Building Standards-Based Curriculum Units
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In order to deliver efficiency and standards based learning, teachers construct online unit plans that emphasize scaffolding as a design approach. Simply put, scaffolding provides very clear directions, lots of structure and good resources to optimize learning. |
Lesson Design
A good lesson offers several main ingredients:
- A question or thinking challenge that requires analysis, synthesis or evaluation
- A series of clearly defined tasks for students that will provide them with the skills, resources and understandings required to tackle the question or thinking challenge
- User friendliness, simplicity and engaging design elements
One good way to learn about building such lessons is to visit and evaluate those constructed by other teachers with an eye toward doing an even better job.
In the next module, you will be asked to evaluate four unit plans using the following criteria (along with other criteria you may add.)
| Qualities of Effective Unit Plans |
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Question requiring original thought:
Students must make an answer. They should not be able to find or cut and paste and answer. |
Clear reference to state standards |
| Attractive and engaging design | User friendly, intuitive interface that makes navigation easy |
| Use of the Research Cycle or other good model for the research process | Selective gathering required |
| Expanded questioning activities | Ongoing assessment |
| Multiple reliable sources (digital, human, print) | Team research |
| Clear sequence of steps | Persuasive product/performance that shows deep thinking with an essay of some kind. |
| Repeated attempts at synthesis |
These materials are copyrighted by Jamie McKenzie, all rights reserved, and may not be duplicated in any manner without express written permission.