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Self- and Peer-Assessment in BC: Reflection as Learning

Austin’s Butterfly reminds us of the transformational power of descriptive feedback and how even young learners can provide effective peer-feedback.

In the BC Curriculum, assessment helps students understand where they are, where they are going, and what they might try next. This aligns closely with the Know–Do–Understand model, where assessment is connected to Big Ideas, Curricular Competencies, and Core Competencies rather than treated as an isolated end-point task focused mainly on content.

Self- and peer-assessment invite students to notice, name, and nurture their learning. BC’s K–12 Student Reporting Policy requires student self-reflection on Core Competencies and student goal setting as part of reporting; it also emphasizes descriptive feedback that identifies strengths and areas for growth. In practice, this means reflection should not be a one-time report-card activity. It should be embedded throughout inquiry, play, discussion, design, writing, problem-solving, and performance tasks.

Research supports this formative approach. Dr. Andrade’s review of student self-assessment argues that self-assessment is most useful when it generates feedback students can use to improve work and deepen learning. A 2022 meta-analysis also found that self-assessment and peer-assessment interventions had meaningful positive effects on academic performance across studies. This suggests that students need clear criteria, accessible language, examples of quality work, time to revise, and opportunities to review and select evidence of growth. Performance Assessment and Portfolio Assessment (digital or analogue) are two approaches that align well in BC contexts.

Below are some resources to support an exploration or self- and peer-assessment including links to some videos and examples from teachers.

View

Dr. Heidi Andrade reflects on self- and peer-assessment. Dr. Andrade shares some of the key components of self- and peer assessment and recognizes the need to teach students how to assess themselves and their peers in order to cultivate a culture of critique:

or listen to Dylan Wiliam review the benefits of self assessment and peer assessment as key components of effective learning, and hear about some of the associated strategies.

Peer assessment from the perspective of students and teachers:

Read

Connecting with Core Competencies: The BC Core Competencies are central to K–12 learning, and students are expected to grow in Communication, Thinking, and Personal and Social competencies through meaningful “doing” across subject areas. Self-assessment is a key component of core competency development. See the BC Ministry resource, Developing and Supporting Student Reflection and Self-assessment and the example shared on TeachBC, the BCTF open resource repository: Core Competencies Self-Assessment K-1

The responsiveclassroom.org offers some suggestions for how we might teach students to self-assess (PDF) effectively as well as some detailed prompts and approaches to engaging students in reflection. See their PDF, Self-assessment and Goal Setting go hand-in-hand.

Examples

Classroom examples (generated with assistance from ChatGPT)

  • Primary classrooms (see POPEY for primary related assessment resources)
    • Picture-based Core Competency reflection: “I listened,” “I tried a new idea,” “I helped someone.”
    • Partner share using sentence frames: “I noticed…” and “Next time you could…”
    • Learning story portfolio entry with a photo, teacher scribing, and student voice.
    • Play-based self-assessment after centres: “What did I build, solve, share, or wonder?”
  • Intermediate classrooms
    • Co-created “I can” criteria for an inquiry, writing, or ADST design task.
    • Two stars and a wish peer feedback before final submission.
    • Gallery walk with sticky-note feedback linked to Communication or Thinking competencies.
    • Portfolio reflection: “My evidence shows growth because…”
  • Middle years classrooms
    • Peer feedback protocol for drafts: clarify, value, question, suggest.
    • Group collaboration reflection using roles, evidence, and next-step goals.
    • Student-led conference artifact selection: one strength, one challenge, one goal.
    • Proficiency-scale reflection connected to a curricular competency and a Core Competency.
  • High school classrooms
    • Peer review of essays, labs, performances, or design projects using discipline-specific criteria.
    • Seminar self-assessment on listening, evidence use, questioning, and respectful disagreement.
    • Capstone or portfolio reflection connecting course evidence to student growth and Core Competencies.
    • Post-assessment goal setting: “What feedback will I act on before the next task?”

