Lesson & Unit Plans

My Process

When planning a unit, I always begins with learning goals connected directly to the state & school standards, and develop authentic assessment to ensure my students are learning the content. I practice Understanding by Design (UbD) (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998), a planning method focusing on aligning assessment with learning goals.  Under this method the use of big ideas, and essential questions make the learning real for the students, and assist in developing life long learners.

My process begins with a learning goal I have for my students. It can be inspired by standards for their grade level, or something I am passionate about. With that learning goal in mind I begin the process of planning a unit. I start with the UbD planning sheet – stage 1. Here I write out the big idea, and develop essential questions to guide the unit, all under the listed learning goals and standards.

With that completed I plan assessment. First, the summative assessment. Asking myself, what evidence would show my that my students have engaged in and completed the learning being asked of them, I write a summative assessment plan. With that done, I write the pre-assessment. As a spur off the summative assessment, this plans reflects the final assessment, but is smaller, and shows me an avenue into what my students know and are ready to do.

Then I give the preassessment to my students. With an idea of their prior knowledge, and areas of interest in the subject, I am ready to plan the rest of the unit. As I plan each lesson I incorporate continual formative assessments, and ask for metacognative learning from my students. I not only investigate what they know, but ask them to do the same, engaging them in their own learning and schooling.

Each lesson is based off the essential questions, falling under the broader big idea. These essential questions guide and focus the learning taking place. Lessons are also designed to include a mini pre-assessment, and commonly an ending reflective piece, such as journaling or sharing learning with the class. This creates more capable life-long learners, who are aware of their own learning, and their needs in learning.

Below I have include some units I wrote. I encourage you to use these units, and to come back and make comments about how they worked for you, including any changes you would make in the future.

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Individual Lesson Plans I’ve Written

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Optical Mixing

 

Advanced middle school to high school students.

 

 This lesson builds on students understanding of the color wheel, focusing on mixing colors, while using pointillism style techniques to create optical mixing of colors. The summative assessment includes re-drawing the color wheel as a tree.

 

 Lesson plan includes a UbD stage 1 planning graph, and student handout, with summative assessment rubric.

 

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Why does the moon look like it changes?

Grades 3 to 6

Objective: The moon rotates around the Earth, but because the Moon’s rotation matches its cycle, the same side of the moon always faces the Earth. This causes the view of the moon’s illumination to change.

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What makes things similar or different? What are properties?

Grades k to 1

Description: By sorting through objects found on a nature walk, this lesson introduces students to properties by finding similarities and differences across them. Could be used alone, or as part of a larger unit.

 

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Unit Plans I’ve Written

What goes on inside dirt? Beginning Planning

Grades 4 to 6

 

This is the beginning planning of a unit on soil, and decomposers. With this stage of planning completed, including performance tasks during the unit, to be used as part of a summative assessment, and the preassessment designed and written, I would now administer the preassessment. Following collecting evidence from the students I would determine where my students are, what prior knowledge I need to account for, including misconceptions, and then plan the rest of the unit.

 

What goes on inside dirt? A sample lesson, with rubric

This lesson is provided as a sample from this unit.

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The Roots of Tumwater, WA

Grades 4 to 5

This lesson is inspired out of my passion for local history, and building civic engagement and pride in my students.

 

Summary: 4th-5th grade students will learn about the history of the Pacific Northwest, through the origins Tumwater, WA. Learning will include pre-settlement peoples, Oregon trail pioneers, the first settlers in New Market (Tumwater), and spread into other settlement areas. Students will focus on the effects of geographical features, family and daily life, and the features of a town.

 

Guiding Question (for unit): What are the roots of Tumwater, WA, and how did it get here?

 

Essential Questions (guiding lessons):

1) Who were the first people that lived here?

2) What was so special about this place?

3) Who started Tumwater and why?

4) What made it a town, and how did people live here?

5) Why were there forts & armies?

 

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Impressionist Art

 

Middle school to High school

 

Summary:This document is more than a unit. It presents the learning of my students over the course of a 3-week unit. I taught the unit, tracking assessment data of the entire class, along with following 3 case study students. The class data is presented quantitatively, while qualitative data is presented through the case study students. The students were selected to demonstrate the learning happening across the span of diversity in the classroom. The complete lesson plans are included as an appendix.

 

Big Idea:What makes Impressionist art Impressionist?

 

Essential Questions:
1) Why did artists start the impressionist style?
2) How do artists make art in the impressionist style?
3) What makes impressionist art different from other art styles?

 

Enduring Understandings & Topical Skills & Knowledge:
Students will & be able to (SWBAT)…

• Apply different brush strokes to a painting to represent texture, style, or mood.
• Identify the impressionist style in historical or contemporary art.
• Define the characteristics and motives of impressionist art, and the impressionist movement.

Learning Goals & EALRs:

Goal 1)
Students will be able to identify Impressionist art, and painting techniques commonly used.Visual Arts EALR 1. The student understands and applies arts knowledge and skills in dance, music, theatre and visual arts.
To meet this standard the student:
1.3. Understands and applies arts genres and styles from various artists, cultures and times.

Goal 2)
Students will be able to apply impressionist style painting techniques.
2A) Students will be able to apply the Impressionist technique of utilizing varying brush strokes in a painting.
2B) Students will be able to use the Impressionist technique of applying a variety of colors in a single color field in a painting.Visual Arts EALR 2. The student demonstrates thinking skills using artistic processes of creating, performing/presenting and responding, in dance, music, theater and visual arts.
To meet this standard the student:
2.1. Applies a creative process in the arts

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