I teach grade four ESL at Cheongwon Elementary School in Seoul, South Korea. We have recently started using a streamlined version of the Common Core State Standards in our English department. This is why I have chosen from those standards for this backward mapping (UbD) lesson.
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The standard I am using for this lesson is a fourth grade literacy standard.
“CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text (CCSS, 2016).”
Proficiencies - Using this standard, students will be able to reference details and examples from the text they read. They will be able to explain what the main idea of the text is, based on those details and examples. Also, they will be able to draw inferences from the details and examples to further the understanding of the text.
Assessments - Students can be assessed on this skill in many ways. Simply asking students comprehension questions about a text can show how well they understood the text details and can restate them. They can underline or circle details that support the main idea of the text. They can rewrite the details that help explain the main idea and share them with the class. I would like to make an authentic project assessment using this standard, so I will also use a book report as an assessment of mastery for this skill along with the other assessments I mentioned. I am looking for transfer of knowledge and "transfer is about independent performance (McTighe, 2012)" In order to assess transfer, the student should be assessed on the skill in a new environment or with unfamiliar content and be able to show understanding of the skill on their own. The book report would show that well, but would be a summative assessment where as the others would be formative.
Learning Experiences - The book report is the main learning experience to show knowledge of the skill transfer. However, there will be many other learning experiences to build to mastery with this skill. First, students can read informational text passages with a partner and find the main idea and details of the text. Working together helps students understand the process better because there will be three outcomes for them: 1. They verify their method by watching another student follow the same techniques to find the main idea and details. 2. They learn a better way to find the main idea and details by watching another student who is more successful at the skill, or 3. They help solidify their method by explaining it and teaching it to a student who is struggling with the skill. Second, students can practice drawing inferences with puzzles or riddles that force them to understand the skill to get a feel for it in a fun and motivating activity before applying it to less interesting textbook passages. This will sharpen their ability to draw inferences using the details they have learned to identify in the last lesson. Finally, putting them together, they can add a scene to a story. In order to accomplish this task, they would need to be able to identify and comprehend details from the original story. Then, they would need to draw conclusions about that story and use their own details to communicate their ideas.
References
Common Core State Standards. (2016) Read the Standards. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/4/
McTighe, J. (2012). Common Core Big Idea 4: Map Backward From Intended Results. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/common-core-map-backwards-jay-mctighe-grant-wiggins