THE PROCESS OF PLANNING The “Back Story” for teachers…..

Stage One Make the decision about the unit topic and begin a thorough exploration of the topic. WHY? To build your knowledge and understanding about the topic from your school imperatives and a curriculum perspective.

KEY QUESTION: What is this unit really about? To answer, explore the relevant ELS & document the pertinent facts, processes and concepts from the: * Ways of working and * Knowledge & understanding Note the specific syllabus references you select for annotation in your planning document.

Stage Two The initial exploration will have provided you with the background teacher knowledge. You can now be more specific about the intention of the unit of work.

KEY QUESTION: Why do students need to study this topic? Answering this will help you determine the rationale for the unit, which then leads you to the enduring understandings of the unit…. The PURPOSE!

Stage Three Having decided the purpose for and of the unit, you can now identify the key learning outcomes for students, AND the way in which they will demonstrate this learning to you!

What will the evidence of student learning look like? Select from: A text A Task A performance A product A test

KEY QUESTION: What texts will students need to be immersed in, to develop the required knowledge & understanding, the identified facts, processes and concepts. Consider carefully and document your selection from: Spoken, Written/ICT, Visual/Creative and Multimodal

KEY QUESTION: What texts will students need to be “taught” and have multiple opportunities to develop control over, so that they can demonstrate their learning?

Select carefully from the bank of texts: Spoken Printed Visual ICT Multimodal

This decision will provide your with the focus for your teaching You are now in a position to identify the specific aspects of * Reading * Writing * Speaking and related language elements that require explicit attention.

KEY QUESTION: What are the specific Know and Do outcomes for students that arise from this selection. Draft them carefully as they are another source of information for your specific teaching decisions.

Stage Four It is now time to be deliberate about the assessment tools, techniques and tasks that will assist you to make judgments about the student’s learning.

KEY QUESTION: What assessable elements will the assessment tasks & the GTMJ focus on? * K&U * Interpreting text * Constructing text * Investigating * Reflecting

Stage Five You are now in a position to document your unit of work in the format required by your school. You are also in a position now to plan the teaching/the instruction AND the learning experiences. These experiences will provide students with the opportunities to develop control of the identified facts, processes and concepts of the unit AND the ways they will be assessed on this learning.

Stage Six As you work through the detail of your planning, note the resources you require to enhance the unit of work. Include these in your planning document as an appendix.

Stage Seven Create a unit evaluation checklist, so that you can reflect explicitly on the success of the unit and identify the reasons for this. Consider the: Learning environment The program Your practice The resources and The student’s performance

A Review! Does this help???