PLAN 7: Planning Checks for

UnderstandingThink about your lessons this

week. How did you know if you students were ready for the assessment? Did they get it

like you thought?

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Do Now: The Non-Example

– In a previous CS session on executing an effective introduction to content, you learned that teachers need to take four critical actions: Emphasize Key Points, Command Student Attention, Actively Involve Students, and __________. What is the fourth action that did Mr. Darcy not do effectively (or not do at all)?

– In a previous CS session on executing effective student practice, you learned that teachers need to take three critical actions: Connect, Direct, and __________. What is the third action that Mr. Darcy did not do effectively (or not do at all)?

– What is the impact of this missing action:• On Mr. Darcy?• On his students?

Handout 1: p. 487- Mr. Darcy & the Monomial Expressions (3 read/respond)

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Checking For Understanding: The Bottom Line

No one is teaching if no one is learning – it is our responsibility as teachers to

frequently and effectively check for understanding

during all parts of the lesson cycle.

How student SHOW what they KNOW!

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Checking For Understanding: Sequence of Sessions

PLAN 7:  Planning Checks for Understanding (CFUs)– Identify the appropriate places in your lesson plans to

plan CFUs. (Where to put them?)– Write strong CFU questions and tasks aligned to your

key points. (What to ask?)

EXEC 3:  Executing Checks for Understanding (CFUs)– Techniques for executing CFUs that maximize student

participation and response. – Responding to CFUs in a way that corrects

misunderstanding and deepens understanding.

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Session Overview: Objectives & Agenda

Objective: Teachers will plan scaffolded checks for understanding throughout their lessons by:• Identifying the most critical moments to check for understanding.

• Writing questions and/or planning tasks that allow them to determine whether students are clear or confused with regard to the most critical content.

Area of Focus

Do Now & Opening: The “Old” Mr. Darcy

Strong CFUs: Analyzing

• What They Look Like (The “New” Mr. Darcy)

• How To Plan Them

Closing: Next Steps

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Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Process for Analysis

Handout 2: p. 488- Strong CFUs – The “New” Mr. Darcy

– Take 1 minute to read through Mr. Darcy’s lesson vision

Analyzing Mr. Darcy’s Plan in 5 Easy Steps! • CS posts content about CFUs• CMs read section of Mr. Darcy’s plan• CM pairs discuss focus questions• Whole-group debrief• Rinse and Repeat• I KNOW YOU WANT CONTENT SPECIFIC,

SO…..Solution Center, E-3

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Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part One (Opening)- p. 489

Checks for understanding should occur throughout the lesson cycle to check student comprehension of the key points of the lesson.

Focus Questions• What content did Mr. Darcy CFU in the Opening?• Why was it important for him to do this CFU at this point in the

lesson?

CFU AHA

• Effective teachers often use the Opening to push students to “call up” relevant background knowledge– remember, all parts of the lesson cycle can and should be used to CFU!

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Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Two (INM)- p. 490

• An effective check for understanding forces what is in a student’s brain to come out and be visible to the teacher. CFUs must:- Directly link to a key point (or to a group of key points).- Allow us to determine whether or not a student understands

a key point… and why or why not.- Are at the appropriate level of rigor. (same as KP)

• Many effective CFUs consist of teacher questions, but every question is not a CFU. For a question to be a CFU, it must tell us

what students know about something we have already taught them.

Focus Questions

Mr. Darcy asks several questions in this 2-minute section… but these

questions are not CFUs. Why not? Be sure to consider both:

• The pair of questions (to which students answer “giving” and “taking.”)

• The individual “What do you think?” question.

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Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Three (INM)- p. 491

• CFUs during the introduction to content to help students “chunk and chew” the information… and helps us make sure they aren’t “choking.”

• We must plan CFUs that check the right amount of information at the right time:

• Small-Chunks (lower level- small pieces of info- 1 KP)• Big-Chunks (integrated and higher-level; linked KPS)• Chunky-Chunks (trickiest)

Focus Question

Why did Mr. Darcy spend a lot of time CFU-ing Step Two of the process

(and not as much time with Step One)?

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Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Four (INM)- p. 492

• CFUs during the introduction to content to help students “chunk and chew” the information… and helps us make sure they aren’t “choking.”

• But students aren’t likely to “choke” on every key point – we need to be strategic about deciding which key points are the most critical “chunks” to check.

