As the graphic illustrates, when all the “timeless essentials” work together to create an integrated system of curricular units, they can help prepare students for success on the annual state exams! By aligning all these elements, one to another, in a deliberate design sequence, educators gain ongoing evidence of student learning that can serve as predictive value for how students are likely to perform on state tests.
Beginning at the bottom of the chart and following the arrows to the top, Essential Standards and supporting standards (those not identified as “essential”) are assigned to each unit of study. Within each unit, educators will “unwrap” the Essential Standards, create related Student Learning Targets, Success Criteria, Essential Questions with corresponding Big Ideas.
Next in the unit design sequence, educators create/select the end-of-unit assessment directly aligned to the Essential Standards, before planning unit instruction, so they know in advance what students will need to learn and be able to do on that culminating unit assessment. They can then intentionally plan their daily instruction with Learning Progressions that scaffold the rigor of fundamental concepts and skills in supporting standards to the rigorous concepts and skills represented in the Essential Standards. Students respond to daily Quick Progress Checks—aligned to the rigor of the end-of-unit assessment questions—so that educators can adjust their follow-up instruction based on student feedback and students can use educator feedback to adjust their learning strategies—all to prepare students for success on the end-of-unit assessment.
Student responses to every end-of-unit assessment—each of which is directly aligned to the Essential Standards and its key criterion of “standards emphasized the most on state assessments”—provide credible, formative assessment evidence throughout the school year as to how students are likely to perform on state exams. This incremental data enables educators to continually adjust instruction and monitor student progress so that students are indeed prepared to succeed on the end-of-year standardized achievement test.
All “Timeless Essentials” Together in ONE Integrated System
My new book series, Integrated Teaching and Learning, differs from my previous publications by focusing on “timeless essentials”—the indispensable components that make up quality units of study—and showing how these essentials intentionally fit together within one integrated system. The step-by-step process fully describes and illustrates—with numerous educator-created and A.I.-generated examples across elementary and secondary grades and content areas—how to create new units of study and/or enrich and strengthen the effectiveness of existing units of study by “retrofitting” them with any essential elements that may be missing.
Inside the Three Volumes: The “Timeless Essentials”
Volume One’s focus is Clarity. Clarity of what educators need to teach and what students need to learn, in each grade from PK-12, begins with a sharp focus on Essential Standards that are collaboratively identified and aligned across the grades by district educators using the REAL selection criteria (Readiness for the next level of learning; Endurance: life skills; Assessment: standards most emphasized on state exams; and Leverage: interdisciplinary connections).
“Unwrapping” Essential Standards within each unit of study provides educators with the “gift” of clarity. Student Learning Targets and Success Criteria—simply worded essence statements derived from the “unwrapped” Essential Standards—provide students with the clarity of what they need to learn and precisely how they can show that they have learned it. Big Ideas are the “lightbulb moments” of clarity that students experience when they discover for themselves why what they are learning is important.
Volume Two’s focus is Assessment. Essential Questions—a key component of quality assessment design—are open-ended, thought-provoking questions that educators present to students at the beginning of a unit to engage their interest in what they will be learning, as represented in the Student Learning Targets. On the end-of-unit assessment, students respond to the Essential Questions with their corresponding Big Ideas.
Assessment Literacy sets the stage for designing a truly quality assessment that includes all the “timeless essentials”. Following the backwards-planning approach, educators create a blend of Selected-Response and Constructed-Response Questions—intentionally aligned to the rigor of the unit’s “unwrapped” Essential Standards—all for the purpose of gaining accurate, credible evidence of student learning of the Essential Standards. Related Scoring Guides are included to expedite the scoring or grading of student responses to the constructed-response questions. Quality Control Checks enable educators to critique their end-of-unit assessment before they administer it to their students so they can make any minor revisions to the questions.
Volume Three’s focus is Instruction. Learning Progressions—the “building blocks” of daily instruction—provide the instructional scaffold from the lower-level, but foundational, supporting standards to the more rigorous “unwrapped” Essential Standards. Quick Progress Checks (think, “exit tickets” specific to the day’s lesson) that are matched to each day’s Learning Progression provide educators with immediate Feedback on student learning so they can adjust follow-up instruction during the next class period. When educators share this same feedback with students, they can see where they need to adjust their learning approaches to close the identified learning gaps.
Concluding the series, Standard-Aligned Learning Tasks are interdisciplinary learning experiences in the form of classroom projects that progressively develop and reveal students’ understanding of the “unwrapped” concepts and skills, Student Learning Targets, and Big Ideas that are all derived from the unit’s Essential Standards and supporting standards. These challenging, purpose-driven student tasks exercise students’ critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, problem-solving skills, and the other attributes that are so necessary for all students to use daily in the real world. The series concludes with four collections of elementary and secondary tasks in English language arts, math, science, and history/social studies that were created during my Standards-Aligned Learning Tasks workshops by K-12 educators in school districts across the U.S. Great idea generators for K-12 educators in all content areas!
Key Benefits of the Integrated Teaching and Learning System:
A Complementary Framework Applicable to Any District-Adopted Curricular Program
Comprehensive System Intentionally Aligned to State Tests for Greater Student Success
Three Slim, Easy-to-Read Volumes Vs. One Overly Long “Tome”
Read All Three Volumes or Individual Ones Specific to Needs
Strategic Use of A.I. to Expedite the Creation of “Timeless Essentials” (see recent blog post: https://www.larryainsworth.com/blog/linking-ai-to-timeless-essentials)
Discount-Priced eBooks Now Available for All Three Volumes in the Series
Perfect For Educators New to the Profession and Those in New Leadership Positions
One-to-One Matchup of All Workshops to Entire Series
Both In-Person and Virtual Workshops Available: https://www.larryainsworth.com/workshops
“A La Carte” Option to Attend All or Selected Workshops Only
What Others Are Saying About the Integrated System:
Click on the link below to read what district leaders, content area coordinators, and educators from school systems across the U.S. are saying about the value and impact the Integrated Teaching and Learning System is having on their instruction and students’ learning!
https://www.larryainsworth.com/endorsements
For continuing information about all my “Timeless Essentials” that educators use to create quality units of study, I hope you will follow me on Facebook, Linked In, and Instagram!
Want to know more? I am always happy to answer questions you may have about any of these essential elements. Feel free to contact me at larry@larryainsworth.com.