Tag Archives: planning

Aside

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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by | · 11:50 am

Teaching math: competencies over content

Mathematics has been known as one of the subjects that focus on content, and consequently, the procedures to achieve the right answer, rather than on competencies, or in other words, on the understanding of the procedure followed by students. However, these two ways should not be seen as irreconcilable!

As the National Research Council discussed in the book Adding it UP! Helping children learn mathematics, mathematics fluency is achieved through the development of five strands:

  • conceptual understanding: comprehension of mathematical concepts, operations, and relations
  • procedural fluency: skill in carrying out procedures flexibly, accurately, efficiently, and appropriately
  • strategic competence: the ability to formulate, represent, and solve mathematical problems
  • adaptive reasoning: capacity for logical thought, reflection, explanation, and justification
  • productive disposition: the habitual inclination to see mathematics as
    sensible, useful, and worthwhile, coupled with a belief in diligence and one’s
    own efficacy.

Source: Adding it UP! Helping children learn mathematics

Therefore, both math content and competence are essential to achieve mathematics proficiency. Teaching math through competencies emphasizes how important conceptual understanding is to advance to high-level math. It also shows that content and procedures are used to build up understanding and not as isolated goals in the process of learning math.

The following video discusses some of the benefits of teaching math by focusing on competencies. In the video, the teachers highlight that math competencies allow lessons based on student-centered approaches and differentiation, giving space for students to learn at their own pace through pedagogical strategies.

 

Phil Stringer, in his BCTM Vector article “Deunitization in the Mathematics Classroom,” (pp. 38), suggests how teachers can design lessons based on competencies rather than content. He proposes that teachers should not plan their lessons strictly by dividing what students should learn into content units, such as fractions, multiplication, cardinal numbers, etc. He suggests teachers consider a list of competencies related to each content area and how they interconnect. In this sense, while planning learning goals, teachers can work with more flexibility between competencies and content.

By covering competencies and content, teachers have more flexibility to build learning progressions to support their students. As Phil describes from his experiences, students learn more deeply and tend not to forget the content since it scaffolds and is reviewed throughout the term or academic year rather than just for a short time while a specific content-based unit is been covered.

Regarding assessment, a great way to assess competency is to analyze students’ knowledge and skills in each competency. Competency trackers can be a helpful tool since they allow both teachers and students to map the learning goals already developed and the ones that need more focus.

Identifying specific competencies can build independence and confidence in students and support teachers’ planning. Teachers can use an Excel table or a more sophisticated platform that links students’ progression to real-time assignments.

Resources:

Open School BC and the Delta District develop many detailed resources for teachers to develop the following competencies in math:

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

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by | August 2, 2024 · 2:47 pm

Unit Planning: one teacher’s approach

Guest post by Ariane faria-dos santos, Peer Mentor, PHD student EDCP 2022

The BC curriculum presents some challenges for teachers to plan because it requires that teachers combine Big Ideas, Contents, and Competencies. The purpose is to create clear goals which will guide teachers to design assessments and activities to develop concepts and skills in their students.

However, given the multiple possibilities of combining Big Ideas, Contents, and Competencies, teachers or teacher candidates may feel overwhelmed while planning without understanding how to balance these three elements.

With this challenge in mind, I’ve tried to unpack the steps of planning and propose a possible teacher’s journey through an iterative process of design using the new BC curriculum.

This video titled: Know Do Understand Model provides a very brief overview of the initial stages of the approach noted below (thank you Lexie, peer mentor 2021-22, for included it)

Step 1: integrating Big Ideas, Contents, and Competencies

 

 

As a first step, one might be select a Big Idea that a teacher wants to develop with their students through this Unit Plan.

