Return to flip book view
CraftingCrafting AssignmentsAssignments with Purposewith Purpose22-23 Inspired Teaching Institutes:USING IMPROV TO GROW RESILIENCEwww.inspiredteaching.org 5614 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 258, WDC 20015Copyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CONTENTSIntroduction to Workbook.....................................2 What do learners need?..........................................3 *Meeting My Learners' Needs..............................4 What constitutes purposeful learning?...............5 *Important, Interesting, Useful (students).........6 *Important, Interesting, Useful (teachers).........7 How do we plan with purpose?............................8 Example: Infusing Lessons with Purpose ...........9 *Infusing Lessons with Purpose........................12 Additional Resources.............................................13*Asterisk denotes printable worksheet pageA Workbook for BringingA Workbook for BringingPurpose Into Your LessonsPurpose Into Your Lessons
IntroductionMost schools have existing lesson planning tools; these resources were designed to spark yourcreative thinking and out-of-the-box ideas which can then be plugged into those required formats.To put some fun and spontaneity back into the lesson-planning process.To assist you in crafting impactful assignments with purpose.1.2.Learn about the ABCDEs of Learning and use the Meeting My Learners' Needs brainstormingdocument to analyze your lessons and determine if/how they meet those needs.Introduce your students to the Interesting, Important, Useful activity to make classroom learningmore engaging by tapping into what they find fascinating.Use the Infusing Lessons with Purpose worksheet to create compelling lessons that connectstudents’ curiosity and learning needs.All of these tools were developed using the Inspired Teaching approach,which empowers teachers to build engagement-based, student-centeredclassrooms through these 5 Core Elements: Mutual Respect; Student asExpert; Purpose, Persistence, and Action; Joy; and Wide-Ranging Evidenceof Student Learning.www.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOKWe know you can probably plan lessons in your sleep, so the goal of this workbook is two-fold: 2
What do learners need?Psychologist William Glasser defined five core human needs "which provide motivation for all that we do."Framed in the context of children, these needs are Autonomy, Belonging, Competence, DevelopmentalAppropriateness, and Engagement.Children learn and grow best when their needs are met. When they’re not thriving, these unmet needs areoften the root of the problem. Identifying unmet needs is the first step in addressing them. Lessonsdesigned with these needs in mind motivate students to work hard and learn.www.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK3AUTONOMY"I want to have a say in what happens to me." Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, toexplore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, andto feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will. BELONGING“I want to feel connected to and valued by those around me.” Belonging is our psychological need to love and care for others and to believe that we areloved and cared for in family relationships, friendships, and working relationships. Tobelong, we must connect with people by cooperating, caring, sharing, and being involved. COMPETENCE"I want to feel a sense of significance, worth, and accomplishment."For us to feel capable, we need a sense of empowerment, worthiness, andachievement. Competence is both an inner sense of pride, importance, and self-esteem and an outer sense of being heard and respected.DEVELOPMENTAL APPROPRIATENESS "I am nurtured in my continual growth."Learners need the right amount of challenge, fueled by just enough skill to getthrough the difficulty. If children are tasked with assignments that are too far beyondwhere they are developmentally or too easy, they are likely to disengage.ENGAGEMENT AND FUN "I want to be actively involved."Engagement and fun can happen through play and laughter, but joyful learning alsooccurs when we are creating, problem-solving, making interesting decisions, andinteracting with others through worthwhile tasks.
