Articulate
Articulation is the beginning of everything in standards based learning and teaching. The teacher must articulate for herself where is asking students to go (that is, what standard is she asking students to reach) before planning a unit, lesson, or task for kids. This is idea is not new; backwards design has long been appreciated a best practice in lesson planning. A clear destination is simply good teaching. A difference in the standards based approach is the emphasis on making these learning targets as well as the path to get there very explicit for students. It only makes sense that without clear articulation of where students should be headed, they will be likely to be lost on the way. Therefore, articulation is vitally important.
The methods for this clear and purposeful teaching that I have been practicing and fine-tuning hinge on tools such as KUD’s, learning targets, and scales. A KUD provides the big picture behind the standards that are addressed in any course or unit. I tend to use KUD’s not only for myself in planning, but also with students. I find that the KUD sets a clear picture of what students will do, so that the connections from day to day, unit to unit, and classroom to real life questions and applications are always there guiding everything. Targets break down the “knows,” “understands,” and “dos” of the KUD into measurable skills. By providing a target for which students will aim allows them to know exactly what achieving the standard in each skill looks like. The scales then provide the path to get there, step by step, building a picture of that achievement in a logical, direct, and specific way, rather than the vague definitions of success that teachers may have tended rely on in less thoughtful rubrics. With a well-written scale, a student should be able to see what their work looks like at any given point in their learning, as well as what steps they need to take next to improve. With this method of articulation, students no longer should be guessing what a teacher expects of them, and a teacher should feel very confident in her curriculum design.
Articulation is the beginning of everything in standards based learning and teaching. The teacher must articulate for herself where is asking students to go (that is, what standard is she asking students to reach) before planning a unit, lesson, or task for kids. This is idea is not new; backwards design has long been appreciated a best practice in lesson planning. A clear destination is simply good teaching. A difference in the standards based approach is the emphasis on making these learning targets as well as the path to get there very explicit for students. It only makes sense that without clear articulation of where students should be headed, they will be likely to be lost on the way. Therefore, articulation is vitally important.
The methods for this clear and purposeful teaching that I have been practicing and fine-tuning hinge on tools such as KUD’s, learning targets, and scales. A KUD provides the big picture behind the standards that are addressed in any course or unit. I tend to use KUD’s not only for myself in planning, but also with students. I find that the KUD sets a clear picture of what students will do, so that the connections from day to day, unit to unit, and classroom to real life questions and applications are always there guiding everything. Targets break down the “knows,” “understands,” and “dos” of the KUD into measurable skills. By providing a target for which students will aim allows them to know exactly what achieving the standard in each skill looks like. The scales then provide the path to get there, step by step, building a picture of that achievement in a logical, direct, and specific way, rather than the vague definitions of success that teachers may have tended rely on in less thoughtful rubrics. With a well-written scale, a student should be able to see what their work looks like at any given point in their learning, as well as what steps they need to take next to improve. With this method of articulation, students no longer should be guessing what a teacher expects of them, and a teacher should feel very confident in her curriculum design.
Molly's Core English:
Unit 1 KUD and scales: /uploads/3/1/2/1/31219515/unit_1_kud.docx
Unit 2 KUD and scales: /uploads/3/1/2/1/31219515/place_kud.docx
Unit 2 KUD and scales: /uploads/3/1/2/1/31219515/place_kud.docx