Understanding by Design Template 2.
0 (Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe)
Stage 1 Desired Results
ESTABLISHED GOALS
What content standards and program- or
mission-related goal(s) will this unit address?
What habits of mind and cross-disciplinary
goal(s) – for example, 21st century skills, core
competencies – will this unit address?
These look great.
6.15 On a historical map locate the
Mediterranean and Red Seas, the Nile River
and Delta, and the areas of ancient Nubia and
Egypt. Identify the locations of ancient Upper
and Lower Egypt and explain what the terms
mean. On a modern map, identify the modern
countries of Egypt and the Sudan. (G, H)
6.16 Investigate the kinds of evidence used by
archaeologists and historians to draw
conclusions about the social and economic
characteristics of Ancient Nubia (the Kingdom
of Kush) and their relationship to the social
and economic characteristics of Ancient Egypt.
(C, E, G, H, P)
Transfer
What kinds of long-term, independent accomplishments are desired (which rote learning alone
does not accomplish)?
Scientists, Mathematicians, Readers, Writers, Historians, Artists…
You want to begin each transfer goal with the expert, so they would begin, “Historians (or
geographers?) …
T1 Historians synthesize multiple sources of information.
You are almost there. Transfer goals need to be broad and pretty simple. You have
several in this one, so my suggestion is to look at your standards and see which ones
most closely connect. I see something like, “Historians synthesize multiple sources of
information” as the most closely connected here. You can use that one if you like.
This is too narrow for a transfer goal. Why do you need to be able to use a map?
T2 Historians investigate different kinds of evidence and their relationship to the social and
economic characteristics of a country. If you just delete the highlighted portion, you’ll have it! :)
T3s. Historians analyze the relationship between geographical and the soci-economic
characteristics of countries.
I separated this one because it is different from the one above.
This one is broader but needs to be reworded for clarity. Something like, “Historians analyze
the relationship between geographical and the soci-economic characteristics of countries.”
Meaning
UNDERSTANDINGS ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
What specifically do you want students to What thought-provoking questions will foster
understand? What inferences should they inquiry, meaning, and transfer?
make?

Students will understand that… Students will keep considering…

U1 Learning about the importance of places Q1 Why is it important to know the

and locations in the world will help them relationship between geography and culture?
understand the impact of their modern day-
to-day places and locations they Q2 Why do we use evidence to study the
encounter.“How will this impact student past?
lives?”
Q3
U2 How to use evidence used by Yes! These are excellent!
archaeologists and historians to draw
conclusions about the social and economic
characteristics of a culture and county
U3

Acquisition
SCHEMA (Knowledge) THINKING & DOING (Skills)

What facts and basic concepts should What discrete skills and processes should
students know and be able to recall? students be able to use?

Students will know… Students will be skilled at…

K1 Facts about the geographical areas such as S1 Interpreting various texts and mediums
identifying the locations of Upper and Lower (e.g. historical documents and maps)
 Egypt as well as identify the modern countries
such as Egypt and Sudan.
K2 Know how to use evidence to draw
conclusions about social and economics
characteristics of Ancient Nubia in relation to
Ancient Egypt. Delete highlighted portion so
you are positioning this as a concept rather
than a skill
S2 Comparing and contrasting the similarities
and differences of social and economic
characteristics of ancient and modern
countries
S3 Probably something about synthesizing
here, right?

K3 probably something about the difference

btw reliable and unreliable sources?

Evaluative Criteria
What criteria will be used in each assessment
to evaluate attainment of desired results?
- Historically accurate
- Detailed
- Revealing and Informative
- Clear oral presentation
Regardless of the format of the assessment,
what qualities are most important?
Stage 2 - Evidence
Assessment Evidence
PERFORMANCE TASK(S):
How will students demonstrate their understanding (meaning-making and transfer) through
complex performance?
I will ask my students to write an individual two-page report do historians write 2 page
reports? What might be similar but maybe more authentic or connected to real life? on
identifying the locations of ancient Nubia and ancient Egypt with naming social and economic
characteristics as well as identifying the locations on a map of ancient Nubia and the modern
counties of Egypt and Sudan. Could you write this in the GRASPS format, labeling each section?

Goal - Your task is

Role - You have been asked to
Audience - The targer audience is
Situation - The challenge involves
Product, Performance, and Purpose - You need to develop
Students will show that they really understand by evidence of…
By being divided in groups to perform an oral presentation.
 OTHER EVIDENCE:
What other evidence will you collect to determine whether Stage 1 goals were achieved?
How will they self-assess? How will you use peer review?

Students will show that they have achieved Stage 1 goals by…

- Ongoing quizzes assessing facts about the geography and history of ancient Nubia and
other modern countries as well as making assessments of them thinking like historians
and archaeologists learning to compare social and economic characteristics of ancient
Nubia and its relationship to ancient Egypt.
You’ll need a little more here, exit tickets? Quick writes? Some peer review for your
performance task?
--

Stage 3 – Learning Plan

Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction

The key to the transfer and meaning goals is…

The aim is…

Pre-Assessment
What pre-assessment will you use to check student’s prior knowledge, skill levels, and potential misconceptions?

Pre-assessment of knowledge, skills, understandings, and attitudes using…

- Use KWL to glean students’ previous academic knowledge about ancient Nubia and Ancient Egypt as well as their knowledge of maps
and geography of those areas.
- Have students reflect and set individual learning and language development goals for the unit.
- Provide journal prompts to encourage connections with a personal perspective of what they think their experience would be during
that time period and in that culture
Learning Events
● Are all three types of goals (acquisition, meaning, and transfer) addressed in the learning plan?
● What is the goal of each learning event (acquisition, meaning, or transfer)?
● Does the learning plan represent principles of learning and best practices?
● Is there tight alignment with Stage 1 and 2?
● Is the plan likely to be engaging and effective for all students?
● How will you differentiate?

Student success at transfer, meaning, and acquisition depends upon…

Meaning:

- In this lesson, we look at the arts and achievements of Ancient Egypt to understand why these achievements are
significant to understanding Ancient Egyptian civilization as well as make connections to our own civilization.
-
- In this lesson, we take a closer look at the Nile River and role in the development of ancient Egyptian civilization. We also
examine a primary source Egyptian prayer dedicated to the Nile River.
-
- In this lesson, we explore several primary and secondary texts concerning life in Ancient Egypt. We will gather evidence
from these sources to represent each of the categories of GRAPES
-
- As an introductory lesson for our unit on Ancient Egypt we will spend some time setting up our notebook cover page and
essential and guiding questions for the unit. We'll also take a general look at the long history of the ancient Egyptian
civilization by setting up a timeline in our notebooks.
- Review the Textbook “History Alive! The Ancient World “.

Transfer:
Acquisition:

Monitor and Adjust

● How will you monitor students’ progress toward acquisition, meaning, and transfer during lesson events?
● What are potential rough spots and student misunderstandings?
● How will students get the feedback they need?
● Having completed my own performance task, what reflective insights do I need to incorporate into my instruction?
● Given my specific learning group, what adjustments might need to be made along the way?