Activities
Activity 1: Targeting Essential Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.01
Review: 21st century skills
Discuss: Higher-order thinking skills
Activity 2: Addressing Syllabus Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.05
Identify: Syllabus Guidelines for your unit
Create: Learning objectives based on syllabus guidelines and desired 21st century
and higher-order thinking skills
Activity 3: Thinking about My Unit Plan and Project Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.08
Plan: Your project idea
Share: Your project idea
Activity 4: Developing Curriculum Framing Questions
to Engage Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.10
View: A Presentation on Curriculum-Framing Questions
Practice: Identifying Curriculum-Framing Questions
Create: Curriculum-Framing Questions
Share: Your questions
Activity 5: Pedagogical Practices - Using Questioning to Promote
Higher-Order Thinking and Engage Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.15
Discuss: Ways you can use questioning techniques to help your students think
at a deeper level
Activity 6: Reflecting on My Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.18
Review: Key points of the module
Create: A blog entry that reflects on your learning
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.20
Module Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.21
Module 2 Overview
Planning My Unit - 1
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Module 2
PlanningMy Unit -1
Description: In this module, you begin planning your unit by identifying the
21st century skills, higher-order thinking skills and syllabus guidelines you
want to target. From those guidelines, you create learning objectives and
find important concepts from which to build your Curriculum-Framing
Questions.
Activity 1: Targeting Essential Skills
As society changes, the skills that students need to be successful in life also change. Basic
literacy skills of reading, writing, and mathematics are no longer sufficient. Our students
also need to develop applied skills to read critically, write persuasively, think and reason
logically, and solve complex problems.
In order to thrive in a digital economy, students will need digital age proficiencies. It is
important for the educational systemtomake parallel changes in order to prepare students
for the world beyond the classroom. Therefore, the education system must understand and
inculcate basic and applied skills within the context of rigorous academic standards.
Our education system must focus on innovative teaching and learning practices such as
inquiry-based and project-based learning methods, so that students connect curricular
studies with real life situations, develop higher level thinking skills, work in teams and
develop a scientific temperament and attitude.
Step 1: Understanding 21st Century Skills
To successfully face rigorous needs of higher education courses, career challenges and a
globally competitive workforce, schools must align classroom atmosphere with real world
environment by infusing 21st century skills into their teaching and learning process. Skills
such as problem solving, innovation and creativity have become critical in today’s global
economy. To be successful in professional and personal life, these applied skills are
important in addition to having basic subject knowledge.
1. Open the 21st Century Skills in the Thinking folder on the Curriculum Resource CD.
These skills, developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, have been
organised into three categories:
Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
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The content of the Designing
Effective Projects site is available
for offline viewing in the
Designing Effective Projects Folder
on the Curriculum Resource CD.
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
a. Learning and Innovation Skills
b. Information, Media, and Technology Skills
c. Life and Career Skills
2. Read the descriptions and think about what your students need to be successful at
and which skills are most important to support in your curriculum and classroom
environment.
3. Reflect about what it could mean in your subject and class level. How can you
incorporate these skills into your Unit Plan?
4. Select one to three skills that are the most relevant for your unit.
5. Copy and paste the identified 21st century skills into your Unit Plan saved in your
unit_plan folder.
Note: All 21st century skills should be addressed over the course of a year, though not
necessarily in a single unit
If you have access to the Web, you can obtain additional information on 21st century skills
at the Intel Education Web site:
1. Open the Intel Education Web site for Designing Effective Projects from your tagged
or bookmarked sites (http://educate.intel.com/in/ProjectDesign).
a. Click Thinking Skills.
b. Click Higher-Order Thinking.
• For Critical Thinking:
i. Click Analysis.
ii. Click Critical Thinking in the Resources box and review.
• For Problem Solving:
i. Click Using Knowledge.
ii. Click Problem Solving in the Resources box and review.
• For Creativity:
i. Click Using Knowledge.
ii. Click Creativity in the Resources box and review.
• For Collaboration:
i. Click the top tab of Instructional Strategies.
ii. Click Cooperative Learning.
