Unit Plan Reflection- Madison Cook

My biggest takeaway from building the unit was that keeping the big ideas and what students need to learn in mind is key. This connects to the idea of backwards design in starting with what we want students to learn in planning. By keeping this as the focus, matching in the standards, language demands, and creating learning objectives came much easier to me.

With my unit focusing on connecting nonfiction and fiction together, I noticed that
many of the elements of assessment are the same for fiction and nonfiction. With
this, the practice tests are similar for nonfiction and the fiction readings. The questions ask for the main idea and evidence or the element and the evidence. This connection has helped me realize the similarities between the two. This led me to connect the learning targets for both. The learning targets focus on identifying the elements and describing the impact of the elements on the meaning or how the elements are used in the text. Overall, the connections between the fiction and nonfiction ideas in the unit are similar with their own specialties which highlight the big ideas about connecting fiction and nonfiction.

Next time in building a unit, I will focus on the big ideas again. This helped me think through the learning targets and develop different strategies and assessment ideas for students to show their learning. Overall, keeping the big idea in mind and using backwards design is the most helpful when designing a unit that feels connected, rigorous, and engaging. I would recommend using this strategy to future students in this course.