For example, if teachers want to develop the Big Idea that “Numbers to 20 represent quantities that can be decomposed into 10s and 1s” (first-graders Big Idea), teachers will need to choose the Content and Competencies aligned with that Big Idea. (Keep in mind, that Core Competencies wrap around this process and are selected for inclusion based on what is the most needed or appropriate for the context/activity)

The math example beside shows some first-grade Content and Competencies that teachers can choose to develop this Big Idea. In this sense, teachers can choose the contents of “numbers concepts to 20” and “ways to make 10”. Teachers can also choose several competencies that students will do to demonstrate that they have learned the Contents and Big Ideas of this unit planning.

In addition, it is essential to pay attention that any Content or Competence that does not help to develop this Big Idea should not be included to not generate a loss of focus on this lesson planning. For example, the Content “addition and subtraction to 20 (understanding of operation and process)” should not be included because it does not help to develop the big idea chosen as the main focus of the lesson planning.

Step 2: integrating other relevant principles, subjects, and purposes

As a next step, I like to consider other principles, subjects, and purposes that I might include to make this lesson planning richer and more interested to their students.

  • Are there any first peoples principles of learning that are aligned with step 1?
  • Are there any ADST skills that I can include in this lesson planning?
  • Are there other subjects that may be integrated into this lesson planning?
  • Are there any other important principles to me as a teacher that can be integrated and aligned into this plan?

The only caution is that teachers should pay attention if the other points chosen are coherent with step 1 or if they are changing the main focus of the lesson planning.

Step 3: understanding my students’ prior knowledge, needs, and curiousities

My third step is to understand what students already know about these Big Ideas, Content, and Competencies with the purpose to discover the entry point in planning a sequence of lesson briefs (or, one might call this a pathway).

For example, in the example above a teacher should understand (or learn) their students’ background knowledge related to number sequence, how they count, if they are able to skip and compare numbers, etc. This prior knowledge will be essential to teachers design the more appropriate sequence for students to learn the Big Ideas, Content, and Competencies of this lesson planning. For a teacher just meeting their learners, they will want to incorporate some prior learning assessment during the first few lessons in a given Unit.

As you plan assessment and lessons, it is invaluable  to consider the needs of students regarding learning. Teachers should think about the diverse learners in their classroom and plan to attend to their needs which can be related to ELL, modified programs, career, etc.  Universal Design (UDL) suggests incorporating multiple ways of communicating and allowing students to represent learning in varied, multi-modal forms.

Finally, I like to consider the particular interests and curiosities of my students, planning lessons that engage students in the teaching and learning process.

Step 4: designing the units of my lesson planning

Now that teachers know the point they should start (step 3) and what they want to achieve (step 1), teachers should divide their lesson planning into several units (step 4) to design a pedagogical path to students achieve the lessons’ goals.

There are many ways of answering these questions and teachers should consider what will more support their students’ learning process.

If you want some suggestions and ideas, you can visit the Learning Design Blog

Step 5: designing the assessments

The fifth step is related to designing all formative and summative assessments for this lesson planning. Teachers should plan when they need to understand if their students have learned and design assessments to collect pieces of evidence of learning. Teachers should also consider when to choose formative or summative assessments and the format of each of them (written, oral, in a group, etc).

  • How should I give feedback to my students regarding their learning process?
  • When do I need formative assessments throughout the lesson planning?
  • When do I need summative assessments throughout the lesson planning?
  • What format should they have?
  • Should I propose performance assessments?
  • Should I use technology to support my assessment practices?

If you want some suggestions and ideas, you can visit the Learning Design Blog

Step 6: designing the learning activities

My next step in pre-planning is to design an outline of the learning activities that will give opportunities for students to develop skills and knowledge. These activities will ‘lead’ students to proficiency on the final Big Idea, Contents, Competencies in the Unit.

  • How long do I have for each lesson (may vary depending on your schedule and how much this unit integrates across the curriculum)
  • What are my objectives for each lesson? How do these link back to the overall unit objectives?
  • How many activities will my students develop in each class? Should they work individually, peers, in a group? What resources or strategies might I include? What digital tools or other manipulatives/hands-on learning will I integrate?
  • What kind of assessment will I incorporate? Initially, Assessment as and for learning including formative assessment to help guide the teaching and learning.

