text, (left image,) and a class discussion, students worked collaboratively in groups to take on different "Hurricane Roles." This lesson was not initially in my Unit Plan for Unit 1, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? However, given that Hurricane Maria affected many of my students' families and given that, based on student survey data and conversations, I knew that students are interested in advocacy and climate change initiatives, I decided to adapt my unit plan accordingly. Students excelled while working in small groups in these "Hurricane Roles," and then presented their research and arguments to the class in, (their choice of,) skits, speeches, and posters.
References
References
Associated Press (September 22, 2017). Hurricane Maria hammers Puerto Rico, knocking out power, triggering flooding. Retrieved from: https://newsela.com/read/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico/id/35487/
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