Saturday, June 23, 2012

Understanding by Design and Place Value FREEBIES

This past week I attended an Understanding by Design (UbD) professional development that my county provided and I feel like 4 days of training have really transformed me as a teacher.  It felt like I was back in college, taking that highly important course that provides so much information that it makes your brain hurt.  I know how important it is for my students to understand what they learn but now I feel like all of the things we do as teachers to help them with those enduring understandings really matters.  Posting those essential questions, providing meaningful learning experiences, and allowing students to evaluate their own learning are pertinent to the learning process.  

If you're interested in being inspired by the (UbD) process, you can check out "UbD in a Nutshell" by clicking on the picture below.  There are also a ton of resources out there that will help you plan each of your subjects in a way that your students will gain a deeper understanding of everything you teach.  See the template below to guide your units.  The UbD way of planning helps teachers to think about how you will assess your students at the end of the learning process and then plan your teaching from there.  It stresses the importance of informing your students of where their learning is going so they are reflective throughout the process and are held responsible for their own learning.  Students should be evaluating themselves each day by means of the essentials questions and again at the end of the unit as a culminating evaluation.  See below for an example of  an end of unit student self evaluation rubric.
  

My experience from this training helped me understand the importance of lesson design to help students walk away with an enduring understanding of what was taught.  We as teachers know that students learn best when we make their learning experience FUN and we also make sure to explain how they will use those skills in the future.  Students need to have a plan for their lives and it is our job to make sure they know how to get there.  Even first graders are capable of having a life plan!  Teachers need to go outside of the box and think about the things that we experience as adults.  We need to share some of those experiences with our students so they are aware of WHY they NEED to learn a particular skill.  In the UbD, this would be the Transfer Goal.  When you are beginning to plan for a unit, think about the skills that you're teaching and how those skills will transfer into other areas.  We did our UbD on Number Sense and Place Value so our Transfer Goal was that we wanted students to use their learning to utilize numbers in real world situations.  If students have a deep understanding of numbers and place value, then they will be able to transfer that learning to various situations as they encounter them in life.

So as we planned our first unit, with my amazing first grade colleagues from around the county, all of the pieces finally fell together.  We started with the enduring understandings: what we wanted students to walk away with.  Then the essential questions: what students would be asked throughout the unit.  Click on the picture below to access all of the essential question posters for FREE (the pictures look a lil funky but once you download them, they will look like this one).


 Once we had the foundation set for where we wanted to go, we then thought about all of the learning that we wanted to take place.  This is where the "design" part of UbD comes into play.  The purpose is to "begin with the end in mind"!  This was a recurring phrase throughout our training because if you don't have a "destination" then you may get "lost" along the way.  Think of it like taking a road trip...if you don't know where you're going, then you may not get to the place that you want.  It makes sense, right?  So here is the assessment that was created as we thought of all of the skills that we wanted students to be able to UNDERSTAND throughout our Number Sense and Place Value unit.  Click on the picture to access the entire test for FREE.
 
 Once we finished the test, we were able to lay out the learning plan.  This is where the lesson planning would go.  This way of planning units seems to make total sense to me.  I'm sure that a lot of us teachers use this method of planning anyway, but the UbD allowed us to team plan a unit that was well thought out so students can UNDERSTAND the content that we teach.

One more FREEBIE for you are the checklists that I like to use in my classroom to guide my teaching and it also helps me plan for my intervention groups.  Each day I use formal and informal observations to judge whether a student has mastered a specific skill.  I place a check under their name if they have mastered it.  If they have not mastered it, then I pull small groups to make sure they receive the learning that they need to master that skill.  Click on the picture below to download all of the checklists for Unit 1: Number Sense and Place Value.
These checklists also help me when it's time to fill out report cards.  Our county has began "Standards Based Grading and Reporting" for math and it's basically like a huge checklist style report card.  Instead of playing a guessing game each quarter, I take out the checklists that I have used throughout the quarter (along with other factors too) in order to complete my report cards.

Sorry for such a long post!  I guess I'm just really passionate about this part of teaching.  lol  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and be sure to check back soon for a huge Data Notebook that I'm in the process of finishing.  

P.S.-If you'd like a copy of the entire number sense and place value unit plan, please leave me a comment and I'll be glad to send that to you.  Just leave me your email!  :-)


40 comments:

Lori said...

I would love a copy of the unit. This looks great!
lraines78@gmail.com

Storie said...

Thanks for all of the freebies you posted. They look great! I would love to see the entire unit :)
Storie
atozscrapbook@gmail.com
Stories by Storie

Delighted said...

I would love to see it too!

imgoingfirst@gmail.com

Neesa said...

Sounds like a great bbok and great training to accompany it. I love the unit and it will help me with my own mapping for second grade. Thanks or sharing.

Michelle McElhinny said...

Please be sure to leave your email address so I have a place to send it. Thanks :-)

Anonymous said...

I love this unit, you did a wonderful job! I would
love a copy of the unit.

Thanks,

Diane

Michelle McElhinny said...

