What makes up a good unit?
When the word ‘unit’ comes to mind, the first thing I think
of is many different lessons around a central topic. For example, a unit on canoe plants would be
made up of various lessons about plants that were brought to Hawai’i by
canoe. In this unit, students would
learn why plants were brought on canoe, what purposes these plants serve, how
they took care of the plants on their voyage on canoe, etc. When it comes to the ideal timeframe of a
unit, I think it really depends on how in depth the teacher wants to go into
this topic. A teacher needs to think, “How
long will it take for my students to understand what I want them to know about
canoe plants?”
A good teacher keeps
in mind the students every step of the way.
If the students are not getting it, the teacher should consider
spending more time on that concept.
Whereas if the kids are just breezing right through, that may be an
indicator to the teacher that he/she could just quickly review this topic as
students are showing they have already mastered the topic. This is why informative assessments in the
form of exit passes, thumbs-up thumbs-down activities are extremely important
in teaching. These informative
assessments INFORM the teacher of how to teach. It helps them to understand
whether their kids got it or if they still need to deepen their understanding
in that concept.
In some instances a
unit could be as short as 2 lessons, some units could last a couple weeks,
meanwhile, some units may need an entire quarter of the school year to deepen
students’ understanding of the topic at hand.
I don’t think that there is a direct answer for how long an ideal unit
should be.
Within a unit there needs to be essential vocabulary that
the students must know in order to master the topic. There also needs to be multiple different
ways for students to show you that they understand what they have learned. It is important for teachers to differentiate
assessments based on their students’ needs and capabilities. If a student of yours always bombs tests but
can verbally tell you exactly what he has learned about various canoe plants, a
teacher should take that into consideration.
We all know that everyone learns in different ways, so why should we
assess them all in the same format? This
is where teachers can give choice: you can either take this test, answer this
essay question, show me your portfolio, or do a piece of artwork that clearly
depicts what we’ve been learning. Of
course, if you provide choice like this, each assessment should come with a
detailed rubric assessing the depth of knowledge. The rubric’s expectations should be similar
for each assessment
Hi Hayden,
ReplyDeleteHope all is well! I agree with your statement about students learning in different ways and teachers assessing in different ways. For one of our first assignments "Portrait of Place" when we were allowed to use any creative visual to complete it, I thought, why don't I offer these types of assignments more often to my own students? You're right, a detailed rubric is key. And I think it is so meaningful for students to help create it so it adds to their accountability and common understanding of the assignment. Thanks for sharing!
-Katie
Hi Hayden,
ReplyDeleteI too really liked your idea about assessing in different ways. It's so true that not everyone is good at taking tests. I'm thinking that it's more likely that they are not a true reflection of what students know or have learned. Opportunities to do portfolios or a piece of artwork is a great idea to get students engaged in something creative. I wonder if it would be just as effective to have different types of assessments spread out through the unit rather than give the students options for the same assessment. It would hopefully accomplish the same thing, but be less work for you as you wouldn't have to create 3 or 4 different rubrics each time. I also really appreciated your focus on the student!
-Waynele