Refer to the following skills
in the Help Guide for this
section:
• Word Processing Skill 2.6:
To copy words or text
• Word Processing Skill 2.8:
To paste words or text in
a new place
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
2. Open the Intel Education Web site for Assessing Projects from your tagged or
bookmarked sites (http://educate.intel.com/in/AssessingProjects/).
a. Click Overview and Benefits.
b. Click Formative Assessment.
c. Click Developing Self-Directed Learners in the Differentiated Instruction box
and review.
Step 2: Promoting Higher-Order Thinking
Thinking beyond the level of knowledge acquisition is considered complex thinking.
Complex thinking requires effort and produces outcomes that may differ from one person
to another. The outcomes are not predictable because the process of higher-order thinking is
not mechanical. Central to higher-order thinking is the ability to work through new
challenges with understanding and empathy and rise to meet those challenges. Current
research on higher-order thinking points to a clear conclusion. Instruction that builds on
and encourages the use of higher-order thinking skills yields greater levels of student
learning. To promote higher-level thinking skills, questions and activities should be
planned so as to challenge learners to move from lower order to higher order thinking.
1. As a group, view the Bloom’s Taxonomy Presentation in the Thinking folder on the
Curriculum Resource CD.
2. Participate in a group discussion and share your ideas on the importance of promoting
higher-order thinking skills amongst students. Answer the following:
a. Which higher-order thinking skills are you already targeting in your classroom?
b. Which skills are critical to promote in students?
c. Do you think some skills are more important than others? If yes – why?
The content of the Assessing
Projects site is available for offline
viewing in the Assessment Folder
on the Curriculum Resource CD.
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Intel® Teach Program
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Using an Online Collaborative Web Site to Design Questions
Online collaborative Web sites allow individuals to create or upload documents to the Web
where they can then be edited using familiar formatting tools by anyone you invite who
has Internet access. Some sites also provide the ability to edit and create presentations
and spreadsheets. If you would like more information about using online collaborative Web
sites in your classroom, read Web-based Collaborative Learning in the Collaboration folder
on the Curriculum Resources CD.
In this step, you access an online spreadsheet and work collaboratively in devising a series
of questions that lead to higher order thinking.Working in small groups, enter your questions
on theworksheet created for your group. You can also viewwhat other groups are thinking
at the same time.
1. Create an account on the online collaborative Web site:
a. Find the system-generated e-mail that was sent to you from the Online
Collaborative Web site inviting you to collaborate on the spreadsheet titled
HOTS_Practice.
b. In the e-mail, find the link to the registration page of the Web site.
c. Create an account on the site and record your login ID and password in your Login
Information document saved in your Course Resources folder.
d. If you cannot find your system-generated e-mail or you want to use a different
e-mail address to create an account, provide it to your facilitator, who will either
invite or re-invite you to the Web site.
2. As a whole group, discuss the first topic, Water Pollution in the spreadsheet. Devise
questions or statements for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy that applies to the topic.
3. In small groups, choose two (or more) of the topics and devise a series of questions
for each topic with one person recording the brainstormed questions on the
spreadsheet.
4. After completing the exercise of devising questions, review the questions of another
group and if required you can modify/refine their questions.
Offline Activity: If you do not have access to the Web, to work on the online spreadsheet,
access the spreadsheet titled HOTS_Practice in the Thinking folder in the Curriculum
Resource CD. Work collaboratively in devising a series of questions that lead to higher
order thinking. Working in small groups, enter your questions on the worksheet created
for your group. After completing the exercise of devising questions, discuss the questions
in a larger group.
You need to have a collaborative
Web site set up and group your
participants before conducting this
activity. Directions for setting up
the collaborative Web site can be
found in the MT Resources folder
on the Curriculum Resources CD.
When you invite participants for
this activity, include directions in
the e-mail for how to log on to and
use the online collaborative Web
site.
Help participants create an account
for the online collaborative Web
site. You can pull up the list of e-mails
you have entered into the system
to help you remember which e-mail
addresses you used to invite
participants to collaborate.
Get participants to work in groups
of four or five and design questions
to promote higher-order thinking
skills in students. Make sure the
groups are different from previous
groupings.
