What is UBD? How Do I Apply UBD to a Lesson in My
Classroom?
“Think big,
start small, go for an early win”(Grant
Wiggins - Understanding by Design (1 of 2) - Bing Video, n.d.). UBD or Understanding By Design, is a way of
recreating a lesson so that it is useful, relevant and immersive. It’s a framework that teaches and assesses for
understanding and transfer. To do this
the first question we need to ask is: What in this lesson content is worth
understanding? To answer this question,
we need to evaluate the larger concepts and processes across the content and
then, wait for it… start backwards! Start backwards? Yes!
Figure out what ideas the students should be able to demonstrate as a
goal outcome from the lesson first and then build your lesson from there!
3 key
items to keep Top of Mind while building your UBD lesson
1. Choose
topics that you, as a teacher, are interested in.
2. Remember
that you get what you put into your lesson (Grant
Wiggins - Understanding by Design (2 of 2) - Bing Video, n.d.). So, if you plan your lesson with critical
thinking and creativity, your students will think critically and be creative.
3. Your
goal statement should not be the content with a pronoun in front of it. Your
students need to know what they are doing AND why they are doing it. Your goal should ultimately be a performance
or understanding goal.
Here is a link to better understand UBD: Authentic Education -
What is UbD™?
Grant Wiggins—Understanding by Design (1
of 2)—Bing video. (n.d.).
Retrieved February 28, 2021, from
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ubd&&view=detail&mid=5F059F49EF48CE86DC2E5F059F49EF48CE86DC2E&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dubd%26FORM%3DVDRESM
Grant
Wiggins—Understanding by Design (2 of 2)—Bing video. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2021,
from
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ubd&ru=%2fvideos%2fsearch%3fq%3dubd%26FORM%3dVDRESM&view=detail&mid=DE8CAB805A3849AE8BE4DE8CAB805A3849AE8BE4&rvsmid=5F059F49EF48CE86DC2E5F059F49EF48CE86DC2E&FORM=VDMCNR
