Demands on Students

One of the things we want to think about as we move forward with both the 5280 view (unit planning)  and the ocean view (lesson planning) are the demands that our students face in the classroom.

Last week we explored UDL and we thought about student learning in ways focused on  breaking down the barriers in the curriculum that make things more difficult on students. This week we will think about what some of those barriers are. The caveat of this is to do this we also need to keep high expectations for ALL students. This week we look at Cognitive Demand (how demanding things are for our students), and Language Demands (What are the demands on language for every student in our class.

How does this connect to our course?

• Unit Plan - Each of the goals you have for your unit should connect to a level of cognitive demand. As the unit progresses, there should also be an increase of cognitive demand.
• Lesson Plan -  Similarly your objectives should connect to a level of cognitive demand. Are all of your lessons low? Can you have some do some increase? Do they help students get to the point?

Cognitive Demands

Below is the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix. I think it is a pretty good tool to explore how demanding a task is. To get started I recommend taking a look at a task and thinking about where you think it fits under the Revised Blooms and then follow that row across to see where it fits under Webb's Depth of Knowledge.

About the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrixes

Read here about the History and ‘What’ about the Hess CRM
Check out the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix that works for your context.
Written & Oral Communication CRM
Close Reading & Listening CRM
Social Studies & Humanities CRM
Math & Science CRM
World Languages CRM

Here's an activity to explore:

Let’s watch the following video:

• http://www.azk12.org/tim/technology-integration-matrix-collaborative-infusion-lesson-k-4.php
• Taking a look at the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix, think through what you believe the levels of Cognitive Demand would be.
• Taking a look at the following unit plans (sorry they are only secondary focused), explore what you see about how they write their levels of Cognitive Demand.  **If you have an example you'd rather look at from your own context. PLEASE go for it.
• Math.  Science.
• Think about what you've learned here. What are two important takeaways for Cognitive Demand while working with your students?

Language Demands

Here are some slides that connect to the Language Demands of students. Read through carefully. Here are some important things to think about:

• In this course, my expectations for you are to focus on (1) The Language Domains, and (2) Vocabulary. When asked for Language Demands in an assignment, I want you to look through the activities and see what you are doing (is it active or passive)? Then think what that means for what your students are doing.

The Language Demands of our students.

 1. Take a look at the following unit plans again - Math.  Science.  Reminder If you have an example you'd rather look at from your own context. PLEASE go for it.
   2. In slack take note of these sections in the unit plan. Think about the language and cognitive demands noticed in the unit. Things like which domain the teacher talks about. Write a short paragraph explaining what you would do to better support the students in this lesson (it could be doing something different or creating a support of some kind).

To do:

1. Look through the unit examples (from previous Capstone projects) above and be prepared to talk about Language and Cognitive Demand. (here they are again: Math.  Science (Or ones from your own context). Discuss in your own small groups (SGVC).
2. Reminder about the SGVC here.

3. Share your Big Ideas and Essential Questions for your own unit with the group. Provide support and feedback for your peers.
4. Ask me questions as well!