Start this portion of the activity by
getting the participants to review
the sample questions for each level
of Bloom’s Taxonomy for the topic
Mahatma Gandhi. Following this,
lead a whole group discussion
about the first topic on the
collaborative spreadsheet, Water
Pollution. Guide participants to devise
questions or statements for each
level of Bloom’s Taxonomy that
applies to the topic. Gauge howwell
participants are understanding and
lead participants through additional
rows of topics as necessary. Then,
ask participants to work through a
few more topics in their groups.
Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
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Identifying Higher-Order Thinking Skills
a. Review the list of higher-order thinking skill verbs located in the Thinking folder
on the Curriculum Resource CD.
b. Reflect on your notes and identify the higher-order thinking skills that you would
like to incorporate into your Unit Plan.
c. Type the identified higher-order thinking skills into your Unit Plan saved in your
unit_plan folder.
Activity 2: Addressing Syllabus Guidelines
Students who work on projects make choices about content, process, and how they show
what they have learned. This does not mean, however, that they learn whatever they like.
Their learning experiences must ensure they meet syllabus guidelines and benchmarks.
In a project-based or student-centered learning environment, students show they are
meeting the syllabus guidelines through products or performances. These demonstrations
of learning complement traditional syllabus-based tests and quizzes. Instead of just
recalling information, students apply new knowledge in meaningful ways to solve
engaging problems. Projects ask students to use knowledge to convince others that they
really understand material that quizzes and short answer tests only suggest they
understand (Wiggins, 1998).
In this era of accountability and performance, projectsmust be built around syllabus guidelines
to ensure that students learn appropriate content and skills. Some teachers see projects as
diversions, end-of-unit activities, or extensions after students complete assignments, lectures,
and tests. However, in projects that are based on syllabus guidelines, students delve deeply
into the content and apply their learning to real-world experiences. Teachers organise their
instruction around questions that connect student interests to syllabus guidelines.
The first step in project design is to identify the syllabus guidelines you want your
students to meet by the end of your unit. And then from those syllabus guidelines, you
derive learning objectives and meaningful questions. In this activity, you create a draft
set of syllabus guidelines and objectives.
Step 1: Identifying Syllabus Guidelines
To lay the foundation for good project planning, look at your syllabus guidelines and identify
those that you need to teach and assess in your unit. Use the Intel® Education Help Guide
if you need assistance in completing any technology skills identified below.
1. Review the Syllabus Guidelines and Objectives Rubric in the Assessment folder
on the Curriculum Resource CD to help clarify the expectations for the syllabus
guidelines and objectives that will be targeted in your unit. This rubric is also
available in the Appendix on page A.08
Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
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2. Go to the Web site that contains your state syllabus guidelines.
3. Tag or bookmark the page for your state's syllabus guidelines.
4. If the syllabus guidelines are available as a downloadable document, save the file
to the unit_plan folder in your Portfolio folder. (See Web Technologies Skills 2.1
[for Mozilla Firefox*], 4.1 [for Internet Explorer*].)
Note: Details of syllabus guidelines of different states and Central Boards are
available in the Syllabus Guidelines folder of the Curriculum Resource CD.
5. Review the syllabus guidelines prescribed for your class. Identify the syllabus
guidelines that you would like to cover in your unit.
6. Open your Unit Plan from your unit_plan folder.
7. Copy and paste any of the potential syllabus guidelines into your Unit Plan. (See
Word Processing Skill 2.6; 2. or type out the potential syllabus guidelines into
your Unit Plan saved in your unit_plan folder.
Note: You will refine and narrow down the number of syllabus guidelines you want to
target for your unit at a later point.
Step 2: Creating Learning Objectives
Identifying what you want students to learn from a unit is the first, and most important,
step in the unit design process. From the syllabus guidelines you selected in Step 1, create
an initial set of learning objectives for your unit. These objectives should describe what
you want your students to learn. Your objectives should:
• Outline what you want your students to understand or demonstrate
• Emphasise learning concepts using 21st century skills and higher-order thinking
• Be assessed throughout the unit
Objectives should not focus on activities, tasks, or technology skills.