The key is to make assessment dialogic rather than merely evaluative. Students should not simply rate themselves; they should learn how to interpret criteria, compare evidence, give respectful feedback, revise work, and set purposeful goals. Engaging students in ongoing dialogues about learning offers important modeling in support of creating a classroom culture that is safe and welcomes constructive feedback. Digital portfolios, student-led conferences, performance tasks, and reflective prompts are all strong BC-aligned ways to make learning visible for students, teachers, and families.

References

Andrade HL (2019) A Critical Review of Research on Student Self-Assessment. Front. Educ. 4:87. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2019.00087 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2019.00087/full

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by | May 15, 2026 · 12:13 pm
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Incorporating the First People’s Principles of Learning

The First People’s Principles of Learning (FPPL) “describes a set of learning principles specific to First Peoples. These were articulated by Indigenous Elders, scholars and knowledge keepers to guide the development of the curriculum and teaching of the the English First Peoples course created by the BC Ministry of Education and First Nations Education Steering Committee in 2006/2007.” (FNESC website)

Classroom Posters are available for download

Explore a few opportunities! 

Jo Chrona explains that “an inherent interconnectedness exists between all the principles. While they are described discretely, they operate in concert with each other in a robust and healthy learning environment and education system.” 

Teacher Disposition  

Chrona suggests that incorporating the FPPL has as much to do with an educator’s philosophy and disposition as it has to do with curricular content. It is about much more than hanging up a poster!

Some of us will see our own values already reflected in the FPPL, and others of us will be challenged by them. Look closely at the FPPL and think about where you see them in your own life.  

  • When do you make time for your own elders, grandparents and mentors? How do you use their guidance to understand the world?  
  • How do you develop quality relationships with the people in your life so that you have a strong foundation to withstand conflict and stress? 

Now how do those values help you manage your class culture?   

Connections to Core Competencies  

Poster: https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/cardev/gr9_found/docs/courage_poster.pdf

In order to thrive, all children need the opportunity to be in schools and communities that cultivate belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. We know about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but do you know about Martin Brokenleg’s  Circle of Courage? In “The Science of Raising Courageous Kids,” Brokenleg and Van Bockern explain this model that integrates Native American philosophies of child-rearing, the heritage of early pioneers in education and youth work, and contemporary resilience research. The Circle of Courage is based in four universal growth needs of all children: belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. 

Instead of a class discussion, consider incorporating a class circle. Talking/sharing/class circles are also a great way to invite relationality into your classroom. Dr. Carolyn Roberts offers an exploration of this in her blogpost: Circle work: Being together as a relation.  

Context and Perspectives

For teachers exploring the FPPL, “It’s not a set of lesson or unit plans” nor “a detailed list of criteria and specific content to match up with grades and/or subject areas.”  

Consider how you can plan your lessons to: 

Resources

The choices you make as a teacher matter. When you use a celebrity as an example, do you look for Indigenous or BIPOC people? Choosing Indigenous authors and poets and musicians to discuss in class gives everyone an opportunity to look for connections to the FPPL. Consider sharing current examples rather than relying solely on historical references so that you highlight Indigenous brilliance (see Carolyn Roberts’ blog post for a few ideas)

A deep understanding of the FPPL reflected in our disposition will guide the decisions we make about what students should learn and how they experience it.

For more subject specific ideas and resources, see these Sandbox Blogposts:

UBC Booklists: 

The UBC Education Library booklists are available for educators and teacher candidates, offering an abundance of resources ranging from picture books to use in the classroom to lesson-planning guides. The library offers multiple booklists regarding Indigenous culture and history. These booklists cover topics such as residential schools, storytelling resources and literature written by Indigenous authors. 

References

Chrona, J. (2024, April 10) Background of FPPL and Current Contexts. https://firstpeoplesprinciplesoflearning.wordpress.com/background-and-current-context/ 

Brokenleg, M., Van Bockern, S. (2003). The Science of Raising Courageous Kids.  https://martinbrokenleg.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/12_1_Brokenleg_Van_Bockern.pdf

adapted from a post by Greta Bartsch, Program Manager (Practicum- Secondary), 2024; editing & contributions by Yvonne Dawydiak, Learning Design Manager, Teacher Education.

