KRUEGER’S MASTER PORTFOLIO

Content Statement
Standard 4. A teacher knows the teacher’s content area and how to teach it (Design of
curriculum and instruction.)

Teachers must design the plans to effectively meet the needs of the students. In my

practice I embrace the Universal Design for Learning (Novak, 2014). UDL employs a backwards

design approach which is an intentional strategy that focuses on the desired result, then guides

developing a lesson plan to meet that result. According to Novak (2014) the backwards design

approach allows me to create units “by design” rather than “by hope.” This approach starts with

the big idea of the unit and intentionally designed outcomes of differentiated objectives, then

provides cross-content learning opportunities to lead the students into meeting the objectives of

the Common Core Standards.  Each design takes advantage of prior knowledge (Dewey, 1938)

and promotes the cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986) of all students.

Here are two units I designed with a basis in Social Studies and Science content areas.

The objectives are rooted in the Common Core Standards and further designed to support cross

content opportunities to learn. The objectives are rooted in Bloom’s Taxonomy (Boslaugh, 2019)

to ensure that diverse levels of skill sets are provided for diverse students.

The first example of my curriculum that is responsive and intentional (Hartz, Mraz, 2018)

is this first grade Social Studies unit, “Where I am From.” I designed this unit to introduce the

themes of community: identifying local land features, how we work and play together, exploring

the community culture, recognize the role of community helpers. The “Big Idea” of this unit is as

follows: “All places have land features, people, flora and fauna, and surroundings that are unique

and special. Local surroundings relate to the way we interact and form a shared community.”

From this idea, I was able to use the UDL backwards design to create differentiated objectives

(written, verbal, drawing, painting, multiple choice, clozed, sequencing) that were also
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embedded with the cross-content standards Science, English Language Arts, Art, and Alaska

Cultural Standards. This model leads the students to synthesize their Enduring Understandings

(Novak, 2014), or important ideas of community that have continuing significance outside the

confines of the classroom, rather than just repeating a memorized teacher directed notion.

The “Forces in Motion” unit is based in Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) but

is also embedded with the Alaska Common Core Standards (ACCS) in Math, English Language

Arts: Content and Literacy. In this design, the learner is encouraged develop multidisciplinary

skills while hands-on exploring how the scientific concepts introduced relate to them in the

context of everyday life. Piaget theorized hands-on, action learning promotes meaningful

learning (Slavin, 2015). This unit culminates in a series of scientific work stations which allows

students to move through a series of active experiments with the scientific concepts introduced.

“Instructors are guided to craft lessons and courses with built-in scaffolds and approaches that

will support and meet the needs of all students, which includes providing materials to learners in

various formats, allowing flexibility in how students demonstrate their learning, and motivating

students to become active agents in their own learning” (Courey et al., 2012). In this unit

students are able to show evidence of the transfer of knowledge through making verbal, written

and drawn predictions. They are encouraged to discuss possibilities with peers, in turn building

collaborative problem solving, inquiry, and working together as critical thinkers. This unit is

designed to give students agency (Hartz, Mraz, 2018), or power over their learning by leading

them into active problem solving rather than passive responses.

I strive to be intentional and responsive in curriculum that I provide for my students to

meet the different needs of a diverse classroom. By employing the UDL Backwards design I can
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create cross content learning opportunities that require learners to explore the larger ideas behind

the content and connect to the world beyond the limits of the classroom.

References

Boslaugh, S. E., PhD. (2019). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Salem Press Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=89677526&site=eds-
live

Bourdieu, P. (1986a). The forms of capital. In J. G. Robinson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and
Research for the Sociology of Education. New York: Greenwood Press.

Courey, S. J., Tappe, P., Siker, J., & LePage, P. (2013). Improved lesson planning with
universal design for learning (UDL). Teacher Education and Special Education, 36(1),
7–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406412446178

Dewey, J. (1938).  Experience and education.  New York: Simon & Schuster.

doi:10.1177/0888406412446178

Hertz, Christine, Kristine Mraz. 2018. Kids 1st from day 1. Portsmouth , NH: Heinemann.

Novak, K. (2014). UDL now!: a teacher’s Monday-morning guide to implementing common

core standards using Universal Design Learning. CAST Professional Publishing.
Retrievedfromhttp://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat02580a&AN=a
la.2391580&site=eds-live

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology (11 Edition). Johns Hopkins University.

th

Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Pearson

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological process.

London: Harvard University Press.