Review the sample objectives on the next page:
Refer to the following skills in
the Help Guide for this section:
• Web Technologies Skill 2.1,
4.1: To download a document
from a Web site
• Word Processing Skill 2.6: To
copy words or text
• Word Processing Skill 2.8: To
paste words or text in a new
place
The selected syllabus
guidelines should include
only prioritised, targeted
guidelines that students
are expected to meet
(not just lightly address)
and that will be assessed
by the end of the unit.
Emphasise the importance of
addressing 21st century skills and
higher-order thinking in units to
help ensure participants create
assessments and activities that
reflect those outcomes.
Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
Copyright © 2008 Intel Corporation.
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Vague, Task-Oriented Objectives Specific, Learning-Oriented Objectives
Students will research about forms of energy. Students will research about different forms of
energy and develop a rationale for the use of
solar energy based on their research.
Student will conduct experiments. Students accurately use scientific instruments
for conducting experiments and collect, organise,
display, interpret and draw conclusions from the
experimental data.
Students will review different energy plans. Students will compare, analyse, and evaluate
energy plans from various perspectives.
Students will create multimedia presentations. Studentswill collaboratively collect and summarise
data, analyse results, and develop a persuasive
multimedia presentation for changing the
school’s waste management practices.
Students will think about their reading. Students will make connections between
themselves and the lives of people in biographies.
Review the objectives to make sure
that the targeted syllabus guidelines
are covered and higher-order
thinking and 21st century skills are
included.
For additional examples, view the learning objectives in any of the unit plans on the
Curriculum Resource CD. Use the Help Guide if you need assistance in completing any
technology skills identified below.
Follow the steps below to create learning objectives for your Unit Plan.
1. Review your syllabus guidelines. As you look at your syllabus guidelines, think about
what you want your students to be able to know, do, or understand.
2. Review the list of 21st century skills and higher-order thinking skills that you have
identified for your Unit.
3. Incorporate the selected skills into the objectives you write for your Unit Plan. All
21st century skills should be addressed over the course of a year, though not
necessarily in a single unit.
4. Refer to the Syllabus Guidelines and Objectives Rubric in the Assessment folder on
the Curriculum Resource CD as you develop your objectives to ensure they meet the
expectations. This rubric is also found in the Appendix on page A.08.
Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
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5. You may use the lines below to draft your ideas, but then type your initial set of
objectives into your Unit Plan.
6. After typing your draft objectives into your Unit Plan, highlight your objectives for
higher-order thinking skills words using Revised Bloom's Taxonomy and 21st Century
Skills available in the Thinking folder of the Curriculum Resource CD. (See Word
Processing Skill 11.4.)
7. Revise your objectives to ensure they include higher-order thinking and 21st century
skills.
Activity 3: Thinking about My Unit Plan and Project Design
Nowthat you have identified the essential skills, syllabus guidelines and learning objectives,
reflect about your project idea. Don’t worry if your project idea is not very clear at this
point. You will refine your ideas throughout the following modules. Use the questions
given below to refine your project idea.
What is the topic of the unit that you will develop during this course?
Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
Copyright © 2008 Intel Corporation.
All rights reserved. 2.08 Refer to the following skills in
the Help Guide for this section:
• Word Processing 11.4: To use
highlighting to review a
document
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What real-world connections are you considering for your unit?
How might you integrate the use of technology?
What project scenario are you considering? What is the big picture or general idea of your
project?
What roles will your students play and what tasks will they complete?
After you develop your project idea, work in small groups and discuss each other’s idea
and provide feedback. Refine your idea based on your group’s feedback.
Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
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2.10 Copyright © 2008 Intel Corporation.
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Planning My Unit - 1
Facilitate this step of the activity.
Start by sharing the Curriculum-
Framing Questions presentation
and the rubric, and then give
participants an opportunity to ask
questions.
Activity 4: Developing Curriculum-Framing Questions to
Engage Students
All teachers want their students to develop higher-order thinking skills along with a deep
understanding of content. Students, however, may not find this knowledge relevant to
their lives, especially when they study different subject areas in isolation. Curriculum-
Framing Questions connect learning in and across different disciplines by addressing topics
that are interesting and important to students. In this activity you develop your Curriculum-
Framing Questions and share your ideas through an online collaborative document.
