planning

I’m so over a KWL

Recently I have been looking at examples of integrated units of work, mostly from preservice teachers. Unfortunately, most of them commence an inquiry unit with a KWL (Know, Want to know and Learned) chart. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the occasional use of a KWL chart as an excellent diagnostic assessment of prior knowledge. If you don’t know where the students are at (their prior knowledge) then you could have to go away and spend more solitary evenings revamping your planned unit of work. This post walks through a few genuine alternatives to a KWL chart worth trying instead.

A traditional KWL chart template — Know, Want to Know, Learned

So what are the alternatives to a KWL chart? There are plenty of alternatives out there and I would love to hear from you below to add your favourites. One unit of work was for a Year 5 class about endangered animals and how we can protect them. Instead of a KWL chart, I suggested the following:

I would encourage you to think outside the KWL chart as an initial activity. Instead, could you present the students with a Venn diagram (3 circles) and 3 photos – a koala, a Tasmanian Tiger and an emu and ask them to note the similarities and differences? Hopefully, they will notice the koala is endangered (on the east coast of Australia) and the Tasmanian Tiger is extinct. The pairs/small groups could report back to the larger group and discuss their findings. The Venn diagrams go on display and already you have assessed their prior knowledge and created words for the word wall (endangered, extinct, nocturnal, etc.)

A Venn diagram activity — one of several alternatives to a KWL chart

More Alternatives to a KWL Chart

Other teachers use a picture book or an image to arouse interest and commence discussions about the topic. The art is in asking probing questions to ascertain prior knowledge. There is not much point in showing a YouTube video before you assess prior knowledge as you have just contaminated their prior knowledge by presenting the information.

What advice would you give beginning teachers to introduce a unit of work/assess prior knowledge without using a KWL chart?

The “so what” of learning

Often teachers spend considerable periods of time devising their own units of work or modifying existing units of work, based on their student needs. After all, we are in the game because we care and we want to see our children grow into active and informed citizens. That’s really what the purpose of learning in the classroom comes down to — not just covering content, but making it matter.

We scour through curriculum documents and whole school planning documents to devise these wonderful and engaging units of work for our children to devour and to learn from. Whether we use more traditional direct instruction or more constructivist inquiry learning pedagogies, the purpose is always the same – to enhance student learning!

We may alert our students to the purpose of the learning by posting our learning intentions at the beginning of the lesson or announcing what we want them to be able to do by the end of the lesson and check this off with an exit ticket. We are alerting their brains to what is to come so they can make connections, hopefully, with existing knowledge and what is to come.

Whether it be at the end of a specific lesson or at the end of a unit of work over several days or weeks, at some point the “penny” must drop of “why are we learning this?” Hopefully, as the teacher and creator of learning activities, the intention and applicability to their lives have been built into the learning activities. Hopefully, along the way, they have realised how they can apply these reading skills in their lives. What about applying Pythagoras’s theorem to their lives? Hmm! Well, we can try!!

A teacher reflecting on the purpose of learning in the classroom

Naming the Purpose of Learning in the Classroom

When creating a unit of work, it is worth considering “Why is this important for my children to learn, to understand or be able to do?” At the end of a unit of work specifically, after a raft of learning activities and the new knowledge and/or skills gained, how will this be of benefit to my students? This is the “so what” of learning. Why have we learned X, Y and Z and how does it impact my life? Will I use this on a regular basis? After all this learning, does it drive or compel me to act in a certain way? Is there a “call to action”?

For example, you have been studying how we celebrate cultural days in Australia (Year 3 ACHASS064) and learned about the important Australian and other cultural days of importance and held a cultural lunch with students and parents. Children can state the important days of celebration in Australia and a few from other countries and the feeling is all warm and fuzzy, especially after that shared cultural lunch. However, “so what” – why did we learn this?

Surely a unit of work on understanding days of significance in Australia not only develops an understanding of ANZAC Day, Christmas Day, etc. but also develops an understanding of other days of significance for cultures represented in our school population. Surely we want the students to develop an understanding of the importance of celebrating important days for ALL people. We want them to develop empathy towards people of all cultures and to respect their days of celebration and commemoration.

