Standards-Based Planning

In the Cortland Enlarged City School District, our planning is based on the learning standards. Paula Rutherford of Just ASK Publications has identified those questions for us to guide our unit (and lesson) planning.  We commonly use her construct of "the ovals" to help us in our planning. The “ovals” are a nice way to think about the process -- and can serve as part of a common vocabulary and understanding:

1. What should students know and be able to do?
2. How will the students and I know when they are successful?
3. What learning experiences will facilitate their success?
4. Based on data, how do I refine the learning experiences?

Here are some of our local resources:

Shortcut to Essential Standards for CECSD

Unit Planning self-assessment
Unit Planning template
Unit Planning rubric