Meeting My Learners' Needswww.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK4Use your answers to the following questions to identify ways you can meet learnerneeds. Implement these approaches in your lessons and watch your students thrive!Examples: allowing students to choose seats or partners; students choosing how to showtheir learning for a project; expectations that allow for free movement around the classroomHow can Imeet mystudents’need forAutonomy?How can Imeet mystudents’ need forCompetence?How can I meet my students’ need forDevelopmentalAppropriateness?How can Imeet mystudents’need forEngagementand Fun?How can Imeet mystudents’need forBelonging?Exa mpl es: di spl ayi ng stu den ts’ wo rk/ pho tos /qu est ion s/i dea s o n a cl ass roo m w all ;mea nin gfu l g rou p w ork ; o ppo rtu nit ies to sh owc ase st ude nt exp ert iseExa mpl es: mu lti ple op por tun iti es for pr act ice of a ski ll; sh ini ng a l igh t o n g row th (sostu den ts can ac kno wle dge th e i ncr eas e o f t hei r c omp ete nce )Exa mpl es: ut ili zin g a ppr opr iat e g rad e l eve l o f s tan dar ds; sc aff old ing to he lp stu den tsstr etc h t owa rd mee tin g a go alExa mpl es: pl ayi ng mus ic to sta rt off th e d ay; ac tiv e l ear nin g t hat in vol ves th e w hol ebod y; int era cti ve gam es; le sso ns tha t r equ ire ha nds -on ac tiv ityInspired Brainstorming:
The answer to the question, “What constitutes purposeful learning?” is often highly individual. Knowing what our students find meaningful can help us create learning that taps into that purpose. So how can we figure out what they find meaningful? By creating space for them to talk about it.You can have students fill out the document on the following page individually or you can create a chart at the front of the room and share as a group.If you choose to have students share as a group, begin by asking these questions:Note their observations and collaboratively create a definition for each word.Next, invite students to reflect on their lives and share what they find Interesting, Important, andUseful. If doing this activity in a group, when students spot something someone else has writtenthat resonates, add a + sign next to it. Now you have a set of hooks, potential frames, and applications that you can draw upon to makecontent feel relevant. Areas where you see several +s let you know what will resonate with morethan one student.Your task is to take WHAT you have to teach and think about HOW to teach it in a way thattouches upon some of these interests. You can use the brainstorming document on Page 7 to helporganize your thoughts. For inspiration, view a completed example on Page 10.What makes something Important?What makes something Interesting?What makes something Useful?www.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK5What constitutes purposeful learning?
Interesting, Important, UsefulWe are motivated to learn, and more likely to reach our full potential, when what we learn is interesting,important, and useful.Write down things that you find, interesting, important, and useful. Note WHY you find them to be so. What do youfind interesting?What do youfind important?What do youfind useful?Why? Why? Why?In your own words define the following terms.Interesting Important UsefulInteresting Important Usefulwww.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK6
www.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK7
Now it’s time to put it all together! We’ve provided a document to assist you with this on Page 12.Take a few minutes to think of one piece of content or skill you’ll have to teach in the near future. Ideally, you’ll have done the Interesting, Important, Useful brainstorm with your students, and you’llhave their insights to bear on this next step. If you don’t have those insights, use what you knowabout them at the moment to think of a connection to your chosen topic that is either Interesting,Important, or Useful—or maybe all three!Take your topic and connection(s) and dream up a brief description of what you might do in thatlesson. Once you’ve done this, reflect on how that lesson might specifically address each of thelearner's needs.Need some inspiration? Consider the below scenario, and see how the teacher described uses thetools on the example pages. www.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK8How do we plan with purpose?Jake is a 5th-grade teacher with anupcoming unit on the carbon cycle.He's taught this subject in the past and found that his students oftenstumble over the details, finding itsomewhat boring and prettydisconnected from their everyday.In the examples on the followingpages, you'll see how he turns what he learns in an Interesting, Important,Useful Brainstorm with his class intoa lesson with deep engagement andpurpose for all his learners. Example Scenario
Interesting things are things youwant to learn more about. They arethings that you could read about orwatch shows about for hours andnot get bored.You have to know important things inorder to stay safe or be aware ofwhat's going on. Important things arethings lots of people should careabout.Useful things help you get stuffdone. These are things like knowinghow to use a computer or how tocook food. They make life easier.Sonic the HedgehogHe looks cool and themovie is funny.My familyThey take care ofme.ComputerHelps me get schoolwork done.Crocheting thingsIt's neat to turnstring into somethingelse.RecyclingHelps theenvironment.Being able to cookYou need food to live.K-PopIt's fun to dance to.FriendsThey help me feelhappy and have fun.Knowing how to helpfriendsYou can resolveconflicts.Black PantherThe movie isawesome.WaterKeeps you fromgetting dehydrated.Cell phoneConnects you topeopleHere is an example of this brainstorm from Jake's 5th-grade class. Write down things that you find, interesting, important, and useful. Note WHY you find them to be so. What do youfind interesting?What do youfind important?What do youfind useful?Why? Why? Why?In your own words define the following terms.Interesting Important UsefulInteresting Important Usefulwww.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK9Interesting, Important, UsefulEXAMPLE
www.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK10EXAMPLELooking at whathis studentsshared in thebrainstorm, Jakesees places forconnection in hiscarbon cycle unit.What is the carbon cycle and how does it work?Students noted these popculture things like Sonic and K-Pop and Black Panther... Iwonder if these could somehowfeature in learning productsthey create related to thistopic... They didn't share this inthe brainstorm but I also knowthey love playing games duringrainy day recess.This class likes working togther,their friendships are importantand that's why they play gamesso well as a group. I am alsothinking about this interest inthe environment. Maybe thisunit needs to connect he carboncycle more directly with climatechange.There's not as much to pull fromin the useful category exceptthe part about helping friends. IfI create a learning experiencethat requires them to problemsolve and work together as agroup that will help to build that"helping friends" skill.
