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Understanding by Design
If you are a teacher interested in finding the best tools to develop your lesson planning efficiently and clearly, incorporating the standards required in your school district and facilitating access to the information you will use without having to improvise, you will be interested in these two proposals: Understanding by Design by Wiggins & McTighe and Fink's 3 Column Table. These designs follow the backward planning model, where you start with your end goals in mind.
As a reading teacher, my ultimate goal for first-grade students is skilled reading, meaning they can comprehend what they read and respond to questions related to the text. I began developing a plan using Fink's 3 Column Table and later utilized the Understanding by Design template by Wiggins and McTighe. Click on the images below to view both plans.
Having the opportunity to create a lesson plan using two different resources allows you to compare which one you feel more comfortable with when completing the information, which one you believe better suits your current needs as a teacher, and which one you find more useful when implementing or sharing it with your colleagues. Personally, I don't have much experience as a teacher, so I lean towards using a resource that guides me step by step, in a detailed manner, through the activities I need to carry out, with a clear understanding of the goal I need to achieve. My overall goal is to ensure that my students master reading skills at the required level for first grade. That's why, in both resources, I focused on capturing the necessary information to reach that goal.
The 3 Column Table allowed me to create an overview of the lessons I need to teach so that students can achieve the required reading level and subsequently comprehend what they are reading. I was able to determine, in a general sense, all the activities that encompass sound and letter recognition, word formation, and reading, ultimately leading to comprehension. However, I noticed that the focus is determined by a big overall goal, or BHAG (big hairy audacious goal). In other words, when the goal is so extensive, I don't feel confident planning without as much detail, specifying each activity and step I need to follow. Due to my lack of experience, I feel more secure if I can create a guide where, as I design it, I confirm that I cover specific objectives that, when completed, ensure reaching the final goal or the big audacious goal. That's why Understanding by Design has a structure that I feel more comfortable completing.
My innovation plan is based on Blended Learning in the rotation model, which requires having different activities at each station, focusing on the lesson objective. The structure of Wiggins & McTighe's Understanding by Design provides me with a guide to complete the planning of my stations, ensuring that I do not deviate from achieving the main goal. Similarly, this structure prevents deviation or loss of focus on the goal, as it requires identifying the key elements and considerations for instructional planning (Wiggins and McTighe’s (2005) WHERETO).
Additionally, this template seems more user-friendly for sharing and adapting to other lessons with my colleagues. For instance, in the design I created, I focused on fiction stories; however, I can use the same structure and activities for non-fiction stories. I consider this model more practical.
Personally, I believe that this resource is the one I will implement in my weekly planning.
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References:
Dwayne Harapnuik. (2021, December 4). EDLD 5313 UBD Template tips [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54l0juLglQ4
Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design, Expanded 2nd Edition. Pearson.
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