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by | May 13, 2026 · 3:07 pm
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Inquiry-based learning

Inquiry is a powerful tool for teaching and learning.

Through demonstration of the core and curricular competencies, students are bound to form questions that provide teachers with insight into their thinking. Questions generated by both students and teachers are critical to encouraging a sense of wonder and curiosity among students. This dialogue can take place through many question-based approaches, including, but not limited to: Inquiry, Project-based learning, Problem-based learning, Self-assessment, Research skills & Scientific methods (from: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/overview)

Engaging in inquiry can(and should) be scaffolded to support student success and can range from structured to controlled to guided to free inquiry.

with permission: https://www.trevormackenzie.com/sketchnotes success.

In ‘Teacher Inquiry’, small groups of educators connect & inquire into questions of import to solve problems by improving their pedagogical understandings and impact their practice. In the BC Curriculum, inquiry-based learning is recommended as a powerful force to support higher level thinking, deep learning and student autonomy. Examples of lesson plans provided by teachers to the BC Ministry of Education are available in the Instructional Samples of the Curriculum website. 

View:

 

Review:

There are several models or cycles of inquiry and it is worth looking into one that resonates with you:

Getting started with Inquiry:

  • Trevor McKenzie provides a helpful visual enabling us to see that engaging in inquiry can (and should) be scaffolded to support student success. Not all inquiry needs to be in the ‘deep end’ of the pool!

visit https://www.trevormackenzie.com/sketchnotes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Read Chapter 1: In this PDF, Focus on Inquiry, UBC researcher and education professor, Marlene Asselin collaborates on a more in-depth teacher’s guide to teaching and learning through inquiry including steps for implementing this approach in your classroom.

OPTIONAL Supplemental Reading

Consider & Discuss

  • Select 2 or 3 of the following:
    • How is inquiry the same or different from your school experiences?
    • What are some of the key features of inquiry that stand out to you?
    • What is the role of inquiry in learning?
    • How might you, or how do you, bring inquiry into your classroom?
      • What are some examples of inquiry-based learning from your own practice or your observations?
    • Is there a model you prefer or think you might like to try to implement?

Respond

*to learners in the Intro to BCK12 course, have a look at the Colour Symbol Image Thinking Routine and respond on the slide deck provided by email.

 

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by | May 11, 2026 · 10:19 am
by | September 8, 2024 · 10:55 am

Performance Assessment: connecting teaching, learning, and assessment to support student

Performance Assessment is a way to integrate not only students’ knowledge and competencies but also the teaching and assessment process. By engaging in a more ‘real-world’ and authentic approach, students will learn in a more contextualized and deep way!

What is a performance assessment?

This type of assessment evaluates students’ knowledge in a more complex way because students need to show what they know and are able to do through a practical and contextualized activity (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2010). In this sense, students produce something, such as an experiment, a performance, a report, research, etc that materialize what they have learned.

Moreover, performance assessment gives teachers the space to think about assessment beyond a way of measuring student learning. This type of assessment is also an opportunity for student learning since they may understand better a concept or develop a new skill during a performance assessment (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2014).

Differences between performance task and performance assessment

The biggest difference between performance tasks and performance assessments is that the latter is designed for students to demonstrate a group of skills and knowledge acquired during a couple of performance tasks.

Teachers might design a series of three or four performance tasks (for example, one for each week of class). Each one of these performance tasks has the purpose of developing different skills and knowledge. Consequently, the final performance assessment of this course should give the opportunity to students to demonstrate all skills and knowledge developed during the four performance tasks.

One common way in which performance tasks  might be designed is through project-based learning where students are invited to develop a topic connecting classroom knowledge with some real world, community or contemporary topic (Lenz, Wells & Kingston, 2015).

Performance assessment has the purpose of helping teachers (and students) understand what students have (or have not) learned over a period by getting them to apply and practice in a contextualized situations.

