Lesson Planning: Backward Design (Understanding by Design)

 

Introduction:

 

  • One of the most important aspects of teaching is designing curriculum and lesson plans. Over the years, a variety of styles and approaches to planning lessons have been developed and implemented in schools to varying degrees of success. The educational instructors at Leeward CC have decided upon several lesson-planning models for you to learn in the various AAT educational courses, which we hope will give you a solid background in how to create a lesson.

 

  • In this course, you will be designing a lesson plan based on a model known as Backward Design or Understanding by Design.  Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (1998) developed this model in the late 1990s in an effort to rethink and challenge how teachers’ traditionally approach the construction of a lesson. Many teacher education programs, including UH Manoa, have adapted this approach. I have also used this model in my own teaching and the development of this course is based on Backward Design.

 

Prior Knowledge Check:

 

  • What do you think a traditional teacher might do first when planning a lesson?

 

    1. Decide the activities the students should do?
    2. Decide the lesson objectives?
    3. Decide on how to grade the students?

 

  • If you answered, “Decide the activities the students should do,” then you are correct. For those who answered, “Decide the lesson objectives,” you should be correct, but in reality teachers don’t always do this step first. Consider the following example of a typical teacher:
    • Gary is a high school English teacher who is trying to find a way to present the story of Hamlet to his class of juniors. A fellow teacher suggests that Gary use a great video on a modern day version of Hamlet that will really engage the students. Gary thinks that this is a great idea and plans to show the video to his students.

 

    • On the day of the lesson, Gary tells the class that they are going to watch a video on Hamlet. He then tells the class that they should pay attention and take notes because they are going to be tested on the video later that week. The night before the test, Gary makes up some multiple-choice and two short answer questions that should be long enough to take up the whole class period.

 

    • A few days after the test, the school’s Principal visits Gary. The Principal tells Gary that a parent called to complain about why Gary was not teaching Hamlet from a book and only showing a modern day version of Hamlet. The Principal then asks Gary for the reason for showing the movie and Gary replies that he thought that the students would be able to relate more to the movie than just reading Hamlet from a text. Gary tells the Principal that his students hate to read and he thought that the video would benefit the students’ understanding of Hamlet much better.
  • Believe it or not, many teachers do approach their lesson planning in this way and unfortunately it occurs much too often. Here is the order that Gary took for the planning of his lesson.
    1. Decide the activities the students should do.
    2. Decide on how to grade the students.
    3. Decide the lesson objectives.

 

Not quite convinced that teachers tend to choose activities first when planning a lesson?

 

Consider the following questions:

  • What do teachers look for when they visit other teacher’s classes?
  • What do teachers look for when they attend conferences or seminars?
  • What do teachers look for when they need to teach a lesson?

 

    • The answer is that teachers are always looking for fun and exciting activities to get their students engaged and interested in the lesson. Teachers rarely create new lessons completely on their own and look to other resources for their ideas (especially other teachers!). Nothing wrong with that; however, the problem lies in that the teacher does not know whether or not the exciting activity they are looking for serves any real purpose in providing evidence or helping the students’ reach the lesson’s objectives.

 

Backward Design Approach: Defined

 

  • Backward Design is named “Backward” because it approaches lesson planning in the exact opposite of traditional lesson planning. In Backward Design, the teacher first thinks of the most important objectives that need to be taught, then figures out what assessment (grading) is best to measure those objectives, and then develops activities that are most appropriate to reach those objectives. The order of lesson planning in Backward Design is listed below (Backward Design terminology is indicated inside the parenthesis and bolded and we will use that terminology through the rest of the paper):

 

    1. Decide the lesson objectives (Identify desired results).
    2. Decide on how to grade the students (Determine acceptable evidence).
    3. Decide the activities the students should do (Plan learning experiences and instruction).

 

  • Backward Design ensures that the lesson’s objectives, assessment, and instruction are all aligned with each other and that everything that the teacher includes in the lesson is valuable and important for the student. Nothing is ever wasted in a Backward Design classroom! If the Hamlet video that Gary uses in the above example does not help him reach his objectives, then regardless of how exciting the video is he should not use it.

 

  • Let us examine in detail each of the three steps used in Backward Design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 1A.  Identify Desired Results: Introduction

 

  • All lessons, regardless of which lesson-planning model that you use, begins with identifying clear and measurable objectives. If you don’t know where you are going, then you will never know when you get there. Backward Design always lets you know where you are going because it forces you to consider your objectives first, which will constantly remind you on why you are doing the lesson.

