Chapter 6: Unit and Lesson Planning

1. Teacher as Decision Maker

• Knowledge Required:
• Instructional Goals/Objectives: Clear learning objectives.
• Learners: Understanding student backgrounds and needs.
• Subject Matter: Deep content knowledge.
• Teaching Methods: Familiarity with instructional strategies.
• Pedagogical Content: Combining content with teaching strategies.
• Tacit Knowledge: Implicit understanding from experience.

2. Systems Perspective

• Education as an interactive system of inputs (students, content) and outputs (learning outcomes).

3. Making Planning Decisions

• Standards/Objectives: Align lessons with educational standards.
• Learners: Consider characteristics and needs of students.
• Content: Select relevant and engaging material.
• Outcomes: Define expected achievements.

4. Backward Lesson Design

• Start with desired outcomes and plan instruction backward to ensure alignment.

5. Types of Unit Planning

• Disciplinary (Vertical): Focus on deepening knowledge within a single subject.
• Interdisciplinary (Lateral): Integrates multiple subjects to foster connections.

6. Integrated Thematic Teaching Levels

• Level 1: Teacher-directed, theme-based instruction.
• Level 2: Interdisciplinary connections with student input.
• Level 3: Student-centered, collaborative theme exploration.
• Level 4: Fully integrated, inquiry-based learning.

7. Written Unit Plan Components

• Essential elements outlining structure, goals, assessments, and activities.

8. Events of Instruction (Gagne’s 9 Events)

• Gaining Attention: Hook students into the lesson.
• Informing Learners of the Objective: Share learning goals.
• Stimulating Recall of Prerequisite Learning: Connect new content to prior knowledge.
• Presenting the Content: Deliver instructional material.
• Eliciting Desired Behavior: Encourage students to demonstrate understanding.
• Providing Feedback: Offer constructive input.
• Assessing Lesson Outcome: Evaluate learning through assessment.

Chapter 8: Questioning Strategies

1. What is a Question?

• An inquiry that prompts a response or encourages critical thinking.

2. Definition of Effective Questions

• Questions that engage students and promote higher-order thinking.

3. Percentage of Time Devoted to Questions

• Questions often occupy a significant portion of classroom time.

4. Asking the Right Questions

• Align questions with learning objectives and adapt to student needs.

5. The Purpose of Questions

• Stimulate thinking, assess understanding, and guide learning.

6. Convergent & Divergent Questions

• Convergent Questions: Require specific answers (fact-based).
• Divergent Questions: Allow for multiple responses (opinion-based).

7. Sequences of Questions

• Deductive Approach: General to specific.
• Inductive Approach: Specific to general.

8. Levels of Questions (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

• Knowledge: Recall of facts.
• Comprehension: Understanding concepts.
• Application: Using information in new situations.
• Analysis: Breaking down information.
• Synthesis: Combining elements.
• Evaluation: Making judgments.

9. 3 Types of Probes

• Follow-up questions encouraging deeper thinking or clarification.

10. Wait-Time

• The pause after asking a question for student reflection.

11. Culturally Responsive Questioning

• Questions that incorporate students’ cultural backgrounds and experiences.

12. Common Problems in Using Questions

• Issues such as asking too many closed questions or inadequate wait-time.