Planning Student Programs Steps in Unit Planning

1
Planning Student Programs Steps in Unit Planning

• Define the purpose What do I hope my students
  will learn by the end of this strand/theme/unit?
• Read through all the overall expectations for the
  strand(s) you want to plan for
• Read through all the specific expectations for
  the strand(s) you want to plan for (refer to the
  subject specific Learning Continua, ECU
  Implementation Support Document, Journey
  Activities and Catholic Graduate Expectations-
  for teachers in Catholic elementary schools)
• Identify common words or concepts

2
Planning Student Programs Steps in Unit Planning

• Begin to cluster the expectations using common
  words or concepts
• - Grade 5 Conservation of Energy - renewable
  and non-renewable, sources, conservation, needs,
  uses, etc.
• - Grade 5 Ancient Civilizations basic
  distinguishing features, civilization, human
  needs, government, class structures, technology,
  maps, impact on modern civilization,
  interrelation
• You will begin to see the Enduring Understandings
  -these are the enduring concepts, skills and
  applications/connections that you want students
  to attain

3
Sample Enduring Understandings

• Clearly identify the Enduring Understandings you
  expect students will have from the clustered
  expectations
• These understandings may be written as statements
  or as headings for the clustered expectations
• Sample Enduring Understandings Grade 5 Energy and
  Control
• There are many forms of energy, which humans use
  for a variety of purposes
• Energy cannot be created or destroyed but it can
  be transformed from one form to another
• Energy sources can be classified as renewable and
  non-renewable
• Conservation of energy is a human responsibility
• There are alternative ways to meet specific needs
  or wants that use renewable sources of energy

4
Sample Enduring Understandings

• Sample Enduring Understandings Gr. 5 Ancient
  Civilizations
• Humans have physical and social needs that are
  met through interaction with each other and the
  environment
• A high level of cultural and technological
  development can be the result of meeting human
  needs
• Each civilisation has basic and distinguishing
  features such as government, class structures,
  values beliefs, a body of knowledge and a body
  of literature
• Civilizations are shaped by the environment
• Early civilizations have an impact on modern
  civilization
• Humans record knowledge and transmit it to future
  generations

5
Key Questions

• Identify and put into words the Key Questions.
  These can be used as a basis for teaching and
  learning experiences.
• The questions should be derived from the Enduring
  Understandings and may be posted in the classroom
• The questions may help define the pathway of
  learning
• The language of the questions should be written
  in broad, organizational terms (avoid yes or
  no answers)
• Each child should be able to understand the
  questions
• The questions should be realistic given the
  amount of time allocated to the unit
• There should be a logical sequence to the set of
  questions

6
Key Questions

• Sample Key Questions
• Grade 5 Energy and Control
• What is energy?
• How is energy stored?
• Why cant energy be destroyed?
• How can energy be transformed from one form to
  another?
• How can humans control energy?
• Why should humans be cautious with their use of
  energy?

7
Key Questions

• Sample Key Questions
• Grade 5 Ancient Civilizations
• -What is civilization?
• -What are the basic and distinguishing features
  of civilizations?
• -How does the environment shape a civilization?
• -What are human needs and how are they met?
• -How does a civilization ensure that its body
  of knowledge is recorded and transmitted?
• -How does the knowledge developed by early
  civilizations impact on modern society?

8
Culminating Assessment Task

• Design (or select) an appropriate culminating
  assessment task for the unit
• Refer to resources that provide examples of
  culminating assessment tasks
• Assess all the skills and concepts addressed
  through the individual subtasks

9
Assessment Strategies

• Determine which assessment strategies are
  appropriate for the clustered expectations
• Evaluation should be related to the criteria in
  the EDU Achievement charts
• The achievement charts may be used as a guide
  when collecting samples of student work to show
  parents what work at different levels looks like

10
Assessment Strategies

• Connect curriculum expectations, instructional
  methods and assessment strategies
• Consider various forms of assessment to collect
  different types of information
• Refer to the Mathematics Grade 5/6 Unit Making a
  Game of It!
• -assessment information is gathered in
  several forms throughout the unit
• -assessment strategies include observations,
  anecdotal records, performance tasks, student
  self assessment/rubric, teacher questioning,
  presentations and learning logs
• -assessment strategies are used to collect
  data to find out what students know and what they
  need to learn, to assess the learning of specific
  concepts and assess student achievement and the
  effectiveness of the learning experiences

11
Assessment Strategies

• Assessment data/evidence/samples collected should
  demonstrate a range of student abilities, skills
  and knowledge.
• teacher observation checklists
• skill specific/task specific rubrics
• anecdotal observations
• rating scales
• student self-evaluation using rubrics or
  checklists

12
Learning Tasks and Instructional Strategies

• Design/select learning tasks using a variety of
  appropriate instructional strategies for each
  cluster of expectations.

13
Learning Tasks and Instructional Strategies

• Focus the learning on the enduring understandings
  that were identified as a result of the
  clustering activity, rather than attempting to
  address individual expectations.

14
Sequence and Timetable

• Sequence and timetable the different learning
  tasks.
• Use tools such as the electronic curriculum
  planner or the unit planning templates provided
  in the ECU Implementation Support Document.

15
Classroom Management and

• Prior to beginning a unit determine the most
  appropriate classroom environment that
  establishes procedures
• One way of structuring the classroom is through
  the use of centres or bins which allow students
  to rotate through a variety of activities/investig
  ations.
• This allows for larger numbers of students to
  have access to limited supplies and resources.
  It also works well with combined grades as it
  allows the teacher to create/organize different
  tasks/content for the different grades but also
  manage the environment.
• Be sure to introduce/reinforce safety
  procedures/rules for the classroom. Be sure to
  establish when teacher/adult supervision is
  necessary and when it is not.

16
Reflection and Evaluation

• Provide ongoing reflection and evaluation of the
  unit by both teachers and students.
• The electronic curriculum planner allows the
  teacher to make written reflections on individual
  learning tasks as well as on the overall unit.
  It also allows the teacher a broader level of
  analysis of instructional strategies, assessment
  strategies, and student groupings used as well as
  expectations taught and assessed.