Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe)An Introduction to Curriculum Design

Curriculum Writers will assist the AISD social studies curriculum team in creating three new curriculum documents:

◦ Yearly Itinerary◦ GPS (Grading Period Snapshot)◦ Curriculum Roadmap

◦ We may also ask you to finish adding lessons to the AIMS IPG site. Please wait for confirmation from the team regarding populating AIMS.

This work is actually quite exciting. The curriculum design closely follows the work of Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (of UBD fame) giving a clear workplan for our instruction.

UBD—Understanding by Design◦ Grant Wiggins and Jay McTigheStart with the end—the desired results (goals and

standards)—and then derive the curriculum from the evidence of learning (performances) called for by the standard and the teaching needed to equip students to perform.

Yearly Itinerary

An “overview” of our course for the entire year or an entire semester.

Grading Period Snapshot (GPS)

A document requested by principals which they will use to guide them through your classroom curriculum throughout the year.

Curriculum Road Map

The curriculum roadmap contains most of the elements that AIMS contains. Includes Concepts and Essential Questions, as well as the Unit, Arc and Lesson Level.

Uses UBD language.

Identify desired results.

Determine acceptable evidence.

Plan learning experiences and

instruction.

Understanding by Design

Begin with the end

in mind

Worth being familiar with

Important to know and do

“Enduring” understanding

Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings

These are the concepts that will anchor the course. These are the important ideas that we want student to “get inside of” and retain after they’ve forgotten many of the details. They reside at the “heart” of the discipline.

Enduring understandings go beyond discrete facts or skills to focus on larger concepts, principles or processes.

Offer potential for engaging students

Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings

These questions guide our teaching and engage students in uncovering the important ideas at the heart of each subject.

These questions cannot be answered satisfactorily in one sentence.

These questions are multilayered and provocative and they reveal the richness and complexities of a subject.

These questions should be asked over and over. These questions raise other important questions.

Essential Question Unit Question

Must a story have a moral, heroes and villains?

Who is a friend?

Is U.S. History a history of progress

What is the moral of the story of the Holocaust?

Is Huck Finn a hero?

Are Frog and Toad true friends?

Is the gap between rich and poor any better now than it was 100 years ago?

Concept (Big Idea) Essential Questions

UnitArcResourcesTEKSVocabularyStudent Work Products/Assessment Evidence