Step 1: Understanding Essential, Unit, and Content Questions
Curriculum-Framing Questions are critical for keeping projects focused on important learning.
They encourage students to use higher-order thinking skills, help students fully understand
essential concepts, and provide a structure for organising factual information. Curriculum-
Framing Questions consist of Essential, Unit, and Content Questions:
• Essential Questions are broad, open-ended questions that address big ideas and
enduring concepts. Essential Questions often cross disciplines and help students
see how subjects are related.
• Unit Questions are tied directly to a project and support investigation into the
Essential Question. Unit Questions are open-ended questions that help students
demonstrate how well they understand the core concepts of a project.
• Content Questions are fact-based, concrete questions that have a narrowset of correct
answers.Often ContentQuestions relate to definitions, identifications, and general recall
of information—similar to the types of questions youwould typically find on a test.
Content Questions are important support questions for Essential and Unit Questions.
Because the best Essential and Unit Questions demand that students have a strong
understanding of Content Questions, your Essential and Unit Questions will drive the
content and strategies for your entire Unit Portfolio.
Engaging Students with Curriculum-Framing Questions
Asking intriguing questions is an effective way to encourage students to think deeply and to
provide them with a meaningful context for learning.When students encounter questions
that they are truly interested in answering, they become engaged in learning. When
questions help students see connections between subject matter and their own lives,
learning becomes meaningful. You can help your students become more motivated and
self-directed by asking the right questions. But what are the right questions?
1. As a whole group, view and briefly discuss the presentation on Essential, Unit,
and Content Questions.
Note: This presentation is available in the CFQs folder on the Curriculum Resource CD.
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
4 3 2 1
Essential Question (EQ) generates critical thinking.
My EQ is a thoughtprovoking
question that
crosses subject areas or
topics within subject
areas.
My EQ addresses a broad
idea that crosses subject
areas or topics within
subject areas.
My EQ addresses
the concepts of my
unit rather than a
big idea.
My EQ addresses
the content of my
unit.
Unit Questions (UQs) support learning goals.
My UQs are open-ended,
clearly aligned with
objectives, and require
students to use higherorder
thinking to develop
conceptual understanding
related to my unit.
My UQs are open-ended,
aligned with objectives,
and ask students to use
higher-order thinking to
develop conceptual
understanding related to
my unit.
My UQs are openended
but are not
clearly connected to
objectives, higherorder
thinking, or
concepts specific to
my unit.
My UQs have
pre-determined
answers or are too
broad for my unit to
focus
understanding.
Content Questions (CQs) address important factual knowledge.
My CQs focus on key
concepts to build factual
knowledge. They have
narrow and defined
answers.
My CQs build factual
knowledge and have
narrow and defined
answers.
Some of my CQs
address factual
understanding.
My CQs do not
build factual
understanding.
2. View the following Curriculum-Framing Questions Rubric as a whole group.
Note: The Curriculum-Framing Questions Rubric is also available in the Assessment
folder on the Curriculum Resource CD and in the Appendix on page A.02.
Curriculum-Framing Questions Rubric
Curriculum-Framing Questions (CFQs) connect to each other.
My CFQs require
students to use
information from CQs to
thoroughly answer UQs
and think critically and
creatively about the EQ.
My CFQs ask students to
use information from CQs
to answer UQs and think
critically about the EQ.
My CFQs sometimes
ask students to use
information from
CQs to answer UQs
or to think about
the EQ.
My CFQs rarely ask
students to use
information from
CQs or to answer
UQs or think about
the EQ.
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
In Activity 1 Step 2, you were
provided with instructions on how
to register and log into the online
collaborative site. Follow your
facilitator's guided instructions on
how to use the online collaborative
site.
Using an Online Collaborative Web Site to Practice CFQs
In this step, you work collaboratively on an online spreadsheet where you will determine
different types of questions.
1. Go to the online collaborative Web site provided by your facilitator.
2. Log on to the site using your e-mail and password, which should be in your Login
Information document saved in your Course Resources folder.
