Teachers "Making A Difference" with a Backward Design

Applying a "backward design" curricular approach to a series of lessons on mitzvot in Making a Difference.

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Teachers in Jewish educational settings have a special challenge. They have a great deal of material to cover in limited instructional time. How can they best serve their students' needs, help them understand the material, and show them how to apply the lessons and values to their own lives?

The "backward design" approach is a highly effective method of curricular design to help students reach these understandings and internalize the values. In their book Understanding by Design, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe identify three stages in a true backward design process:

  1. Identify desired results (decide the core concepts students should understand).

  2. Determine acceptable evidence (decide how you will evaluate whether students have mastered the concepts).

  3. Plan learning experiences and instruction (choose activities to enable students to achieve mastery and display their competencies).

Making a Difference backward design understanding by design mitzvot Jewish books learning Judaism textbooks Hebrew textbook text book learn Hebrew language software teach Hebrew school curriculum Jewish education educational material Behrman House Judaica publishing teaching Hebrew schools Jewish teacher resources educators Berman publisher religious school classroom management Jewish video games reading Hebrew teachers resource Jewish software interactive CDs Holocaust Jewish holidays Israel bar mitzvah training bat mitzvah preparation history teacher’s guide read Jewish Bible stories Tanakh life cycle mitzvot customs Herbew prayers synagogue culture religion Jeiwsh holiday calendar holidays Jewihs learning Hebrw student worksheets children temple conservative reform Judaism

Wiggins and McTighe describe six facets of understanding: explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and self knowledge. Students should experience these different facets as they study. In other words, they must be able to explain and interpret what they learn, apply their knowledge to new situations, understand the viewpoint of others, be empathic, and understand themselves.

The following lesson plan by Carol Congedo applies the backward design to a series of lessons on mitzvot based on the 7-9th grade Behrman House text, Making a Difference: Putting Jewish Spirituality into Action One Mitzvah at a Time. For clear learning objectives, and specific teaching techniques, you can refer to the Teaching Guide for Making a Difference.

 

  1. Decide what you want the students to understand (the core concepts).

    The following are examples of concepts you might want the students to know:

    • Mitzvot are sacred actions that connect us to God.

    • Mitzvot bein adam l'havero (mitzvot between people) are different from mitzvot bein adam la'Makom (mitzvot between people and God).

    • Ritual mitzvot—for example, lighting Shabbat candles, eating matzah on Passover, and sitting in a sukkah—are different from ethical mitzvot—for example, visiting the sick, honoring parents, and taking care of animals.

  2. Create questions that "will guide teaching and stimulate inquiry." (Wiggins and McTighe)

    The following are examples of questions to guide your teaching:

    • How are mitzvot between people, and mitzvot between people and God, different?

    • What is a ritual mitzvah, and how does it differ from an ethical mitzvah?

  3. Design an assessment to demonstrate that students understand the core concepts.

    The following are examples of assessment methods:

    • Ask students to cite ways in which becoming a bar or bat mitzvah encompasses mitzvot that connect us to God, and list on the chalkboard.

    • Create a two-column chart on the chalkboard and ask students to cite examples of ritual mitzvot and ethical mitzvot.

  4. Select activities that will allow students to reach the understandings and be able to successfully complete the assessment.

    The following are examples of ways to choose activities:

    • Review the teacher's guide for activities that will help the students come to the selected understandings. Decide what fits best with the core concepts you have chosen. Decide, too, whether the students will complete the activities individually, in small groups, or as a class.

    • Include activities from other disciplines; for example, ask the music teacher to teach an appropriate songs or show a video.

  5. Sequence the activities to:

    1. Hook the students and engage them in the topic. For example, write at least one of the understandings and one of the questions on the chalkboard to focus students' learning for the day.

    2. Allow students to construct their own meaning. For example, you can discuss the mitzvah together or put it into practice with service projects. Remember that students remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 90% of what they do.

    3. Adapt the materials to the needs of individual learners in the classroom. Decide what constitutes an appropriate level of understanding for each student in your class. Not everyone has to have the same assignment, or complete it in the same way. Modify your assignments appropriately.

    4. Utilize different modalities, such as visual, aural, art, music, and drama, to accommodate different student learning styles.

    5. Assess the students' understanding. Review student journal entries in the textbook. Have students answer the question you wrote on the chalkboard.

    6. Reteach if necessary. Review the topic, discuss it further, and find other examples until you are sure that the students understand.

      Carol Congedo Making a Difference backward design understanding by design mitzvot Jewish books learning Judaism textbooks Hebrew textbook text book learn Hebrew language software teach Hebrew school curriculum Jewish education educational material Behrman House Judaica publishing teaching Hebrew schools Jewish teacher resources educators Berman publisher religious school classroom management Jewish video games reading Hebrew teachers resource Jewish software interactive CDs Holocaust Jewish holidays Israel bar mitzvah training bat mitzvah preparation history teacher’s guide read Jewish Bible stories Tanakh life cycle mitzvot customs Herbew prayers synagogue culture religion Jeiwsh holiday calendar holidays Jewihs learning Hebrw student worksheets children temple conservative reform Judaism

Stephen R. Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, writes, "To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination." Backward design encourages you to set educational objectives, and only then to plan instructional activities, and methods to assess that the desired learning has taken place.

Carol Z. Congedo, M.D., M.A. Ed., is a seventh-grade teacher at Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh. She also develops curriculum for the Jewish Education Institute of Pittsburgh.