Overview
Ensuring curriculum leaders can aid teachers in crafting interdisciplinary units and lessons is crucial for supporting diverse learners. Leaders provide essential guidance and expertise to make sure the objectives, assessments, and evaluative tools are in alignment. This alignment fosters a coherent learning experience, promotes inclusivity, and helps close achievement gaps by recognizing and addressing the unique needs of students. The collaborative efforts between curriculum leaders and teachers enhance professional development, driving continuous improvement in educational practices.
Imagine the school where you work is asking teachers to plan interdisciplinary units more effectively by using AI. As the curriculum leader, you will demonstrate leveraging AI to create a unit plan for a grade level or content area PLC.
Select either the “EDU-556 Elementary Class Profile” or “EDU-556 Secondary Class Profile” to create a unit plan. Identify a real-world topic for the unit that is appropriate to the selected grade level and conducive to integrating different content areas (e.g., American Revolution, The Renaissance, rainforests, electricity, trees, focus aspects of an English novel).
Note: You will be using a generative AI platform (e.g., ChatGPT, Magic School) to assist in generating parts of a unit plan, such as the essential questions and rubric. You will need to use AI for at least one portion of the unit plan to enhance and vary your instruction. The output created with an AI tool is the starting point, rather than the final product. Reviewing, editing, and refinement are still essential to ensure work is free of any inaccuracies, biases, or problematic content and to tailor content with students' needs and interests in mind. Review the AI Resource Center located in the Student Success Center to understand acceptable uses of AI.
Complete the “EDU-556 Interdisciplinary Unit Plan” template with the following:
- Unit Plan Preparation: Include content standards with full language and any number/letter coding, classroom and student factors, at least three learning objectives, resources/materials, equipment, and technology, 1-2 sentence unit plan summary, academic language, overall learning goal, and the approximate time (weeks) and learning progression each week for the unit. Consider using generative AI to assist you in creating 3-5 essential questions that students will explore during the unit.
- Multiple Means of Expression: Includes 3-5 sentences summarizing the research-based, authentic formative and summative assessments that would be utilized to monitor student progress and modify instruction. Assessments should allow students to demonstrate knowledge in various ways and should be labeled as either formative or summative. Considering the students in the class profile, discuss how you can differentiate for students with exceptionalities (special education and gifted), English learners (ELs), and early finishers.
- Rubric: Create a measurable and grade-level appropriate rubric for one of the summative assessments described in the multiple means of expression. Consider leveraging a generative AI platform.
- Multiple Means of Representation: Select at least three instructional strategies that would be implemented during this unit to present information and content in different ways to cater to the diverse sensory and cognitive needs of your learners. In 5-8 sentences, describe the instructional strategy details, including how each strategy aligns with the standards, learning objectives, and overall learning goal. Address how the instructional strategy will be implemented within the lesson plan and what the teachers and students will do for each instructional strategy. These strategies can be implemented during different lessons throughout the unit plan. Considering the students in the class profile, discuss how you can differentiate each strategy for students with exceptionalities (special education and gifted), English learners (ELs), and early finishers.
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Select at least three opportunities for student engagement that increase motivation and involve students in the learning process. Describe how students will explore, practice, and apply the content and academic language. Considering the students in the class profile, discuss how you can differentiate for students with exceptionalities (special education and gifted), English learners (ELs), and early finishers.
- Interdisciplinary Planning: Brainstorm ideas for integrating other content areas into the unit plan. Consider leveraging an AI platform to generate initial ideas or to expand on your own ideas. In 2-3 sentences, describe the strategies you selected to integrate at least four other content areas (e.g., math, ELA, technology, science, social studies, music, art) and justify your choices. Include a content standard with full language and any number/letter coding along with at least one aligned learning objective for each additional content area.
After completing the unit plan, write a 250-500 word explanation for the teachers in the PLC addressing the following:
- Benefits or challenges in using generative AI in curriculum development to enhance and vary instruction.
- Describe how you followed the “first draft principle” of using AI and what changes you had to make from the original content generated by the AI platform.
Note: The first draft principle means that the first output you obtain from the tool should never be placed “as is” in any course or program. The ideas provided need to be thoroughly reviewed and vetted. Often the information is best used for ideation or to generate workgroup discussion. - Justify how the instructional strategies supported the diverse students in the class profile.
Support your work with 2-3 scholarly resources, including a citation for your AI tools.
While APA Style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit the digital flyer and reflection of this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite Technical Support Articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.
Benchmark Information
This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competencies and professional standards:
Grad. Cert. Instructional Coaching
5.1: Build curriculum by leveraging generative AI to enhance and vary instruction. [MC2, MC4, MC5] [AAQEP 2d; InTASC 7(k), 8(r); ISTE-E 5c]
6.1: Develop aligned unit and lesson objectives with measurable assessments and rubrics. [MC1, MC2] [InTASC 6(b), 6(k), 7(a)]
6.2: Analyze instructional strategies for diverse students. [MC1, MC2, MC3] [InTASC 6(g), 7(b), 8(l), 9(h)]
6.3: Implement a variety of strategies to improve instruction based on data. [MC2] [AAQEP 1d; InTASC 10(e), 10(n), 9(b), 9(k)]
Attachments