3. Open the spreadsheet titled CFQs_Practice on the Web site.
4. As a whole group, discuss the first question in the spreadsheet. Identify the
category (“Essential”, “Unit” or “Content”) to which the question belongs to.
5. Assemble in small cross-curricular groups as directed by your facilitator. Identify
the rows assigned to your group. Type Essential, Unit or Content in column D
against each question based on your understanding of the type to which each
question belongs. Give your reasoning for designating the question the way you
did.
6. Work on as many questions as your group can cover in the time specified by your
facilitator with one person recording the answers on the spreadsheet.
7. Share and discuss the answers with the whole group.
Offline Activity: If you do not have access to the Web, to work on the online collaborative
spreadsheet, use the table given below to complete the activity and develop a better
understanding of Curriculum Framing Questions. The questions in the 2nd column are a
mix of Essential, Unit and Content Questions. Determine which questions are Essential,
Unit and Content. Type Essential, Unit or Content in 3rd column against each question
based on your understanding of the type to which each question belongs. Give your
reasoning for designating the question the way you did in the 4th column. Work on as
many questions as your group can cover in the time specified by your facilitator with one
person recording the answers in the table on the next page. Share and discuss the
answers with the whole group.
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
No Questions Type Why
1 How can I make a difference?
2 What is pollution?
3
How do choices we make now
affect us later?
4
How do I plan a healthy
nutritous diet?
5
Who were some of he early
explorers?
6 What is the area of a triangle?
7
Why is it important to learn
from the past?
8 Why is electricity important?
9 What is a Sprain?
10
What can we do to manage
waste effectively?
11
How can I contribute to making
a better tomorrow?
12 How can we make life easier?
It is a personal preference to begin
writing Curriculum-Framing
Questions with either big ideas or
with content-specific ideas.
Step 2: Drafting My Curriculum-Framing Questions
Curriculum-Framing Questions are a challenge to create and usually require many
revisions. Some teachers find writing their Curriculum-Framing Questions easier if they
start with the big idea, draft an Essential Question, and then work on the Unit and Content
Questions. Other teachers find the process easier if they look at the specific unit(s) they
teach and then see how the units fit into a bigger idea and Essential Question. In this step,
you write Curriculum-Framing Questions for your unit.
If needed, use the following resources in the CFQs folder of the Curriculum Resource CD:
• Tips for Writing Curriculum -Framing Questions
• Sample Curriculum-Framing Questions
• Big Idea Words
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
Essential
Question
Unit
Questions
Content
Questions
1. Review your syllabus guidelines and objectives.
2. Write a first draft of your Curriculum-Framing Questions in the table below or type
them into your Unit Plan.
Note: If you want a more structured step-by-step process for writing your questions,
use Writing Curriculum-Framing Questions in the CFQs folder on the Curriculum
Resource CD.
3. Using the Curriculum-Framing Questions section of the Unit Plan Checklist, review the
draft of your questions.
Note: The Unit Plan Checklist, located in the Assessment folder on the Curriculum
Resource CD, helps you monitor your progress as you work on your Unit Plan. It is
based on the Portfolio Rubric and the other detailed rubrics specific to certain areas
of the Unit Plan Template.
4. Revise your questions, if necessary.
5. Save the Unit Plan Checklist in the unit_plan folder of your Portfolio folder for future
use.
Step 3: Sharing Curriculum-Framing Questions
1. Break into small groups of three or four and share the first draft of your Curriculum-
Framing Questions.
2. Use the Curriculum-Framing Questions Rubric on page 2.10 or in the Assessment folder on
the CurriculumResource CD to provide feedback to each other on your questions.
3. Take notes on the ideas provided by your colleagues.
4. Revise your questions based on the feedback.
Make sure the groups are
different from previous
groupings.
Ideas for how to create
sharing groups for the
classroom are available
in the Facilitation folder
on the Curriculum
Resource CD.
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Your facilitator may choose to have
you brainstorm ideas on this topic
in a wiki in order to more easily
capture and share ideas from each
group. Your login information may
be located on page viii or in your
Login Information document.
Your facilitator has created the
starting page of the wiki.
