Theater Arts Update

After participating in the “Understanding by Design” workshop on June 2-3, Mr. Jared Ramos decided to complete the final units using the approach promoted by our workshop leader. I process used involved “unpacking our goals” referring to a system by which the curriculum designer begins by looking at the state standards and asking a series of questions about those standards in order to come to the core of what we, as educators, are looking to assess from our students: meaningful understanding:

In order to assess the acquisition of knowledge and skills communicated within the standards…

What do I want these students to understand?
What kinds of questions should they continually ask?
What will they know?
What will they be able to do?
What kind of summative performance task can I design that will authentically assess the students ability to transfer their knowledge and skill into a practical application?

This approach helped me to focus my design and be more critical of the way the assessments aligned with the stated goals. I am pleased with the way these units are shaping out and plan to revisit some completed units in other grade levels in order to refine their objectives.

This week, my plan is to focus on 5th grade. Once that is finished, all grades will be complete.