How to design a performance assessment?

The National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) has an interesting article with steps to help you design a performance assessment. Below, we summarize these five steps:

Step 1: Unpack the performance expectation: Teachers should understand their expectations or in other words what they expect students to achieve at the end of the lesson/ classroom. Thus, teachers need to evaluate if the performance assessment is really accessing what they want. In this step, teachers can use curriculum standards to better align their expectations with the performance assessment.

Step 2: Identify a rich and authentic phenomenon: the richness of performance assessment is exactly its characteristic of being contextualized. Therefore, teachers should pay attention to choosing a phenomenon that allows students to apply their knowledge and skills in an authentic way.

Step 3: Develop prompts: teachers should develop prompts and questions that guide students throughout the process without taking them the opportunity to discover and test their hypotheses and assumption because these experiences are essential to produce deep learning.

Step 4: Create scoring guides: teachers should create rubrics or order types of scoring guides for students during the process. These guides help students to understand the different kinds of activities and levels of expectations teachers expect them to complete.

Step 5: Pilot, score, and revise: before putting performance assessments in practice, it would be important to test them to analyze if they attend what you want and identify possible problems.

Performance Assessment Tools and Resources

The Performance Assessment Bank, an open educational repository, includes resources for interdisciplinary studies and in several discrete subject areas including history/social studies, english language arts, science and math. In BC, a set of performance standards was developed to support teachers in designing assessments. Below are some additional resources:

References

Darling-Hammond, L., & Adamson, F. (2014). Beyond the bubble test: How performance assessments support 21st-century learning. John Wiley & Sons.

Darling-Hammond, L. & Adamson, F. (2010). Beyond basic skills: The role of performance assessment in achieving
21st century standards of learning. Stanford, CA: Stanford University.

Lenz, B., Wells, J., & Kingston, S. (2015). Transforming schools using project-based learning, performance assessment, and common core standards. John Wiley & Sons.

 

Guest post by Peer Tutor Ariane Faria dos Santos (Ph.D. EDCP), Dec. 2021

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Filed under Active Learning, Assessment, Blog Posts, Curriculum, Language & Lit Learning, Lesson & Unit Planning, Math, Open Educational Resources, Planning, Resources, Science, Social Studies, STEAM

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by | September 4, 2024 · 10:33 am

Developing, interpreting, and accessing student thinking

According to Teaching Works Team (2022, May 9), eliciting students’ thinking involves classroom practices that develop, interpret, and access student thinking, such as questioning, discussions, and assessments with the purpose of identifying students’ prior knowledge, understanding, and misconceptions. It is a pedagogical approach where…

“Teachers pose questions that create space for students to share their thinking about specific academic content. They seek to understand student thinking, including novel points of view, new ideas, ways of thinking, or alternative conceptions. Teachers draw out student thinking through carefully chosen questions and tasks and attend closely to what students do and say. They consider and check alternative interpretations of student ideas and methods. Teachers are attentive to how students might hear their questions and to how students communicate their own thinking. Teachers use what they learn about students to guide instructional decisions and to surface ideas that will benefit other students. By eliciting and interpreting student thinking, the teacher positions students as sense-makers and centers their thinking as valuable” (Teaching Works Team, 2022, May 9).

Why is eliciting student thinking essential?

There are many reasons to teachers invest classroom time to elicit students’ thinking:

  • Value students’ ideas, competencies, and ways of seeing the world, changing the focus from the teacher to the students;
  • Understand students’ connections to previous knowledge, making learning meaningful;
  • support students’ deepen understanding of essential concepts in each subject matter, generating the development of high-level skills;

How can teachers elicit student thinking?

The Teaching Works Team (2022, May 9) suggests some steps teachers can take to develop, interpret, elicit, or assess students’ thinking:

  1. “Formulating and posing questions designed to elicit and probe student thinking, with sensitivity to how students might hear or respond to the questions
  2. Listening to and interpreting student responses
  3. Developing additional questions, prompts, and tasks to probe and unpack what students say”

To help you understand the specific features in each one of the steps of this cycle, you can check in the Teaching Works Team document.

