"Grading Smarter, Not Harder": Unit Plan & Learning Targets (A module breakdown); Part 1

Part 1

For my first weekly breakdown of Myron Dueck's "Grading Smarter, Not Harder" online workshop, we will be looking at learning targets.  The role of learning targets in a unit plan is to offer a positive transfer, linking prior knowledge to the ultimate academic goal for the unit.  An important key in ensuring students are learning and retaining the skills and concepts taught to them is letting them know what is coming up in their learning.  Surprises put the students at a disadvantage.  There are three strategies preparing students for the road ahead.
First, offering student-friendly unit plans.  An effective unit plan identifies which type of targets students will meet:
knowledge targets ("What do I need to know?"); Reasoning Targets ("What can I do with what I know?"); Skill Targets ("What can I demonstrate?"); and Product Targets ("What can I make to show my learning?").  Each category must be populated with students recounting what they already know, demonstrating a skill, or asking them to reason through a situation presented using the knowledge they have learned.  Finally, present each learning target as an "I can..." statement.  Such statements helps students take an ownership of the targets.

Student-friendly unit plans encourage success when they are aligned with the test, offer ownership through student-friendly language, and are tailored for different subject areas.

The next strategy to ensure students are ready for their learning journey is to use unit plans throughout the learning process.   Sharing, and teaching the students how to read and use, a unit plan early on helps uncover levels of background knowledge and possible resources for use in the class.  The unit plans the students have grant them access to the learning process and a sense of ownership.  The unit plans also help students assess their own competency.

Once the unit plans have been given to the students and they are familiar with how to use and read them, the unit plan can also provide student examples they can refer to while assessing their own work and the work of their peers.    We can include students in the assessment process with formative assessments (rubrics, interactive unit plans, a sticky walk activity, and student planning stations.)   The author cites a study referring to the use of examples of previous work.  Achievement gaps have narrowed when all students know what quality work looks like.  The unit plan provides them the road map with what they need to learn, understand, how to show/present their learning, and what a positive and successful outcome looks like.   When students are shown an example of a completed project, they automatically reverse-engineer it to figure out how to complete it themselves.  The student-friendly unit plan is their passport to their individual success.

In part 2 I will summarize an article by Susan M. Brookhart and Connie M. Moss on learning targets.