Students will be able to choose the groups they work in for the board gamecreation, the kind of game they create and all the rules, design, and featuresof these games.Students will be assigned a lower school class that they will be creating thegame for. They'll be working with their peers on the creation of the gameand also sharing what they've created across the school - deepeningconnection. I will offer reference materials for the assignment at different levels ofcomplexity, at the end of each work period groups will share out lessonslearned.I have textbook and online materials specifically designed to teach about thecarbon cycle to this age range. The board game construction will be a bit ofa stretch but it employs the kind of tactical thinking they're starting toexplore at this age.This class loves games so they'll find that part fun to begin with. When Iintroduce them to the idea that they could incorporate things like Sonic theHedgehog or Black Panther into the games they're creating that will add tothe fun. Infusing Lessons with Purposewww.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK11Inspired Brainstorming:Lesson Topic:Brief Description:AUTONOMYWhat choices will learners be able to make during this lesson?(Examples: partners, activities, format of final product, readings)BELONGINGHow will this lesson connect learners with their peers? (Examples: sharing with class, gettingfeedback from peers, small groups)COMPETENCE What scaffolds will be in place to ensureall students can find success in this lesson?(Examples: sharing learning with class,tiered tasks, texts of differing complexity) DEVELOPMENTALAPPROPRIATENESSHow is this lesson tailored to learners of this age?(Examples: texts written for age range, tasks thattake into account appropriate fine motor skills)ENGAGEMENT & FUNWhat will make this lesson both fascinating and joyful?(Examples: content is relevant to student interests,components allow for play and spontaneity)EXAMPLEJake uses hisreflection on theinteresting/important/useful exercise tocome up with apurpose for this lessonwhich he connects tothe ABCDEs.Learning about the carbon cycleThe carbon cycle is necessary to maintain life on earth but human interventions threaten this vitalpart of nature's balance. Students will learn how the carbon cycle works and then turn theirlearning into board games they can share with younger students to teach them about theimportance of the carbon cycle and what we can do in our daily lives to reduce our negative impacton this cycle.
Infusing Lessons with Purposewww.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK12Inspired Brainstorming:Lesson Topic:Brief Description:AUTONOMYWhat choices will learners be able to make during this lesson?(Examples: partners, activities, format of final product, readings)BELONGINGHow will this lesson connect learners with their peers? (Examples: sharing with class, gettingfeedback from peers, small groups)COMPETENCE What scaffolds will be in place to ensureall students can find success in this lesson?(Examples: sharing learning with class,tiered tasks, texts of differing complexity) DEVELOPMENTALAPPROPRIATENESSHow is this lesson tailored to learners of this age?(Examples: texts written for age range, tasks thattake into account appropriate fine motor skills)ENGAGEMENT & FUNWhat will make this lesson both fascinating and joyful?(Examples: content is relevant to student interests,components allow for play and spontaneity)
Take the SurveyWe want your feedback!We want your feedback!If you found this resource useful,please complete a short survey aboutit by clicking the button below.Join us at our nextFAST-PACED,IDEA-RICHInstitute!View UpcomingInstituteswww.inspiredteaching.orgCopyright © Center for Inspired Teaching 2023CRAFTING ASSIGNMENTS WITH PURPOSE WORKBOOK13Get #Inspired2Learn!Please visit https://bit.ly/3FUXLYT or scanthe above QR code to access a collection ofready-to-use lessons and activities with full,detailed explanations of each activity andapplicable Common Core Standards to helpyou become an Inspired Teacher!