Circular Model with Children at the Center where Teachers formulate questions design to elicit and probe student thinking, pose the questions, listen and interpret responses, develop additional questions and make sense of what students know and can do.

Source: Visual representation of eliciting and interpreting student thinking (Teaching Works Team, 2022, May 9).

Designing effective questions

Making questions to students is one of the most common and powerful pedagogical strategies used by teachers during the process of teaching and learning. Read the blog post “Asking Questions that promote deep learning” to learn more about asking effective questions.

Probing as a formative assessment

Another way that teachers can interpret students’ understanding is through formative assessment probes. Tobey and Arline’s books (2014) give many examples of how teachers can build formative assessment probes to identify misconceptions or prior knowledge that conducted students to develop their current way of thinking about specific contents or concepts in a subject area.

The difference between using assessment probes to evaluate learning and to understand students’ thoughts, is that the latter wants to reveal parts of the learning process and not its final results.  In this sense, the goal is to uncover the connections students have made during their learning. Another feature is that these types of formative assessment probes are designed to show students’ understanding of specific (and in general essential) knowledge of a subject. For example, Tobey and Arline (2014c, p. 5-7) claim that teachers should design assessments that allow uncovering students’ misconceptions about “area” and “volume”.

As a consequence of better understanding students’ thinking, teachers may be able to design new learning experiences to deepen or correct students’ conception at this point. Therefore, teachers may be able to improve the process of teaching and learning and deepen students’ understanding.

What does eliciting students’ thinking look like in different content areas?

The Teaching Works Team (2022, May 9) from the teacher education program of the University of Michigan shares some specific tips and classroom resources for different subjects:

More resources:

The course, Eliciting and interpreting, offered by the University of Michigan as part of their Teaching Works Collection of free and openly accessible resources, shares many classroom videos as examples of how to elicit students’ thinking. The videos discuss classroom situations and show how teachers can use these moments to better understand students’ thinking:

References:

Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Farrin, L. (2005). Formative Assessment Probes: Uncovering Students’ Ideas in Science. Science Scope, 28(4), 18-21. http://pal.lternet.edu/docs/outreach/educators/education_pedagogy_research/assessment_probes_uncovering_student_ideas.pdf

NSTA (2022, May 9).Using Formative Assessment Probes With Real or Virtual Field Trips. https://www.nsta.org/science-and-children/science-and-children-septemberoctober-2020/using-formative-assessment-probes.

Ok Math Teachers (2022, May 9). Formative Assessment Probes. http://okmathteachers.com/formative-assessment-probes/

Teaching Works (2022, May 9). Eliciting and interpreting. The University of Michigan. https://library.teachingworks.org/curriculum-resources/teaching-practices/eliciting-and-interpreting/

Tobey, C., & Arline, C. (2014a). Uncovering student thinking about mathematics in the common core, grades k-2. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Tobey, C., & Arline, C. (2014b). Uncovering student thinking about mathematics in the common core, grades 3-8. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Tobey, C., & Arline, C. (2014c). Uncovering student thinking about mathematics in the common core, grades 6-8. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Tobey, C., & Arline, C. (2014d). Uncovering student thinking about mathematics in the common core, high school. SAGE Publications, Ltd.

Guest post by Peer Tutor Ariane Faria dos Santos (Ph.D. EDCP), Aug. 2022.

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Literature Circles: An Introduction

What are Literature Circles?

Literature Circles are small groups of students reading and discussing the same book (AKA reading groups, book groups, or book clubs). One of the main goals of lit circles is for students to enjoy reading and engaging in “open, natural conversations about books” (Daniels, 2002, p. 18). During lit circles, the learning is student-centered, taking place during reading and conversation, and the teacher becomes a facilitator and coordinator.  Teachers can support lit circles by being open to learning from and with their students, and developing an expectation of reciprocity in teaching and learning.