Directions for setting up the Wiki
can be found in the MT Resources
folder on the Curriculum Resources
CD.
Divide participants into three
groups and assign each group one
of the questions on the wiki.
You will need to review the wiki
pages before the activity.
Explain to participants that the
purpose of this activity is twofold:
• To create a common space to
share ideas as participants
progress through the course.
• To understand the benefits of
using wikis so participants can
choose the most appropriate
tool when they create their
student.
Participants are given the opportunity
to explore public-facing wikis that
they may want to use with
students.
A list of possible wiki sites is
available in the Wiki Sites document
in Resources, Internet Resources
folder. Write down the URL of the
wiki site, your login, and password
on page viii of the Introduction
and/or type the information in the
Login Information document
available in your Portfolio folder (if
previously saved) or in the About
this Course folder on the
Curriculum Resource CD.
Activity 5: Pedagogical Practices: Using Questioning to
Promote Higher-Order Thinking and Engage Students
As teachers talk less, and students talk more in the classroom, the role of questions in the
classroom changes. In teacher-centered classrooms, students often answer questions the
teacher knows the answer to, and students rarely ask important questions themselves. In
student-centered classrooms, learning is guided, first by Curriculum-Framing Questions,
and then by authentic questions that rise out of meaningful work with the content.
Facilitating student interaction through questioning is at the heart of good teaching. In
this Pedagogical Practices discussion, you consider ways to meet this challenge using the
key ideas and learnings from your previous work in the course.
Good questions are key to sparking thought-provoking answers whether in whole-class or
small-group discussions, or in one-on-one conferences with students. Effective questioning
engages students in productive discussions that result in products and performances that
reflect complex thinking processes and deep understanding of content.
"Good questions elicit interesting and alternative views and suggest the need to focus on
the reasoning we use in arriving at and defending an answer, not just whether our answer
is 'right' or 'wrong.' Good questions spark meaningful connections with what we bring to
the classroom from prior classes and our own life experience" (Wiggins & McTighe,
2005, p. 107).
In previous activity, you created Curriculum-Framing Questions for your unit. In this activity,
think about ways to use questioning techniques and Curriculum-Framing Questions to
involve your students and help them to think at a deeper level.
During this activity, you discuss the question allocated to your group, as well as
experience the use and creation of a wiki. A wiki is a "type of website that allows the
visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change some available
content… This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for
collaborative authoring." (Wikipedia, 2006)
1. Get into your assigned groups. Note the question assigned to your group:
i. What are some of the effective questioning practices that must be followed to
engage learners in a classroom?
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
Optional: You may want to view the Intel® Education Designing Effective Projects
resource for information on using Curriculum-Framing Questions in the classroom:
a. Go to: http://educate.intel.com/in/ProjectDesign
b. Click Project Design.
c. Click Curriculum-Framing Questions.
d. Click Effective Questioning Practices.
e. Review the information and examples on ways to integrate Curriculum-
Framing Questions into your unit.
ii. What are some ways that you can integrate the use of questioning into your
classroom and student projects?
Optional: You may want to view Designing Effective Projects for information and
strategies for building a classroom environment in which students ask and answer
good questions:
a. Go to: http://educate.intel.com/in/ProjectDesign
b. Click Thinking Skills.
c. Click Teaching Thinking.
d. Click the link in the body of the paragraph for Creating a Thoughtful
Classroom Environment.
e. Review the information and examples on ways to use questions to promote a
thoughtful classroom.
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
iii. How can you teach students the skills they need to perform higher-order thinking
when they create projects? What types of questions, prompts, and scaffolds can
you use to encourage students to think deeply and not simply copy-and-paste
answers?
Optional: You may want to view Designing Effective Projects for information on
using questioning in the classroom:
a. Go to: http://educate.intel.com/in/ProjectDesign
b. Click Instructional Strategies.
c. Click Questioning.
d. Review ideas about Elaborating, Hypothetical, and Clarification Questions
and Socratic Questioning.
2. Obtain the wiki Web site address (URL) for this discussion from your facilitator
and write it here:
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Module 2
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If you do not have access to
Internet, break into three groups,
and discuss one of the three
questions assigned to your group
by your facilitator. Record your
answers in the space given below
the questions, and then share your
ideas with the whole group.
