TIMELESS PRACTICES TO IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING
Supporting educators and leaders in their important work of helping every student become a confident and successful learner
Unwrapping the Standards Workshop
TIMELESS PRACTICE #2

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
When teachers have clarity about what their students are to learn, John Hattie’s research (Visible Learning, 2009) reveals an effect size of 0.75—equivalent to almost two years of student growth in one year.
The “unwrapping” process is a powerful technique all K-12 educators use to gain that precise clarity. “Unwrapping” shines a bright light on every concept and skill within a standard. When educators “unwrap” prior to any instructional planning or assessment writing, they clearly understand the specific learning targets their students need to learn—and at the corresponding level of rigor. They can then create formative and summative assessments that align with that rigor and plan instruction to help all students achieve the clarified learning targets.
WHAT WILL LARRY PRESENT?
- In this interactive, one-day virtual workshop for PK-12 educators and leaders, you will learn, through both guided and independent practice, how to:
- “Unwrap” standards for your unit of study
- Create a graphic organizer of “unwrapped” concepts and skills
- Determine levels of thinking-skill rigor
- Decide Big Ideas for your students to discover
- Write Essential Questions to focus instruction and assessment
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
- K-12 classroom educators
- Instructional coaches
- Curriculum and assessment coordinators
- School and district leaders
WHAT WILL YOU LEAVE WITH?
- One or more self-selected standards from your own grade and content area for you to “unwrap”
- Graphic organizer (outline, bulleted list, concept map, chart) that includes your:
- “Unwrapped” concepts and skills of selected standards
- Identified levels of cognitive rigor (using Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s Depth of Knowledge)
- Big Ideas
- Essential Questions
- A set of tools for use during and after the workshop:
- “Unwrapping” the Standards Template (hard copy and electronic copy)
- Checklist of Success Criteria for each step of the “Unwrapping” Process
- Next Steps Action Plan