Understanding UbD

the ‘big ideas’

of UbD

By Mann Rentoy
 Fist to five
What is your
understanding of UbD?
– Fist is you got nothing
– Five is you’ve written best
selling books about UbD
What
is
UbD?
 The goal of UbD is merely to ensure
that learning goals and evidence of
learning follow a deliberate design so
that all teachers regardless of genetic
gifts or dispositions or sense of
devotion or dedication are able to
impart real learning based on
understanding and not merely on rote
knowledge or aimless recall.
UbD provides
structure for
kids & educators
UbD is
something
you can
actually
use
The brain looks for
patterns
– Discrete pieces of data
don’t make sense
– It tries to chunk data into

“icons”
So . . . what do
you want kids
to walk away
understanding?
 Enduring
understandings
“Big ideas”
worth
understandi Foundational
ng concepts/skil
ls
Important to
know & do

Worth being
familiar “nice
with to
know”
 3 Stages of
(“Backward”) Design
1. Identify desired
results

2. Determine acceptable
evidence

3. Plan learning
experiences
& instruction
 Why “backward”?

• they go against habits:

–Lesson
–Activities
–Test
 Standard(s)
The “big :
Understandings Essential Quest

ideas”
s
t
a

What are the big ideas?

g
e

of each
1

stage:
Assessment
Performance Task(s):EvidenceOther Evidence:
s
t
a

What’s the evidence?

g
e

Learning
s
t
Activities
a

How will we get there

g
e

3
 Big Ideas in Literacy:
Examples
–audience and purpose in
writing
–A story, as opposed to merely
a list of events linked by “and
then…”
–reading between the lines
–writing as revision
–a non-rhyming poem vs. prose
–fiction as a window into truth
What are the
3 stages of
Design?
 3 Stages of Design

1. Identify desired
results
2. Determine acceptable
evidence

3. Plan learning
experiences
& instruction
 Stage 1 – Identify
desired results.
• Key: Focus on Big ideas
–Enduring Understandings
–Essential Questions

– What should students know and be

able to do?
– What content standards are
addressed explicitly by the unit?
 Understandings:
examples...
– Great artists often break with
conventions to better express what
they see and feel.
– Price is a function of supply and
demand.
– Friendships can be deepened or
undone by hard times
– History is the story told by the
“winners”
– The storyteller rarely tells the
meaning
 Understanding goes
beyond knowing.
Understanding goes
beyond doing.
Rote memorization and
activity are not genuine
understanding.
What are
“Essential
Questions”?
Essential Questions
–are arguable - and
important to argue about
–are at the heart of the
subject
–recur - and should recur -
in professional work, adult
life, as well as in
Essential Questions
–raise more questions –
provoking and sustaining
engaged inquiry
–often raise important
conceptual or
philosophical issues
–can provide meaningful &
connected learning
 Sample Essential
Questions:
– Who are my true friends - and how do I
know for sure?
– Does a good read differ from a ‘great
book’? Why are some books fads, and
others classics?
– To what extent is geography destiny?
– Should an axiom be obvious?
– How different is a scientific theory from
a plausible belief?
– What is the government’s proper role?
3 Stages of Design:
Stage 2
1. Identify desired
results

