Get to know which practices related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment are essential to make learning the goal for every student! You’ll learn how to Create learning targets that are scalable and transferable within and across units Develop instructional scales for each learning target Design non-scored practice activities and assessments Introduce and model skills that will be assessed and design tasks that allow students to use these skills Differentiate instruction and activities based on data from various types of assessments Maintain a gradebook that tracks summative achievement of learning targets, and score assessments accordingly Communicate progress clearly and efficiently with students and families

What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.

Translate the new standards into meaningful curriculum! This updated edition of Susan Drake’s classic text serves as a road map through the Common Core State Standards, giving you the flexibility to design an integrated curriculum that’s right for your students. Focusing on multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches, Drake provides guidance on: Unpacking the Common Core State Standards Planning assessment tasks Designing instructional strategies Developing daily activities Helping students connect essential questions to enduring understandings Included are new examples of exemplary programs, discussion questions, a sample completed interdisciplinary curriculum, and activities for building your own standards-based integrated curriculum.

Work smarter—not harder—for effective differentiation! This updated bestseller from authors Carol Chapman and Rita King is your comprehensive resource for standards-based, Common Core-ready differentiation. Meet your students’ individual learning needs and create a positive classroom environment. Includes ready-to-use tools, agendas, checklists, and organizers to help you: “Zap” gaps in learning with 12 innovative planning models Motivate students through diverse approaches, including choice, respect, and self-efficacy Identify and individualize teaching methods for students who are nervous, impatient, “turned off,” or otherwise difficult to reach Organize differentiated lessons and routines Customize parent-teacher communications for students from diverse backgrounds