Project 1: UDL Before and After Universal Design for Learning: Before and After: Take a standard, worksheet, objective, or lecture-/test-based activity and make it UDL. Your work can be a 500-750 words paper or a 3-7 minute video or 23-30 PowerPoint Presentation (with Narration). This document contains a rubric and three examples. Your work should have the following elements: Overviewbriefly describe what you are doing. Include the standard, objective, or goal. Beforewhat is a traditional, non-UDL, way this gets taught? Explanationhow and why are you doing it this way? Afterdescribe your new way to do this? Assessmenthow do you measure student success? UDL Guidelineswhat are the 3-4 UDL Guidelines that you address? How does your project address them?

UDL Before and After Rubric 3 2 1 Overview Clear, concise description with goal and objective Description is generally clear and concise, objective or goal mentioned Unclear goal or missing objective/goal Before Clear description of traditional teaching method: characterized by lecture, print-only delivery and assessment

General description of activity. Poor description of activity.

Explanation Clear and compelling of how and why you are doing Generally clear explanation of how and why. Missing how or why of activity After New project / activity engages students and correlates to UDL principles. Potentially engages all students in a classroom

New project / activity offers a different approach to traditional methods. Potentially engages more students in a classroom.

New project /activity offers little different to traditional method. Potentially engages limited number of students in a classroom. Assessment Clear and doable assessment that captures the objective. Assessment captures objective. Assessment is too complicated or does not capture objective UDL Guidelines Persuasive rationales for 3-4 UDL Guidelines 3-4 guidelines with some explanation Missing guidelines or explanations.

UDL: Before and After (Example: Making a Scene with Similes) Overview Heres an activity that I developed to help students viscerally connect to figurative language, specifically similes. It can be a pre-reading activity to a piece of literature that has significant figurative language. In this activity students enact similes as an alternative to simply using paper and pencil. The objective would be for students to demonstrate a basic understanding between the literal and figurative use of words in similes. It is a part of this curriculum standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. A key element of this standard is for students to understand how words work in figurative language. A difficult part for many students is using language to explain language. Using a physical visual activity can help students who have subtle or severe language problems. It can also enrich the experience of students who are good at language by connecting language to visual or physical phenomena. Before A traditional way to cover this would be something like the worksheet below. This worksheet is from k12Reader.com and its a fairly typical activity for grades 4-6 (actually, my children came home with a similar one recently).

http://www.k12reader.com/figurative-language/circle-the-simile.pdf Explanation We will UDLify the teaching of similes Now the fundamental approach to this is to make two-dimensional print become a three-dimensional activity and stay faithful to the curriculum objective; in this case it is figurative language. If you want a shortcut to understanding UDL, think how do I turn 2D 3D. After Using three inexpensive flip cameras, I would divide the classroom into three groups of 8-9 students. Each group would get the instructions below. Actually, I would print the similes 10 large pieces of paper (like cue cards). Artifact ________________________________________________________________________ Making a Scene with Similes (handout) Your group must act and video record the following 10 Simile Scenes Your group is.

1. As hungry as bears (without growling) 2. As busy as bees (without buzzing) 3. As sturdy as brick houses 4. As slow as snails 5. As light as feathers 6. As quiet as mice 7. As gentle as lambs (without bahhaaahhing) 8. As wise as owls (without saying who) 9. As proud as lions 10. As sneaky as snakes (without hissing) Every student must participate in every scene, so take turns using the camera. ________________________________________________________________________ Assessment The assessment would be a checklist review of the video or an observation of the recording. Watch that was participating in a majority of acting out the similes. If the students do the action when prompted by the simile, they are demonstrating a basic understanding of the simile (and its a good building block for later). UDL Guidelines 3Options for comprehension. The concept of figurative language can be difficult for some students to comprehend. When they act out the similes, they connect the behavior of the literal object with the figurative usage. 5Options for expression. Students get to express the power of language without reading or writing. They can demonstrate a broad and beginning understanding of similes in physical activity. 9Options for self-regulation. Working in a group is a good way for students to follow and model other students. The use of a camera adds an extra behavioral scaffold to emphasize the importance of doing the task--kids take their work more seriously when it is recorded.

UDL Before and After (Example: Nuts for Fractions) Overview One gateway skill for math students is the ability to add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators. Spending time and doing this in a UDL way will pay off in the long run. In this activity students get a visual and tactile experience with adding fractions with unlike denominators in a customized Smartboard Activity. This activity is a part of this common core standard. CCSS.Math.Content.5.NF.A.1 Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators (including mixed numbers) by replacing given fractions with equivalent fractions in such a way as to produce an equivalent sum or difference of fractions with like denominators Before This is a problem from a 5th grade textbook Anna mixed 3/4 cup peanuts with 3/8 cup almonds. How many cups of nuts did she have? Theres an interesting premise in the problem above with the nuts, as it is an authentic application of adding fractions with unlike denominators. However, its very static. How can we make this hands on? How can we reveal the underlying premise of finding the Lowest Common Denominator (LCD)? We could have mixing cups with nuts, but that might be messy (though there is a version of this activity where students use the soft string of a mop head). We would also have to use something other than nuts because of the prevalence of nut allergies in schools. An effective and efficient way to handle this would be to create a SmartBoard activity. This activity gives students a visual and tactile way to do a variety of problems with fractions of unlike denominators. After

We created a SmartNotebook file (Its available at the Smart Exchange, just search for Nuts for Fractions).

In this activity students get a variety of scenarios of nut mixing. They have to move blocks of nuts that are in 1/8 increments. There are 8 problems here, and would be good for a group of 3-5 students. Ideally, this would be one of 4 stations that students would rotate through. The other stations could be written problems, manipulatives, a game-like activity, students explaining the LCD in a video, etc. Assessment For each group I would have a different Smart Notebook file (e.g. Nuts for Fractions 1.notebook, Nuts for Fractions 2.notebook. etc.) Each group would simply save their work. I would peripherally observe the groups to make sure each student got a chance to participate in manipulating the board. It would be a pass/fail assessment. Every group needed to have 80% of the problems correct and every group needed to share at the board. UDL Guidelines 2) Provide options for language, mathematical expression and symbols. This activity demystifies the process of the LCD.

3) Provide options for comprehension. This activity gives students a tactile and visual way to understand addition of fractions with unlike denominators. 4) Provide options for physical action. Sometimes we need to accommodate students with limited mobility, and sometimes we need to accommodate students who have trouble staying still. Allowing students to get out of their seats and touch the Smartboard is a helpful strategy. 8) Provide options for self-regulation. Working collaboratively in a group, and the pacing of the problems will help students learn to self-regulate.

UDL Before and After (Example: Nuts for Fractions, VIDEO VERSION) If you would like to explain your work orally and use visuals, consider creating a video or PowerPoint with narration. Go here to see a video version: http://youtu.be/Rr8yZ4kb4hY