Introduction
Lesson planning is one of the most important aspects of teacher’s work. The teacher should be able to conduct a lesson that meets all necessary standards and engages all students at the same time. As far as it can be rather a challenge, a teacher has to use lesson plans to define strategies and activities that have to be used to accomplish objectives. I have chosen Understanding by Design template as a central one. In the following paper, the UbD lesson plan will be evaluated according to the provided criteria.
Lesson Plan
Explanation
As far as the table limits the description of the Understanding by Design lesson template, it is necessary to evaluate particular parts of the template separately. The UbD lesson template aims at exact definition of the lesson’s objectives. It is of great importance that lesson’s goals are divided into sub-groups such as understanding, essential questions, knowledge, and skills. Thus, a sixth-grade student should be able to understand the main idea of the text. Key questions may address some controversies in the text under analysis. For instance, a student may be asked to express his or her opinion. Then, the teacher has to challenge that view and evoke discussion. It is the task of the teacher to define necessary knowledge. For example, the pupil should be aware of the events from the text and their sequence. The development of thinking skills is also a part of the plan. Students should be able to analyze the text, express, and support their positions.
Students will be assessed in different ways during the lesson. The teacher will evaluate students with the help of group activities. First, students will act out dialogues from the text. Then, they will be asked to write the description of characters without names on separate pieces of paper. Every student will receive somebody’s description. Teacher evaluates pupils’ understanding of characters during these tasks. Group discussion is another technique that will enhance thinking skills. In such a way, the teacher will employ the scaffolding method to make students able perform activities on their own and retain knowledge. The teacher will provide immediate feedback on the basis of the information provided.
The first level of Webb’s DOK will be achieved after the teacher shows how to retell the sequence of events in the text and describe characters. Students should repeat and try to memorize at least some events. The second stage will be reached with the help of activities described above. Strategic thinking will be promoted during the group discussion and other types of the formative assessment (Lefrancios, 2013). Students may be asked to participate in traditional quizzes, tests, or observations. Extended thinking will be enhanced via questions that will provoke students’ understanding of the text. Students will be asked to use laptops or other gadgets to find information that will help them to develop extended thinking. For example, the task will be to find texts of the same genre and theme written by authors from other countries.
Conclusion
Understanding by Design template is the most appropriate for the efficient lesson planning. The UbD template provides teachers with opportunities to define objectives of the lesson in details. This feature is not developed in other two types of plan. However, the template lacks the exact distinction between stages described in the Gradual Releases of Responsibility model. UbD template is a useful tool that assists teachers in both meeting objectives and engaging all students in the process of studying.
References
English Language Arts Standards, Reading: Literature (Grade 6). (n.d.). Web.
Fisher, D. (n.d.). Effective Use of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model. Web.
ISTE Standards Students. (n.d.). Web.
Lefrancios, G. (2013). Of Learning and Assessment. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Understanding by Design — Backwards Design Process [Image]. (n.d.). Web.
Webb, N. (2005).Depth of Knowledge Levels. Web.