Human and Abilities

November 30th, 2016

Backward Design

Posted by Erin Lyman in Uncategorized

I intend to use motivation in my future career by rewarding those I work with when they successfully complete a task. I will likely reinforce them verbally if it is an adult that I am working with. If I work with children I would be more inclined to reward them with something physical, such as candy. I will use different assessment techniques to assure that patients are completely able to finish tasks I assign them. Also, different assessment techniques will allow them and I know that they will be successful in speaking when I am not present. Using goals and objectives in my career will allow my patients and I to see how well they are progressing. This will also give us a time frame to see if they are on track, behind, or ahead of their goals! Knowing this may encourage them or let them know we need to practice more for them to be successful. When I talk to my patients about their goals I will also talk to them about what they are learning. This way, students can tell me what they have learned and how. Doing so will allow learner-centered learning to take place. I can use the overall method of Backward Design to frame what the objectives and goals for patients are and what I want them to be able to accomplish by the end of therapy. Then, I will be able to decide how to assess them based on those goals and when to reward them for completing a goal or objective!

I have created an example lesson plan (below) of Backward Design for a fourth grade class learning the states, their capitals, a little of geography, and the 13 colonies. First, I created the goals for students. Then, I listed what I wanted students to be able to understand and questions students should be able to answer by the end of the unit. Next, I created assessments and activities that would show whether or not students understood and were learning the desired content. Finally, I created a learning plan as to how I want to go about having students learn the content that will ultimately allow them to be able to accomplish the desired goals. This is how Backward Design is created: by setting goals, deciding how to assess that students have reached those goals, and then coming up with a lesson plan to teach the curriculum. Using Backward Design to create my lesson plan was helpful because I knew what the final goal was at the beginning, therefore I could work backwards to make sure that every activity done and assessment created will help reach the final goals. I really enjoyed this aspect and found it helpful in knowing that everything I was doing would serve a purpose in reaching the final goals!

 

STAGE 1 – DESIRED RESULTS

Unit Title: _____Geography of the United States_____________                                                                      

 

Established Goals:

 

Fourth grade students will be able to name all fifty states, as well as the District of Colombia, in the United States of America. The students will be able to locate these states on a blank map. They will also be able to name the capitals of each state. The students will also know the first 13 colonies. Lastly, they will know simple geography about the states.

 

Understandings: Students will understand that…

• All fifty states did not appear at once

-There were 13 colonies

-Each state has it’s own capital and the US has a capital

-The 13 colonies are the reason the United States formed, which led to the formation of the U.S.

-States have different geography based on where they are located.

 

 

Essential Questions:

-What is the capital of the United States?

-Why is the District of Colombia not considered a state?

-How were the 13 colonies formed and why?

-Do students know where they are on the map?

-Do students understand the different geography of the states?

-Can students locate each state and name it’s capital?

 

Students will know:

• The first 13 colonies

-Why the colonies formed

-The names of each state

-The capitals of each state

-Where each state is located

-The capital of the U.S

-Simple geography of the states

 

 

Students will be able to:

• Identify states on a blank map

-Know where they are located are on the map

-Identify the 13 colonies and describe why they formed

-Name the capitals of each state and the capital of the U.S.

-Identify the geography of different parts of the U.S.

 

STAGE 2 – ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Performance Tasks:

 

-Identify states on a blank map

-Identify states capitals on the same blank map

-Answer, “Why did the first 13 colonies form?” and identify if something is/is not a colony in true/false form.

 

 

 

Other Evidence:

 

-Being able to sing the “50 States” song.

-Students act as travel agents and try to persuade other classmates to travel to their state.

Key Criteria:

 

 

The students must show knowledge of each state, know where the state is located on a map, and understand that different parts of the country have different geography.

 

 

 

STAGE 3 – LEARNING PLAN

Summary of Learning Activities:

 

 

Look at a map and understand where states are located.

-Memorize states based on location- Mid-west, East, South, West coast.

-Listen to Fifty Nifty United States daily

-Play matching games for states and capitals.

-Assign each child a state. Have them act as a travel agent. They should be able to explain the geography, states located nearby, and persuade others to visit their state.

– Students play “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” with questions regarding the states, their locations, their capitals, the 13 colonies, and the general geography of the United States.

– Have students take a written exam where they fill in states on a blank map as well as capitals. Students will also short answer, “Why did the first 13 colonies form?” and be able to identify if something is a colony or not in true/false form.

 

 

One Response to ' Backward Design '

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  1. Brianna Lemmer said,

    on December 14th, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    I found it interesting how you talked about how you would reward different people. For example, how you said you would reward an adult verbally, and you would reward a child with candy. I believe that you should reward adults differently from children as well, because children need that extra push to do things sometimes. Also, children do not really care about words too much, they have to physically see what they will be getting, in order to complete the task. By using different assessment techniques, it allows all students to show what they have learned. I also believe it is important that students know the goals and objectives, so that they can see for themselves how much they are actually learning, and what they should still be working on. I think that goals, or as I like to call them, checkpoints, should be assigned for the student, when they are not around, so that the teacher can see that they are progressing as well. Good post!

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