 

  • So, the first step in planning a Backward Design lesson is to ask yourself several questions:
    • What should students know, understand, and be able to do?
    • What is worthy of understanding?

 

  • Luckily for us (or unlucky for us), Hawai’i’s Department of Education (DOE) has already established every K-12 lesson objective (standards) for teachers and these can be found on its website: http://standardstoolkit.k12.hi.us/index.html . These objectives and standards are in developed in accordance with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates from the Federal Government. Part of your job as a future teacher is to become very familiar with the standards pertaining to your grade level or subject area.

 

  • However, there is typically always more content than can be reasonably addressed and teachers always have to make choices of what objectives to emphasize in their lessons. To help you focus on what is important to teach, consider the 40/40/40 rule:

 

    • What do you want students to remember for 40 days?
    • What do you want students to remember for 40 months?
    • What do you want students to remember for 40 years?

 

  • When you find something that you want students to remember for 40 years, we call this a “BIG IDEA” or an “ENDURING UNDERSTANDING.” Unfortunately, much of what we teach in school is of the 40 days variety (or maybe the 4 second rule for students? J)

 

  • Another check for finding the BIG IDEA is to ask yourself during the beginning of lesson planning, “If I had to decide on only one or two things to teach, what would they be?”

 

  • By narrowing down our ideas, we can decide what is important to teach:

 

 

Ideas worth being familiar with

  • Ex. Teach how to make a lesson plan.

 

 

Ideas important to know and do

  • Ex. Teach about the different types of lesson plans.

 

BIG IDEAS! Must know this!

  • Ex. Teach about what makes a good lesson plan. Backward Design!

Step 1B.  Identify Desired Results: Writing a lesson objective using Bloom’s taxonomy

 

  • Once you have decided on a BIG IDEA for a lesson, it is really important that you write the objective of that BIG IDEA in a clear and measurable way. An objective that is not clear or measurable is useless. You can make your objectives clear and measurable by turning them into student learning outcomes (SLOs) using Bloom’s taxonomy. An SLO is something that requires a specific action from a student, which is measurable.

 

  • Bloom’s taxonomy is a chart of active and measurable verbs that address different levels of learning. See the chart below (some verbs may be found in more than one level):

 

Level of Learning

Definition

Active verbs: Students will…

1.       Knowledge

    (lowest level of learning)

Remembering something without necessarily understanding, using, or changing it.

select, state, name, memorize, describe, define, identify, draw, recognize, label, locate, recite, write, list, outline, recall, reproduce.

2.       Comprehension

 

Understanding the material being communicated without relating it to anything else.

comprehend, convert, defend, distinguish, estimate, explain, extend, generalize, give, confirm, paraphrase, predict, infer, summarize, compare.

3.       Application

 

Using general concept to solve a particular problem.

apply, change, solve, choose, interpret, model, modify, show, classify, collect, dramatize, produce, discover, make, prepare.

4.       Analysis

 

Breaking something down into parts.

analyze, examine, compare, contrast, diagram, deconstruct, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, identify, illustrate, infer, outline, relate, select, separate, survey,  investigate,

5.       Synthesis 

 

Creating something new by combining different ideas.

categorize, combine, compile, compose, create, devise, design, explain, generate, modify, organize, plan, rearrange, reconstruct, relate, reorganize, revise, rewrite, summarize, tell, write.

6.       Evaluation

(highest level of learning)

Judging the value of materials or methods as they might be applied in a particular situation.

appraise, compare, conclude, contrast, criticize, critique, defend, describe, discriminate, evaluate, explain, interpret, justify, relate, summarize, support.

 

  • To write student learning outcomes, first, identify the level of learning that you want, then choose a verb from that category that best describes what you want the student to know, understand, or be able to do.

 

  • Let us use our example from above: Gary wants students to understand Hamlet. Here are how clear and measurable student learning objectives might be written by Gary for increasing levels of learning:

 

  • Students will
    • recite a scene in Hamlet (knowledge)
    • paraphrase a scene in Hamlet (comprehension)
    • interpret a scene in Hamlet (application)
    • contrast different scenes in Hamlet (analysis)
    • design a scene in Hamlet (synthesis)
    • critique a scene in Hamlet (evaluation)

 

  • By using the verbs in Bloom’s taxonomy, you are assured that all your lesson’s SLOs will be clear and measurable!

Step 2. Determine Acceptable Evidence: How will you grade (assess) the students?