Video Overview

Below you can see a wonderful example of Language and Art Unit Planning from the BC Curriculum designed by Janis Sawatzky, Langley School district:

Planning Templates:

There is no ‘one way’ – that said, here are a couple that some teacher candidates have found helpful

For more on Planning for BCs Curriculum include examples, templates and tips, please visit:

Designing Learning Blog, UBC, Teacher Ed

Guest post by Peer Tutor Ariane Faria dos Santos (Ph.D. EDCP), Dec. 2021; Edited by Yvonne Dawydiak, Learning Design Manager, Teacher Education

KDU image reference: BC Ministry of Education https://youtu.be/lXyyZql2PZQ

Modified image (shown above with curriculum filled in) courtesy A.F.S Template – BC Curriculum

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by | July 4, 2024 · 10:57 am

BC Curriculum: Core Competencies

Understanding the Core Competencies

Core competencies of Thinking, Personal and Social, Communication

from: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies

According to the Ministry of Education, there are some essential understandings related to the Core Competencies and how they are connected with the other parts of the BC Curriculum:

  1. “The Core Competencies are sets of intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies that all students need in order to engage in deep, lifelong learning”
  2. “Along with literacy and numeracy foundations, they are central to British Columbia’s K-12 curriculum and assessment system and directly support students in their growth as educated citizens”
  3. “Students develop Core Competencies when they are engaged in the ‘doing’ – the Curricular Competencies – within a learning area” and, therefore, are an integral part of the curriculum.
  4. Even though the Core Competencies manifest in different ways, they are interconnected and are foundational to all learning.
  5. Core competencies are developed throughout the whole students’ life (before, during, and after school graduation, both inside and outside school settings). For these reasons, schools should not only value and integrate students’ knowledge acquired outside school but also give opportunities to students to learn and/or improve these competencies.

The BC Curriculum has three Core Competencies:

Communication

These are the competencies that students should develop to establish healthier relationships with others. In this sense, students should develop two groups of communication competencies:

    1. Communicating: BC curriculum identifies three facets (skills) that students should develop to active a good communication:
      • Connecting and engaging with others
      • Focusing on intent and purpose
      • Acquiring and presenting information.
    2.  Collaborating: BC curriculum identifies three facets (skills) that students should develop to be able to collaborate with others:
      • Working collectively
      • Supporting group interactions
      • Determining common purposes

Thinking

These are the competencies that students should develop to improve their intellectual development and produce new understandings:

    1. Creative Thinking: BC curriculum identifies three facets (skills) that students should develop:
      1. Creating and innovating
      2. Generating and incubating
      3. Evaluating and developing
    2. Critical Thinking and Reflective Thinking: BC curriculum identifies four facets (skills) that students should develop:
      • Analyzing and critiquing
      • Questioning and investigating
      • Designing and developing
      • Reflecting and assessing

Personal and Social

These are the competencies that students should develop to help them understand their own identity in the world. There are three facets within personal and social:

    1. Personal Awareness and Responsibility
    2. Positive Personal and Cultural Identity
    3. Social Awareness and Responsibility

The BC Curriculum recognizes that Core Competencies are developed inside and outside of school. Consequently, students, teachers, and parents/ guardians have different responsibilities and roles in the process of developing Core Competencies.

To guide students, teachers, and parents/ guardians in understanding how students develop proficiency in the Core Competency, the Ministry of Education has articulated profiles, or levels in the progression of development of each one of the Core Competencies. See an example on the BC government website

How to assess Core Competencies?

Assessment is another big challenge related to the Core Competencies but essential to guarantee that each student is developing them. BC Curriculum suggests that students should self-assess their own Core Competencies, but teachers have an essential role in developing strategies and tools to support students in this task.

