Where to Start With Standards Based Grading: Step 3

Yesterday I wrote about how I start planning for a standards-based classroom. Most of it is just good teaching and while you may be doing a lot of the work already, the process asks you to be more intentional and more deliberate. Today, I am going to share with you the third step I take: planning instruction.

Here is the standard I am going to focus on: 

• 10.2.1 Compare the major ideas of philosophers and their effects on the democratic revolutions in England, the United States, France, and Latin America 

Here is the student-friendly version: 

• 10.2.1.A: I can compare the ideas of 3 philosophers from 1600-1800.
• 10.2.1.B: I can describe the major democratic revolutions in France, Haiti, the United States, England, and Latin America.
• 10.2.1.C: I can explain how the ideas of at least 3 major philosophers influenced the democratic revolutions in England, the US, France, and Latin America.

Why break one standard down into three different objectives?

The standard is really asking students to know and be able to do 3 different things: they need to know the ideas of major philosophers during this time, they need to know the major democratic revolutions during this time, and they need to be able to explain how those two concepts connected and influenced each other. I prefer making my learning objectives as simple as possible, this allows me to better pinpoint where students are struggling and allow students to better understand their learning goals.

Part of this process is about changing the structure of your classroom and class culture. No longer am I gatekeeper of knowledge who is the only one that can determine where my students are. By making the objectives simple and well defined, the students are more empowered in their learning. They can easily identify what they know and what they need to learn. 

This also allows for me to add in concepts from the new History-Social Science Framework. You might notice I included Haiti in my objective which is not in the original standard but does appear in the framework California adopted. I am currently responsible for my state standards and a new framework so by taking the time to write my student-friendly objectives, I am able to make sure I am including all the new content from the framework in my lessons and assessments. 

What will I accept as evidence of learning?

	10.2.1.A: I can compare the ideas of 3 philosophers from 1600-1800.	10.2.1.B: I can describe the major democratic revolutions in France, Haiti, the United States, England, and Latin America.	10.2.1.C: I can explain how the ideas of at least 3 major philosophers influenced the democratic revolutions in England, the US, France, and Latin America.
4	Students can explain main philosophical ideas for 3 or more philosophers and explain similarities and differences.	Students can describe what happened in all of the following democratic revolutions: France, Haiti, the United States, England, and Latin America.	Students can explain how at least 3 philosophers influenced democratic revolutions.
3	Students can explain main philosophical ideas for philosophers and explain similarities and differences.	Students can describe what happened in most of the following democratic revolutions: France, Haiti, the United States, England, and Latin America.	Students can explain how at least 2 philosophers influenced democratic revolutions.
2	Students can explain main philosophical ideas for 2 or more philosophers.	Students can describe what happened in two of the following democratic revolutions: France, Haiti, the United States, England, and Latin America.	Students can explain how at least 1 philosopher influenced democratic revolutions.
1	Students can explain main philosophical ideas for 1 or more philosophers.	Students can describe one revolution.	Students can generally explain how philosophers influenced revolutions.

How do I teach this?

This part is what you already do, I lecture, I give quizzes, we read and analyze, we have discussions and debates, and students explore on their own using hyperdocs and different activities. There is no one perfect method for this part: you teach as you always have done. The only difference is that you want to make sure you are teaching aligned to the objectives and making clear to students which objectives you are working on. 

Here is how I taught standards 10.2.1.A and 10.2.1.B this summer: 

First I use tools like Quizizz (Quiz 1 and Quiz 2) and Quizlet to build vocabulary and basic content knowledge. This is usually paired with a small lecture to introduce the concepts and objectives for the day or unit. Here is what that lecture looked like in my Summer School class. 

• Students complete this Enlightenment Salon task to prepare them for 10.2.1.A
• Students complete this Revolutions Hyperdoc to prepare them for 10.2.1.B

You'll notice this is all work students can do at their own pace, that doesn't mean we didn't stop and discuss, in fact, I think it allows more room for discussion with this format. We would stop class and review the objectives, take questions, have students share what they had learned, and so on. Again, nothing I am doing here is really that revolutionary. What is different than how I used to teach is how I have intentionally aligned all the activities to a clear objective.

 Have you tried this in your classroom? Share your thoughts in the comments! Have questions? Leave a comment on tweet me!