Lit circles are adaptable and teachers can customize them for their students’ needs, which makes them a great strategy for Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Groups of 3-5 students seem to work best. The essential elements of literature circles include student voice and choice (Daniels, 2002). In a classroom, each group may be reading a different book or the whole class may be reading the same book. For online learning, lit circles can be held via breakout rooms and the teacher can pop into different rooms to facilitate. For more information, the UBC Education Library has compiled a list of resources for teachers wanting to try lit circles.

Voice and Choice

  • Students could choose their own reading materials (teachers can start with a book talk to introduce the selections, ex. topic, genre, level of difficulty – or teachers can spread out the books over several tables and allow students some quiet time to peruse)
  • If students are all reading the same book, students could choose the motif or theme they wish to focus on and those could be used to form the groups
  • Topics for discussion should come from students and discussions are peer-led; “personal connections, digressions, and open-ended questions are welcome” (Daniels, 2002, p. 18)
  • Students will meet on a predictable schedule – it can be helpful to provide students with a calendar (older students can choose how far to read before each scheduled discussion)
  • If groups are reading different books, they could have an opportunity to share about their book to others (perhaps you’ll have students choose new books, form new groups, and continue lit circles throughout the year)

Roles

Assigned roles can be a great way to help students learn how to participate in discussions and what they need to bring to a conversation to make it rich and engaging. Younger students may choose to draw notes, as opposed to write them. Roles are particularly useful in preparing for discussions because they help students to learn what elements can prompt meaningful conversation. However, the eventual goal is to remove the scaffolds (the roles) and allow students to have free-flowing conversations, which an over-reliance on role sheets can impede (Daniels, 2002).

Examples of Roles:

Updated Roles for the 21st Century (Herrera & Kidwell, 2018) retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1181553.pdf

  • Connector: finds connections between the book and the student(s)
  • Questioner: asks questions about the section being read or the book in general
  • Illustrator: creates images as they read
  • Word Wizard: highlights a few new or meaningful words for students to learn
  • Summarizer: creates a summary of the book section
  • Researcher: digs into and discovers background information related to the book
  • Literary Luminary: locates quotations or significant passages to generate discussion 

Older students will likely be able to prepare for lit circles without having specific roles assigned. However, having students choose a ‘Discussion Director’ (who manages the flow of conversation, encourages participation, and brings some topics/questions to get started) can help to keep conversations flowing and help students to practice facilitating a small group discussion. Students can rotate through this role so each has the opportunity to be discussion director.

Dialectical journals or reading logs can help students to think through their book as they read and can help to prepare students for discussions (a dialectical journal is a double-sided journal that students write in during their reading – on the left, they write questions, drawings, interesting quotations, anything that catches their attention, and on the right, they comment and jot down their thoughts relating to what they have written on the left).

Assessment

Generally, assessments during lit circles come from “teacher observation and student self-evaluation” (Daniels, 2002, p. 18). Offering students multiple self-assessment opportunities can help students to cycle through identifying an area for improvement, setting a goal, assessing if the goal has been met, then setting a new goal, and so on. Summative assessments could also include written assignments or presentations.

Interdisciplinary Learning

Novels naturally weave disciplines together in their stories and teachers can encourage students to research background information that will contribute to their knowledge of the book. For example, students can look into historical context, geography, scientific context (particularly useful for science fiction novels), and psychology – teachers can model interdisciplinarity and encourage students to bring these elements into their discussions. Although lit circles are most commonly incorporated into English, social studies, and humanities classes, they can be used effectively in other disciplines, such as science (Straits & Nichols, 2006).

Preparation

If students have never participated in lit circles before, teachers can model roles and expectations beforehand. For example, teachers could use a short story or poem to demonstrate how lit circles work and what productive participation may look like, as well as to introduce and practice the roles and responsibilities.

During lit circles, students will need time to read (silently or in small groups) and committing time for silent reading from the start of the year can help to establish expectations and routines for that time. It can also be a great way to calmly start the class and get students focused. Teachers can demonstrate they value reading by committing time to read in a way that is visible to students and share their enjoyment (as opposed to using silent reading time for other tasks).