Several school districts have published resources to help teachers engage in articulating and helping students self-assess the core competencies:

The Provincial Outreach Program for the Early Years (Popey) has some resources including PPTs with assessment examples  to support teachers implementation in  primary and pre-primary contexts.

Teacher Kerri Hutchinson from Surrey Schools explains and gives many examples of how she has developed and supported her students to self-assess Core Competencies:

Additional resources:

If you are looking for suggestions of how to develop the Core Competencies in your classroom, the UBC Education Library has a Core Competency booklist to support teachers in this work.

References:

Ministry of Education (2022, February 25). BC Curriculum Core Competencies. https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies

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

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by | June 30, 2024 · 7:02 pm

Know Do Understand (KDU): a starting point in planning

section header - what is it?

The BC curriculum’s more concept and competency based curriculum, expects that teachers combine Big Ideas, Contents, and Competencies as they plan learning experiences for their students. The purpose is to create clear goals which will guide teachers to design assessments and activities to develop concepts and skills in their students.

section header - why is it relevant

The “Know-Do-Understand” Model (KDU) can provide a simple initial planning structure can can support planning with the end in mind (backwards planning). It allows you to consider the connection with and between areas of the curriculum. Think of it as a cycle – The big idea is what you want the students to ultimately understand as a result of their learning; The Know section is the curricular content… they need to know this in order to develop their understanding of the Big Idea; The DO section is what you want the students to be able to Do by the end of the unit (the skills they will practice throughout the Unit that help them learn the content and develop their understanding of the Big Idea(s)!) Wrapped around all of this are the Core Competencies (more about those in the video below and later posts)

 

The BC Ministry provides background on the KDU model in this “Starting Points in Planning” PDF. The video below, titled: KDU Model, was created by Lexie, UBC Teacher Ed Peer Mentor 2020-21, and provides a very brief overview of how to consider Know-Do-Understand as you plan for teaching and learning in your context.

Here is a blog post from Ariane, peer mentor Winter 2021-22, sharing her approach to planning as she learns more about our BC curriculum.

Planning Templates as starting points:

Below we offer a few templates that align with the KDU approach. Please remember, there is no ONE approach or specific template that is required when planning for your learners. Please feel free to use, modify, adapt & share. Additional samples can be found on the Teacher Education ‘Designing Learning’ blog.

The BC Ministry of Education provides some instructional samples including this overview or lesson brief of a primary Math Unit “Patterns and Circles” and this more elaborated lesson plan example “Collapse of a Society” for Middle Years learners.

 

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by | May 23, 2024 · 2:25 pm

Art Canada Institute: Teacher Resources

The Art Canada Institute (ACI), is a not-for-profit charity and educational organization based at Massey College at the University of Toronto. In collaboration with Canadian teachers and cultural advisors, they have developed over 40 Teacher Resources Guides, available for free in both English and French, to enable K-12  educators to teach cross-curricular subjects through art.

Developed in accordance with national education recommendations, these guides include step-by-step lesson plans, classroom activities, and ready-to-download Power Point slide decks that cover topics including Indigenous history; Truth and Reconciliation; Black, Asian and Women’s history; Climate Change, Human Rights in Canada and many more.

Research has shown that learning through the arts has a positive impact on student learning and can benefit engagement. Pre-service and in-service teachers will benefit from access to free, high-quality Canadian-made, open-source resources in both French and English.

Getting Started:

  1. Visit the Teacher Resource Guides on the ACI website
  2. Search by keyword, Sort and filter by grade level(s) and subject area(s)
    • filter features the ability to plan for multi-age and interdisciplinary learning!
  3. You can also access ‘Independent student learning activities’
  4. While on their website, you may wish to explore further. Visit the ACI Home Page and check out the ‘Explore Canadian Art’ menu!
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Filed under Blog Posts, Curriculum, Open Educational Resources, Resources, STEAM, The Arts

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