 

  • It seems unusual that you would decide on how you want to assess the students before deciding upon your lesson activities, but in Backward Design it is essential.

 

  • Backward Design wants you to think like a detective. You need to gather a variety of evidence whether students are learning and Backward Design wants you to consider which assessments will provide the best evidence BEFORE you begin teaching.

 

  • Think PHOTO ALBUM! Gather as many different snapshots of learning that you can that will best represent the students’ learning. One picture does not make a photo album! One assessment does not indicate total learning!

 

  • Let’s consider Gary’s SLOs that were written above and determine what type of assessments listed below would work best for each SLO. There are no set answers and each assessment could theoretically be used, but the action verb in the SLO often dictates which assessment will give you the best evidence.

 

Students will

 

Informal Checks (Observation/Discussion)

Quiz/Test

 

Task or Project

(Papers included)

o    recite a scene in Hamlet (knowledge)

 

Reciting usually requires the students to speak.

 

 

o    paraphrase a scene in Hamlet (comprehension)

Paraphrasing usually requires the students to speak or to write.

 

 

o    interpret a scene in Hamlet (application)

 

Interpreting usually requires the students to write an in-depth answer.

 

o    contrast different scenes in Hamlet (analysis)

 

Contrasting usually requires the students to write an in-depth answer.

 

o    design a scene in Hamlet (synthesis)

 

 

Designing usually requires the students to actively create something.

o    critique a scene in Hamlet (evaluation)

 

 

Critiquing usually requires the students to speak or write an in-depth answer.

 

  • Because Backward Design is focused on the BIG IDEAS, often the lesson is anchored by task or projects that provide evidence of learning in context. This means that Backward Designers try to develop lessons that are authentic. Authentic means that the lesson represents knowledge, skills, and understanding that students might encounter in the real-world and are meaningful. Thus, for the final step in Backward Design, it is important to plan learning activities that not only will allow students opportunities to reach the SLOs, but to also have some real value for the students.

 

Step 3. Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction: How will you make it authentic?

 

  • Now that with have identified clear and measurable SLOs and appropriate assessments, we can plan instructional activities. However, just like the assessment table above, the instruction must align with the SLOs:

 

Students will

Assessment

Possible Instructional Activities for Students

o    recite a scene in Hamlet (knowledge)

 

Informal Checks (Observation/Discussion)
  • Act out the scene in front of a group.
  • Video-tape yourself reciting the scene.
  • Have contest for best recitation.
  • Play guessing game for scene ID.

o    paraphrase a scene in Hamlet (comprehension)

Informal Checks (Observation/Discussion)
  • Explain scene as if 8 years old
  • Explain scene to an 8 year old
  • Pair up and explain scene to each other

o    interpret a scene in Hamlet (application)

Quiz/Test

 
  • Relate scene to your own life.
  • Write your own version of the scene.
  • Write a poem of the scene

o    contrast different scenes in Hamlet (analysis)

Quiz/Test

 
  • Scavenger hunt to find differences
  • Jigsaw groups to represent scenes
  • Interview actors in different scenes

o    design a scene in Hamlet (synthesis)

Task or Project

(Papers included)
  • Create your own play of the scene
  • Transform scene into artwork
  • Cartoon story of two different versions

o    critique a scene in Hamlet (evaluation)

Task or Project

(Papers included)
  • Be a reviewer and give critique
  • Pairs of students debate scenes
  • Debate elements of a good scene

 

 

  • What is nice about the Backward Design approach is that once you have established the BIG IDEAS and the appropriate assessments for your lesson these will rarely change. What will change is your choice of instructional strategies. This is an ongoing process where you are constantly evaluating whether the activity you chose for your lesson is producing the best opportunities for your students to demonstrate their learning. In this way, you will be able to make informed decisions whether activities observed in other teacher’s classrooms or at seminars are valuable because you will already have your lesson’s BIG IDEAS in your head.

 

Final Check for Understanding:

 

  • Where would Gary’s video on Hamlet fit into the table above?

 

  • If you found a place to show Gary’s video, then excellent. The difference NOW is that you have a rationale for showing the video that is exactly aligned with your BIG IDEAS and assessments!

 

Closing Comments:

 

  • If after reading this handout, you are still unsure about what Backward Design looks like in the classroom or its three steps, please don’t worry. Throughout the semester, there will be several opportunities to expand and practice upon our understanding of Backward Design. We will be using the template from UH Manoa as our guide.

 

Bibliography

 

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.