So, after the unit of work, apart from the usual PowerPoint of commemorative days around the world and the shared cultural lunch, what is the call to action? Do the Year 3 students note our school calendar only includes Australian days of commemoration? Do they notice we do not have special school assemblies apart from ANZAC Day? How are the other cultural groups represented in our school recognised and their commemorative days celebrated? Perhaps the Year 3s need to write a letter to the Principal encouraging him/her to also include other days of significance on the school calendar. Perhaps the Year 3s could invite the Student Councillors to hear why other days of celebration should be added to the list of assemblies for the year.

It is incumbent upon teachers as creators of learning activities to ensure students know why they are learning this and how it applies to their lives. One way to do this is to think of the “so what” of learning, which may involve a call to action at the completion of the unit of work.

Lesson and unit planning for teachers is one of the most arduous tasks in the job — deciding what and how to teach on a term, month or weekly basis. It doesn’t just happen; it takes many hours of careful preparation to know:

the diverse needs of your students
curriculum content
pedagogical approaches
school-based curriculum maps and policies and
classroom management.

Teaching can never be replaced with robots as it is the integral knowledge and application of the above factors that lead to the craft of teaching.

If you do not spend adequate time planning, the students learning will be lessened and you are likely to have more classroom management issues. Well planned lessons that actively engage the students will enhance their learning and keep them on task.

Lesson and unit planning for teachers — fail to plan, plan to fail

Lesson and Unit Planning for Teachers: Where to Start

Planning is the first step in the teaching-learning cycle and begins with preparation. A thorough knowledge of the curriculum content is essential as these are the mandated outcomes/objectives/content descriptors you MUST teach and assess. Not only do you need to know the content for your year level (as a primary generalist teacher), but you also need to know the content the year preceding and following to allow for differentiation.

The teaching-learning cycle — where lesson and unit planning for teachers begins

Due to an overcrowded curriculum, some teachers try to integrate the curriculum content through the use of big concepts, themes or integrated units of work. You do not have to reinvent the wheel as there are many great units of work available on the internet to be modified for your own class. In addition, teachers can program together with similar year level/subject teachers or in teams.

The time spent in planning, especially in your first few years of teaching, will be rewarded. As a new teacher, run through each lesson for the next day in your head. Try to visualise how each part of the lesson will run. Have all the materials ready for the lesson and think about the movement of students issues to alleviate any possible disruptions.

A Weekly Planning Rhythm for Teachers

Term and unit plans set the direction. The weekly plan is where the term actually happens. A simple rhythm keeps lesson and unit planning manageable, even in a busy term.

Thursday or Friday: sketch next week. Check where each subject sits in its unit. Note any whole-school events, then block out assessment tasks first. Everything else fits around them.

Each afternoon: finish tomorrow in detail. Gather your materials and adjust the plan from what you saw today. A quick look at your exit tickets tells you who needs another go before you move on. These formative assessment checks are the bridge between today’s lesson and tomorrow’s plan.

Every fortnight: look up. Compare the unit plan with what you have actually taught. Trim what will not fit now, rather than rushing the last two weeks of term.

What Every Lesson Plan Needs

A lesson plan does not need to run for pages. In your first years, though, writing these parts down trains the habit:

a learning intention in student-friendly words
success criteria students can check their work against
a short review or hook to open the lesson
the teaching sequence, from modelling to guided practice to independent work
a check for understanding before students leave
materials, groupings and transitions
adjustments for students who need them.

Experienced teachers carry much of this in their heads. That only happens after years of writing it down first.

Going Deeper With Planning

This post covers the everyday basics. For the bigger picture, start with planning backwards from the outcome you want. From there, you can learn to plan for every learner with UDL and spot the signs it is time to fade the scaffold. Together they turn a good weekly plan into a well-designed unit.

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to TeacherTalk.site. As an experienced primary teacher with over 30 years experience and recently as an online University tutor, there is lots to talk about in the field of education!

Why I Started TeacherTalk

I completed my Masters Thesis several years ago now on the need to support beginning teachers as many new teachers do not survive the first 5 years. As a result, you will see a few posts to support new teachers.

I am also passionate about the use of ICT in contemporary learning environments, so you will also find posts on the use of ICT and STEAM learning activities.

Another of my ventures was into the world of QR Codes and how they can be used in education and society, so you will find plenty of information on how to use QR Codes also.

But really, the blog is for all teachers to hopefully find a gem to make their life easier or to make the children’s learning more authentic and engaging, so they learn more and you enjoy your teaching more!

Please contact me via email matt@teachertalk.site if you would like to ask a question or commence a conversation around an event or topic.