If you have difficulty accessing the
wiki site, your facilitator can record
your comments in the Pedagogical
Practices document available in the
Master Trainer Resources,
Pedagogical Practices folder on the
Curriculum Resource CD.
3. Record your ideas on a wiki page. Choose one person in the group to create the
following elements:
a. New subpage
b. Title for your page
c. Question you are discussing
4. Discuss and enter your answers in the page.
Note: When working with Web 2.0 resources, you may want to type your ideas in an
offlineword processing document and then copy and paste it into the online environment
when you are finished—especially if your Internet connection is not stable.
5. Save your wiki page when your discussion and wiki page are finished.
6. Review the answers of other groups and add your views to any answer that
interest you.
Activity 6: Reflecting on My Learning
Step 1: Reviewing the Module
Review the guiding questions and key points for Module 2 on page 2.20 and think about
the ideas and materials you have created that can be used in your classroom, instruction,
or planning.
In the following modules, you will build on these concepts as you discuss ways to support
and encourage higher-order thinking skills through the use of Curriculum-Framing
Questions, syllabus guidelines-based projects, ongoing assessment, and student-centered
activities.
Step 2: Blogging My Journey
Reflect on the activities, skills, and approaches addressed in this module in your personal
blog. As noted in Module 1, you will share one of your blog entries with a colleague in
Module 8 and discuss how your understanding and knowledge have changed over time.
1. Open your tagged or bookmarked blog site.
2. Review the guiding questions and key points for Module 2 Summary on page 2.21.
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Intel® Teach Program
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
3. Go to your personal blog, create an entry titled Module 2 Reflection, copy and paste
the following prompt into your entry, and write your response:
This module has helped me think about using syllabus guidelines
and CFQs in the following ways…
Note: If you are having intermittent connectivity issues, you may want to type your
blog offline in aword processing document and then paste it into your blog. An alternate
method of ensuring you do not lose your work is to copy your blog entry text into the
temporary clipboard before you click submit. (See Word Processing Skill 2.6.)
4. Write about any other insights, questions or concerns you wish to address in your
reflection.
Offline Activity: If you do not have access to Internet or have difficulties with the
blogging site, use the journal template located in the Course Assessment folder within
the Assessment folder on the Curriculum Resource CD to complete your reflection.
Refer to the following
skill in the Help Guide
for this section:
• Word Processing Skill
2.6: To copy words or
text
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References
Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind,
experience, and school (Expanded edition). Washington, DC: National Research
Council, National Academy Press.
Covey, S. (1990). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal
change. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2007). Framework for 21st century learning.
Washington, DC: Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved from
www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Ite
mid=120
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (Expanded 2nd edition).
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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Module 2
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Intel® Teach Program
Essentials Course Version 10.1
Module 2 Summary
Review the guiding questions and key points of Module 2 and think about the ideas and
materials you have created that can be used in your classroom, instruction, or planning to
help improve student learning.
In the following modules, you will build on these concepts as you explore a variety of
assessment strategies and draft an assessment timeline.
Module Questions:
• How can Curriculum-Framing Questions help support my students' learning?
Module 2 Key Points:
• Curriculum-Framing Questions encourage students to use higher-order thinking skills, help
students fully understand essential concepts, and provide a structure for organising factual
information. Curriculum-Framing Questions consist of:
• An Essential Question, which is a broad and open-ended question that addresses big
ideas and enduring concepts. Essential Questions often cross disciplines and help
students see how subjects are related.
• Unit Questions, which are open-ended questions tied directly to a project or unit and
support investigation into the Essential Question
• Content Questions, which are fact-based, concrete questions that have a narrow set of
correct answers.
Copyright © 2008 Intel Corporation.
All rights reserved.
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Module 2
Planning My Unit - 1
Notes:
Copyright © 2008 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Education Initiative, and the
Intel Teach Program are trademarks of Intel Corporation
in the U.S. and other countries. *Other names and
brands may be claimed as the property of others.
source intel/educate.com