Hi Diane,

I would love to send you this unit but I need an email address. You can email me at michelle83mcelhinny@gmail.com if you would rather not share your email.

Thanks,

Michelle :-)

Unknown said...

Maybe I am a little late to ask for this unit. But it would be so helpful to me. Right now I am about to start planning my place value unit. Thanks!

alysshas@gmail.com
Teaching and Tapas: 2nd Grade in Spain

AnnMarie Smith said...

I'd love to see the unit!

annmarie.hansen.9@gmail.com

Brooke H said...

I would like to see your unit. Thanks! brooke_antonson@yahoo.com

Just Jen said...

I would love a copy of your unit
justjenrodriguez@gmail.com


Thanks

robinyoung said...

Michelle-
I'd love a copy of the unit. I currently teach a 1st/ 2nd grade classroom and am designing UBD units that combine both grade levels. Your's would give me a head start for first grade.

Thanks!
Robin Young
ryoung@hse.k12.in.us

SBoyle said...

Could you please send me a copy of the unit? I just recently attended a UbD workshop and we only got through part of the planning process so seeing an actual plan might be helpful as I try to create my own.

Thanks so much!
Sarah
sarahboyle618@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I would love to see your unit.
peters@usd298.com

Unknown said...

I would love to see your unit plan. Thanks

sue10436@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

We are just beginning UBD and without a lot of training so your post (and freebies) are very helpful! I would be interested in your unit on place value if you still are sharing. My email is gward@scsreading.org. Thank you!!

PHarrison said...

I am an instructional coach and haved shared with teachers the value of using a UBD plan , it fits so well with the Common Core as well. Please send me your unit
patti.harrison@bsd7.org
Thank you....

PHarrison said...

I am an instructional coach and haved shared with teachers the value of using a UBD plan , it fits so well with the Common Core as well. Please send me your unit
patti.harrison@bsd7.org
Thank you....

alliemimosa said...

I would love if you could send me your unit. I am trying to organize all my worksheets, and fell in love with your unit test. alciia.m.borges@gmail.com

thanks in advance
alicia

Meg said...

I would love a copy. Our principal wants us writing UBDs and I'm having a hard time finding good examples. Thanks!

mdelahunt@beachhavenschool.com

KeeptheFaith said...

I would love a copy of the who plan. Thank you for sharing!

KatieJWaddelL@yahoo.com

GraydonS said...

I would love a copy of the plan.
graydonsteele@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I'd love a copy of this unit.......trying to get motivated for UBD's!
NMFrank@dcsdk12.org Thanks!

Ann Benedetti said...

I would love a copy of your unit. My 1st grade team has decide to use UBD as a professional growth project that is tied to our evaluation. We have not had any formal training but are going to jump in and educate ourselves with available information and template found online. I believe our unit is going to focus on fractions.
Thank you for sharing

Michelle McElhinny said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michelle McElhinny said...

If you would like a copy of all of the ELA and MATH UBD units that my team created, please click on this link to download them:

http://oursweetsuccess.blogspot.com/2014/01/ubd-units-ela-and-math.html

Unknown said...

Hi, I also teach first grade...would love a copy of your UbD for number sense and place value. You've done amazing work, and I'm sure your students have benefited from it. Thank you! lshelton@bluevalleyk12.org

Laurel Shelton

Unknown said...

Would love a copy. Just starting UbD and having a hard time wrapping my mind around it.

shellie.kemp@atkinsschools.org

Unknown said...

I think that your checklist would be super helpful when writing IEPs. I would love to see the rest of your unit.
ecarey8585@gmail.com

binxuer said...

You did a great job, thank you for sharing.I'd like to see the rest of the unit for number sense and place value, could you sent me a copy ?

Rebecca Winfree said...

My district is beginning with UbD this summer and I was chosen to be on the team. I would love a copy of your unit so I can get an idea of what Ubd in action looks like. Thanks!

buhrman4 said...

I found this post through a search for UBD ideas. Are you still sharing? Or am I 3 years too late? :) If so, I'd love a copy. Thanks!

b.buhrman4@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I would love a copy of both! Such great ideas:) Thank you so much! I enjoy reading your blog! email: hannahcguida@gmail.com

The Aimonetti Family said...

Can I still get a copy of this, please? Thank you! jlaimonetti@mpsaz.org
Thank you!

Kim Burzynski said...

I'd love a copy of this. We are working on UbD and I also think it will change how I teach and plan. Thanks!
klburzynski@munster.us

Anonymous said...

I would love one. So helpful. Savannasouthward@yahoo.com

Miss Hoogwerf said...

Thanks for this info! I would love a copy of your unit! jhoogwerf@cccss.org

mamachin2b said...

Love love love your page. Please send me a copy of this unit and any other units you may have. Thank you so much!!!
chinedumbadiwe@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Love the unit and all the freebies! I would appreciate getting a copy of this unit.
Thanks in advance.
hchikko13@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I would love a copy, laurenevillafane@gmail.com