Teachers should read all of the book club selections before starting lit circles and choose books that they also enjoy. It’s important to display passion for reading and enthusiasm for the book choices – students can be heavily influenced by a teacher’s attitude and mindset! Teachers can also think about how book selections cover and connect to big ideas/themes for the unit or year to promote integrated learning (ex. identity, sustainability, compassion, etc.). Adrienne Gear,  MEd UBC, Vancouver teacher and well-regarded literacy specialist, has assembled some thematic book lists for grades 3-6 and for grades 6-9 to help get you started.

How to Get Started

Daniels (2002, p. 55) explains that there 5 key steps for a successful start:

  • Explain – let kids hear why this activity is important
  • Demonstrate – provide live or videotaped examples, by kids or adults
  • Practice – help kids try out a variety of approaches (a fishbowl activity can be an effective way to practice and improve group discussions!)
  • Debrief – ask kids to notice and catalog effective procedures
  • Refine – provide ongoing training through mini-lessons and coaching

 

References

Daniels, H. (2002). Literature circles: Voice and choice in book clubs and reading groups. Stenhouse.

Herrera, L. J. P., & Kidwell, T. (2018). Literature circles 2.0: Updating a classic strategy for the 21st century. Multicultural Education (San Francisco, Calif.), 25(2), 17-17. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1181553.pdf

Straits, W., & Nichols, S. (2006). Literature circles for science. Science and Children, 44(3), 52- 55. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/literature-circles-science/docview/236904244/se-2?accountid=14656

 

Guest post by Peer Mentor Lindsay Cunningham (Ph.D. student, EDCP), July 2024.

 

 

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by | August 31, 2024 · 4:58 pm
by | August 30, 2024 · 11:51 am

Lesson/Unit Planning: a guide for quick review of the essential points

This is a quick guide with questions you might ask yourself about your lesson/ unit plan to check that are considering the most essential points while planning.

1. Why do we teach..?

Let’s start with this video to help us understand why thinking about the goal of your lesson/ plan is the first step to achieving students’ learning. Please click to view.

Now it’s your turn:

  • Look at your lesson/unit plan and ask yourself:
    • Why do I teach? Is this reflected in my planning?
      • Who do I teach? Are my learners at the center of my planning?

2. Goal vs. Activities

One way to start planning is to select some activities you think your students will enjoy and then try to organize them together as a lesson or unit. The problem with this is that we can lose the focus, and move too far from what the goal of all these activities actually is. Moreover, choosing activities first rather than learning goals tends to not allow for differentiation, as these activities generally require all students to show their learning in the same way. See the difference between both processes:

comparing more backwards planning with more traditional approaches where backwards planning begins with outcomes in mind and moves to designing activities while former approaches might begin with a resource or activity idea.

Source: https://teaching.cambriancollege.ca/studio/backwards-planning/#1532372758719-5b1d9546-624f

 

In this example, a “backward design” process is recommended for planning because it allows more flexibility and focus and takes a more student-centred approach. The video below explains the step-by-step process of planning using backward design.

Personally, I like to do a brainstorm of all my resource and activity ideas around a central theme (because that’s often where my excitement and creativity lie!). Then, however, I set it aside and look to the curriculum for the specific content and competencies that are important for my students to learn/practice at a specific point in the year. Once I’ve established the learning goals, I’ll break them down into a progression of lessons and outcomes. Now I’m ready to get inspired again and look back at the resources I set aside to see if or where they might fit (or not!)

Do you want more examples? This Cult of Pedagogy blog post will be of interest. Dr. Shelley Moore offers examples of Inclusive design templates and frameworks that align with a backwards design model.

Now it’s your turn:

  • Look at your lesson/unit plan:
    • Did you start by choosing the activity or the learning goal? (if you started with the activity, look at it again and ask yourself “does this activity help students achieve the learning targets?”)
    • Can you identify pieces of evidence that your lesson/unit is focusing on learning goals rather than being merely a set of activities?

