SANTILLANA USA - ES HS Teacher Guide Sampler Level 1 -2018

T37 Features of Backwards Design found in Español Santillana Principles of Backwards Designe Backwards Design, developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, is an approach to unit development that puts the emphasis on big ideas and enduring understandings rather than on discrete skills and coverage. It has three main steps: 1) identify desired results; 2) determine acceptable evidence; and 3) plan learning experiences and instruction. Assessments are performance- based, reflect the big ideas, and are designed before the instructional activities. Step One: Identify Desired Results In step one, teachers define the unit’s goals, its essential questions and enduring understandings, as well as the key language skills students will acquire as a result of the unit. Enduring understandings are those that have value in real life beyond the classroom, that have a potential for engaging students, and that include core tasks that are essential and integral to the subject matter. For world language teachers, national, state, and local standards as well as thematic planning provide essential guidelines and contexts when defining desired results. Español Santillana ’s overall format, that of thematic units centered around young people traveling in various Spanish- speaking countries, addresses enduring understandings, such as, “Who are the Spanish-speaking peoples of the world and how do they live?” and “How are our lives similar and different?” The themes are broad and reflect cultural perspectives. For instance, in Level 1, Unidad 3 , the stated theme is “shopping in the context of Mayan cultures and Guatemala’s historic cities.” Step Two: Determine Acceptable Evidence In step two, teachers decide which evidence will show that students have a grasp of the big ideas and enduring understandings. Wiggins and McTighe suggest that performance tasks provide the best evidence. For world language teachers, performance-based assessments, focused on student use of extended, communicative language in authentic situations, are recommended. However, the use of extended language requires initial skill building where core vocabulary and structures are mastered first. Español Santillana offers a wide selection of contextualized formative assessments centered on these core skills as well Carol McKenna Semonsky Associate Professor Emerita, Georgia State University as summative assessments that prompt extended and authentic language. Students are given an opportunity to reflect on their accomplishment of the goals by using the Autoevaluación at the end of each unit. Step Three: Plan Learning Experiences and Instructions It is in step three, in the planning for learning experiences, where Español Santillana excels. Both the textbook and ancillaries offer plentiful and contextualized practice of essential skills that form the building blocks necessary for meaningful communication. Practice exercises represent real-life situations. Daily plans found in the Teacher’s Edition facilitate planning for both regular and block scheduling. The Teacher’s Edition directly links unit content to standards and offers many ideas to address individual differences, including suggestions for reaching all learners via multiple intelligences and differentiated instruction. Español Santillana has a selection of ancillary materials, including websites, DVDs, and other multimedia from which teachers may choose in order to design the most effective instruction, matching both their initial desired results and their students’ individual needs. Bibliography Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. Creating an Assessment Unit Process: Backwards Design. University of Minnesota. July, 2010. <http://www.carla. umn.edu/assessment/vac/ CreateUnit/p_1.html>. National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project. Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century . Lawrence, KS: Allen Press, Inc., 1999. Wiggins, Grant and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design . Power Point presentation. Winter 2004. <http://www.grantwiggins.org/documents/ mtuniontalk.pdf>. ———. Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005. t r f r i f i l ti l Principles of Back ards Designe Backwards Design, developed by Grant Wi gins and Jay McTighe, is an a proach to unit develop ent that puts the e phasis on big ideas and enduring understandings rather than on discrete skills and coverage. It has thr e main steps: 1) identify desired results; 2) determine a ceptable evidence; and 3) plan learning experiences and instruction. A se s ents are performance- based, reflect the big ideas, and are designed before the instructional activities. Step One: Identify Desired Results In step one, teachers define the unit’s goals, its e sential questions and enduring understandings, as well as the key language skills students will acquire as a result of the unit. Enduring understandings are those that have value in real life beyond the cla sr o , that have a potential for engaging students, and that include core tasks that are e sential and integral to the subject ma ter. For world language teachers, national, state, and local standards as well as the atic pla ning provide e sential guidelines and contexts when defining desired results. Español Santillana ’s overall format, that of the atic units centered around young people traveling in various Spanish- speaking countries, a dre ses enduring understandings, such as, “ ho are the Spanish-speaking peoples of the world and how do they live?” and “How are our lives similar and di ferent?” The the es are broad and reflect cultural perspectives. For instance, in Level 1, Unidad 3 , the stated the e is “sho ping in the context of Mayan cultures and Guate ala’s historic cities.” Step T o: Deter ine A ceptable Evidence In step two, teachers decide which evidence will show that students have a grasp of the big ideas and enduring understandings. Wi gins and McTighe su gest that performance tasks provide the best evidence. For world language teachers, performance-based a se s ents, focused on student use of extended, co unicative language in authentic situations, are reco ended. However, the use of extended language requires initial skill building where core vocabulary and structures are mastered first. Español Santillana o fers a wide selection of contextualized formative a se s ents centered on these core skills as well Carol McKe na Se onsky A sociate Profe sor E erita, Georgia State University Background and Research 31