Backwards Design Steps
This is my step-by-step process following the Backwards Design model of unit planning for a unit on Textiles.
Stage 1 - Identify Desired Results
This document is where I identified the core or "big" ideas that I wanted students to learn. These ideas were formulated from the state standards for my course. This document spells out what the students should know and be able to do at the end of this unit. It also identifies what questions students should be able to answer. This document is important because without it, formulating a clear plan is impossible. If you don't know where you are going, how will you know if you have gotten there?
Stage 2 - Determine Acceptable Evidence
In stage 2 we identify how we we know what the students know. The major part of this is what kind of assessments will be used to determine student understanding? Student performance is a big part of this because true understanding - how a student can apply knowledge in real-world settings - cannot easily be measured with a formal exam. Students have to show in an authentic way what they can do. Students also need a chance to reflect on their own learning and find ways to improve. All of these things can be found in the stage 2 document.
Stage 3 - Plan Learning Experiences
Once you have spelled out what exactly the students should know and be able to do, and you know how YOU will know what they know and are able to do, it is time to plan the learning experiences that will guide them to understanding. In the stage 3 document you plan activities and learning experiences that will ensure that they can master the standard. It is important that this step come after stages two and three - even though it tends to be more interesting - because you are now able to move forward with purpose and clarity in what your students need to succeed. Once you finish this you are close to pulling together an awesome lesson plan.
GRASPS
The GRASPS document is an aid to developing authentic assessments. It can be very difficult to create assessments that truly measure what students understand. The acronym GRASPS (Goal, Role, Audience, Situation, Performances/Products, Standards) makes it easier. If you are trying to determine if an assessment is a good one, you can ask yourself what would the real-world goal be, or in what situation or context would this problem arise. This helps to eliminate assessments and performance tasks that don't measure up and lead to true understanding. I had to revise my original plan to come up with something that I think will really test my students understanding of textiles.
Lesson Plans
Now that you know what your students should understand, you know how to measure what they actually understand, and you have planned activities that are authentic and valuable, it is time to formally write the lesson plans. I have sued the Canyons School District lesson plan template to write my lesson plans. Each of these four lessons focuses on a different core skill, though they all teach my textiles standard. The core skills focused on are Social Studies, Math, English/Language Arts, and Science. Tying in the core subjects helps my students to see the value in their other classes, because they see the "so what" or the "when are we actually going to use this in real life." Each picture will link to one of the lesson plans.