Focus Questions• Why didn’t Mr. Darcy CFU either Step #3 or Step #4 at this point?• What did Mr. Darcy accomplish with his quick CFU of Step #5?

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Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Five (INM)- p. 493

An effective check for understanding forces what is in a student’s

brain to come out and be visible to the teacher. CFUs must:• Directly link to a key point (or to a group of key points).• Allow us to determine whether or not a student understands a

key point… and why or why not.

(bite-sized data to coach and correct)• Are at the appropriate level of rigor. (same as KP)• Check the right amount of information at the right time.

Focus Questions• Why is Mr. Darcy CFU-ing just Steps #3-5 here? Why not check all

steps at this point?• How does this CFU meet all of the criteria? (evaluate it against

each of the four indicators)

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Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Six- p. 494

CFUs during the introduction to content to help

students “chunk and chew” the information…

and helps us make sure they aren’t “choking.”

Focus Question Why did Mr. Darcy take the time to do this last CFU? After all, he

ended up CFU-ing every step of the process earlier – why not just move straight to practice?

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Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Seven (GP)- p. 495-496

• The gradual release of responsibility means we’re still “chunking and chewing” with CFUs in the practice sections of the lesson (particularly during the Guided Practice). The primary differences are that:

• Students are taking more responsibility for the content.• Students are often working on more than one key point at

a time.• We must plan CFUs that check the right amount of information at

the right time:• Small-Chunks• Big-Chunks• Chunky-Chunks

Focus Question The CFU questions/tasks in this practice activity are pretty much the same

as the CFU questions/tasks in the introduction to content. The difference is in Mr. Darcy’s method of executing his Guided Practice CFUs: What are some of these key differences?

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Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Impact of CFUs

(If executed effectively – more on that to come!):

What will be the impact of these strong CFUs on:

• Mr. Darcy?

• His students?

Supplemental Resource:

Handout 3: p. 497-509- Strong CFUs – Ms. Bennett’s Social Studies Plan

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Application

• Look for 3 places you would want to put key points- a small-chunk, big-chunk, and chunky-chunk place.

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Agenda

Area of Focus

Do Now & Opening: The “Old” Mr. Darcy

Strong CFUs:

• What They Look Like (The “New” Mr. Darcy)

• How To Plan Them

Closing: Next Steps

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Planning CFUs: Step-by-Step Process

1. Identify where you need to check for understanding: Have you just taught a key point? Is this a “chunk” students might “choke” on?

2. Identify what kind of data you’re looking for: What should your students be able to day or do at this point in the lesson?

3. Write a baseline CFU question or task that would prompt students to say or do that.

4. Write an exemplar response to double-check that your baseline CFU gets to the right information (and to provide yourself with an answer key).

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Planning CFUs: Questions vs. Tasks

Step 3: Write a baseline CFU question or task.

• Questions: Push students to show what they know about the key points (repeat steps)

• Tasks: Push students to show what they can do with the key points (after defining term, students generate example)

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Application

• Time willin’ extension: Determine whether to have a task or question CFU in each place you noted

• Write question or task CFUs for these 3 spots.

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Agenda

Area of Focus

Do Now & Opening: The “Old” Mr. Darcy

Strong CFUs:

• What They Look Like (The “New” Mr. Darcy)

• How To Plan Them

Closing: Next Steps

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Closing: Getting “Meta”

• How was your understanding of key points about checks for understanding checked during this session?

• How will it be checked after this session?

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Closing: TAL Rubric & Next Steps

E-3: Check for academic understanding frequently by questioning, listening and/or observing, and provide feedback (that affirms right answers and corrects wrong answers), in order to ensure student learning.

BP Indicators AP Indicators

Strand One

WHO & HOW

Directs questions to a random variety of students and can identify individual responses.

Directs questions to a representative subset of students and can identify individual responses.

Strand Two

WHAT

Crafts questions that would reliably discern whether students understand.

Crafts questions that would reliably discern the extent of student understanding (e.g., scaffolded questioning).

Strand Three

WHEN

Asks questions about the most important ideas occasionally.

Asks questions about the most important ideas throughout the lesson.

Strand Four

HOW to respond

Upholds high expectations for successful responses and tells students whether they have met the standard.

Upholds high expectations for successful responses and tells students why they have or have not met the standard.

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Checking For Understanding: The Bottom Line

No one is teaching if no one is learning – it is our responsibility as teachers to

frequently and effectively check for understanding

during all parts of the lesson cycle.