When teachers know their standards and expectations, they can communicate them to students. This can lead to involving students in their learning activities, providing them choice, and this leads to learners gaining their voice. When children have choice and are able to monitor their learning, it builds self-confidence and competent learners. Listed below is a sample of living and non-living unit for kindergarten.
Questions for Formulating Significant Learning Goals
Learning Environment & Situational Factors to Consider
Three Column Table
Understanding by Design
Three Column Table vs. Understanding by Design
The three column table and the understanding by design both align outcomes, activities and assessments which make it easier for the teachers to follow and know the learning outcomes. They also help with creating significant learning environments for the lessons or units you are working on. I plan to use both of these designs to help me with my innovation plan. In my innovation plan I am working on integrating steam activities into my science and social studies units. I am also coming up with new ways to address my standards in both subject areas so I need a design that is more detailed that I could potentially hand over to other teachers. I need the other teachers to be able to fully understand what is expected from them and the students and I feel the UbD design does that. I believe the UbD would also be great to have if teachers had a substitute in their room and needed to follow a more step by step plan. So after filling out both designs I plan on using the UbD when creating lessons to support my innovation plan and when I create an outline of the unit I plan on using the three column design. It will give the teachers a quick overview of what is expected of them and give them the BHAG. The BHAG will allow the teachers to know the ending goal of each completed unit.