3. Write good learning goals (Part 1)

Defining learning goals is essential to a effective plan. The image below describes the features and examples of what a well-defined learning goal looks like:

Source: https://citl.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/online-course-in-a-box/good-vs-bad-learning-objectives.pdf?sfvrsn=2

 

Now it’s your turn:

  • Look at your lesson/unit plan:
    • Is your learning goal…
      1. Clear and specific?
      2. Measurable?
      3. Concise?
      4. Tied into course/curricular objectives?

4. Write good learning goals (Part 2)

When we are choosing our learning goals it is essential to pay attention to the ones that are similar to each other so that we can plan in a more focused way. Look at these three learning goals from the BC Math Curriculum (grade 3):

  • “Fractions are numbers that represent an amount or quantity”.
  • “Fractions can represent parts of a region, set, or linear model”.
  • “Fraction parts are equal shares or equal-sized portions of a whole or unit”.

Even though they are similar and these learning goals are all likely part of a unit of teaching, they likely aren’t part of a single lesson and teachers will want to plan different activities and assessments to achieve each one of them.

Now it’s your turn:

  • Look at your lesson/unit plan:
    • Are your learning goals related?
    • In what ways do the lessons/activities help students achieve these goals?
    • How do you know students have achieved the goals?

5. Connecting the why and what

In the BC Curriculum, we can interpret the Big Ideas as the “why” we teach and the content and competency as the “what” we teach, or in other words, the learning goals.

Now it’s your turn:

Look at your lesson/unit plan:

    • Do the curricular competencies and content work together to support learning around the big ideas?

6. Who are my students?

We do not plan for imaginary students but for the ones we have in our classes. Thus, it is essential to think about the student profiles and how to adapt your lessons to their needs and, potentially, their interests.

Tomlinson (2001) proposes a model to think about different student features we can consider while planning our lessons:

Source: Tomlinson, Carol A (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms

Now it’s your turn:

7. Classroom setting

Our lessons happen in a space (physical or online). Thus it is important to think about how we will organize this space for each moment of the lesson. Tomlinson (2001) gives some ideas of how a teacher can organize that space:

Source: Tomlinson, Carol A (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms

Now it’s your turn:

  • Look at your lesson/unit plan:
    • Have you planned the space for each moment of your class?
    • Behavioral expectations. How can different class instructional arrangements be used to deal with students’ behavior?
    • How can different classroom arrangements support your learning goals and students’ behavior?

8. Time

Our lessons also happen between some time frame. In this sense, it is not reasonable to plan the best lesson/ unit if they can not be implemented within the time limit you have.

Now it’s your turn:

  • Look at your lesson/unit plan:
    • Are your learning goals achievable within the time limit you have?
    • Do you have suggested times for each moment?
    • How many minutes are teacher-focused
    • How many minutes are student-focused?

9. What is next?

The last step in planning a lesson/ unit is to think about what is my next learning goal and how I can connect it to the current one. In other words, it is essential to think about the learning trajectory of my students and how I will support their progression.

It is important to understand how each learning goal is connected with the others. The BC Ministry of Education provides Learning Progressions to allow us to visualize and plan for curricular and cross-curricular learning.

Now it’s your turn:

  • Look at your lesson/unit plan:
    • Have you planned the progression of your learning goals?
    • Do you know your next goals and how they are connected to the current one?

10. Warm-up and end-up moments

Now that you have a good notion of your goals and the progression of you lesson/ unit, you can ensure the warm-up and end-up moments (opener/activating strategy and closure help to create coherence throughout your whole lesson/unit.

Now it’s your turn:

  • Look at your lesson/unit plan. Consider:
    • How you will start this class?
    • How will you provide closure?
      • Why did you make these choices?
      • How do they connect to the rest of the lesson?
      • Does your opening and closing help to start and complete a discreet cycle of learning? Are there opportunities to extend learning or signals of where you are headed?

More resources to support your lesson/unit plan

Guest post by Peer Mentor Ariane Faria dos Santos (Ph.D. EDCP), Aug. 2024.

 

 

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