CURRICULUM
Organize: Designing Units S
o where do you start? Do you begin with the curriculum expectations? Do you start with the culminating task?
Do you fi rst consider student interests? As always, the best place to begin is with the end. Figure out what you would like to achieve by the end of the unit. Here are tried-and-true questions to help you. You will need to use the curriculum document to answer some questions and to use profes- sional judgment for others.
“THE ORGANIZATION STEP HELPED ME BECAUSE I BEGAN MY UNIT BY DESIGNING MY CULMINATING TASK AT THE BEGINNING. THE LESSONS I DESIGNED HELPED STUDENTS BE SUCCESSFUL WHEN COMPLETING THE CULMINATING TASK.”
- ETFO MEMBER
Many of these questions lend themselves to brainstorming. If collaborating with colleagues, you can be sure of many lively, compelling exchanges as everyone weighs in with their experiences and ideas. If you are brainstorming on your own, it can be useful to let some of these questions percolate in your mind before you sit down with a pen or keyboard.
Think about these questions while you
observe the trends and interests of your students’ age group as refl ected in pop culture and in schoolyard conversations and behaviours.
1. At the end of the unit, what essential un- derstanding do I want my students to learn?
2. What understandings will matter for my students?
3. What do my students care about?
4. What human problems or real life issues does the resource/topic address?
5. What current issues/concerns are refl ec- tive of the local and/or global communities?
6. What culminating project can my stu- dents engage in to demonstrate what they have learned?
HELPFUL HINT When designing a unit, choose a culminat- ing task that will engage students throughout the unit. A culminating task that excites students prompts them to pay more attention to the lessons leading up to it.
7. What learning processes do I need to teach all my students?
8. What knowledge must be developed?
9. What inquiry questions would relate to the topics to be studied?
10. How will I differentiate instruction to meet the needs and learning styles of all learners?
11. Will students have voice or choice?
12. How would they prefer to demonstrate what they have learned?
42 ETFO VOICE | SUMMER 2016
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