2. Determine acceptable
evidence
3. Plan learning
experiences
& instruction
 Stage 2 – Assessment
Evidence
–key complex performance
tasks indicative of
understanding
–other evidence to build the
case for understanding,
knowledge, and skill
–rubrics to assess complex
 The big ideas
for Stage 2
• grounded in real-world applications,
supplemented as needed by more
traditional school evidence
• Provide useful feedback to the learner,
be transparent, and minimize secrecy
• valid, reliable - aligned with the desired
results of Stage 1 (and fair)
What are the 6
facets of
understanding?
What are the 6
facets of
understanding?
Six Facets of Understanding
1. EXPLAIN 2. INTERPRET
3. APPLY 4. EMPATHY
5. PERSPECTIVE
6. SELF-KNOWLEDGE
Six Facets of Understanding
• Explain - provide
thorough,
supported and
justifiable accounts
of phenomena,
facts and data
Six Facets of Understanding
• Interpret - tell meaningful stories;
offer apt translations; provide a
revealing historical or personal
dimension to ideas and events; make
it personal or accessible through
images, anecdotes, analogies and
models
Six Facets of Understanding
• Apply - effectively
use and adapt what
is known in diverse
contexts
Six Facets of Understanding
•Empathy –
imagine,
assume role of,
consider
Six Facets of Understanding
•Perspective –
analyze, argue,
compare and
contrast
Six Facets of Understanding
•Self-
Knowledge –
reflect, be aware
of, self-assess
 Fist to five
What is your understanding
of Performance Task?
(Authentic)
–Fist is you got nothing
–Five is you’ve written best
selling books about
Performance Task
 Scenarios for Authentic
Tasks
• assessments anchored in authentic

G– What is the Goal in the

tasks:

R scenario?
A– What is the Role?
ole
S – Who is the Audience?
udience
P –(context)?
What is your Situation

S Product?
– What is the Performance or
 For Reliability &
Sufficiency:
Use a Variety of
• Varied Assessments
types, over time:
– authentic tasks and projects
– academic exam questions,
prompts, and problems
– quizzes and test items
– informal checks for understanding
– student self-assessments
Some key understandings
about assessment
• Performance is more
than the sum of the
drills: using only
conventional quizzes
and tests is insufficient
and as misleading as
relying only on sideline
3 Stages of Design:
Stage 3
1. Identify desired
results

2. Determine acceptable
evidence

3. Plan learning
experiences
& instruction
Stage 3 big idea:

E
F E
F N
E G
C and A
T G
I I
V
N
G
E
 Stage 3 – Plan Learning
Experiences & Instruction

–What learning
experiences and
instruction will promote
the desired
understanding,
knowledge and skill of
 Stage 3 – Plan Learning
Experiences & Instruction

–How will the design

ensure that all students
are maximally engaged
and effective at meeting
the goals?
 Think of your obligations
via
W • “Where
W. H. E.
are we R. E.
headed?” T.
(theO.
student’s
Q!)
H
• How will the student be ‘hooked’?
E • What opportunities will there be to be
R equipped, and to experience and explore
key ideas?
E • What will provide opportunities to rethink,
rehearse, refine and revise?
T • How will students evaluate their work?
O • How will the work be tailored to individual
needs, interests, styles?
Think of your obligations
via

W W. H. E. R. E.
•“Where are we
headed?” (the
T. O.

student’s Q!)
Think of your obligations
via
W. H. E. R. E. T. O.
H •How will the
student be
‘hooked’?
Think of your obligations
via
W. H. E. opportunities
R. E. T. O.
E •What
will there be to be
equipped, and to
experience and
explore key ideas?
Think of your obligations
via
W. H. E. R. E. T. O.
R •What will provide
opportunities to
rethink, rehearse,
refine and
revise?
Think of your obligations
via
W. H. E. R. E. T. O.
E •How will
students
evaluate their
work?
Think of your obligations
via
W. H. E. R. E.
•How will the T. O.
T work be tailored
to individual
needs, interests,
styles?
Think of your obligations
via
O W. H. E. R. E.
•How will the T. O.

work be
organized for
maximal
engagement and
 Think of your obligations
via
W • “Where
W. H. E.
are we R. E.
headed?” T.
(theO.
student’s
Q!)
H
• How will the student be ‘hooked’?
E • What opportunities will there be to be
R equipped, and to experience and explore
key ideas?
E • What will provide opportunities to rethink,
rehearse, refine and revise?
T • How will students evaluate their work?
O • How will the work be tailored to individual
needs, interests, styles?
 Understanding by Design

the ‘big ideas’

of UbD

www.mannrentoy.com