How can educators leverage neuroscience research about how the human brain learns? How can we use this information to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment so our students achieve deep learning and understanding in all subject areas? Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience answers these questions by merging insights from neuroscience with Understanding by Design (UbD), the framework used by thousands of educators to craft units of instruction and authentic assessments that emphasize understanding rather than recall. Readers will learn - How the brain processes incoming information and determines what is (or is not) retained as long-term memory; - How brain science reveals factors that influence student motivation and willingness to put forth effort; - How to fully engage all students through relevance and achievable challenge; - How key components of UbD, including backward design, essential questions, and transfer tasks, are supported by research in neuroscience; - Why specific kinds of teaching and assessment strategies are effective in helping students gain the knowledge, skills, and deep understanding they need to succeed in school and beyond; and - How to create a brain-friendly classroom climate that supports lasting learning. Authors Jay McTighe and Judy Willis translate research findings into practical information for everyday use in schools, at all grade levels and in all subject areas. With their guidance, educators at all levels can learn how to design and implement units that empower teachers and students alike to capitalize on the brain's tremendous capacity for learning.

An advanced look at curriculum mapping to align with 21st century learning.

Reading comes easily to some students, but many struggle with some part of this complex process that requires many areas of the brain to operate together through an intricate network of neurons. As a classroom teacher who has also worked as a neurologist, Judy Willis offers a unique perspective on how to help students not only learn the mechanics of reading and comprehension, but also develop a love of reading. She shows the importance of establishing a nonthreatening environment and provides teaching strategies that truly engage students and help them * Build phonemic awareness * Manipulate patterns to improve reading skills * Improve reading fluency * Combat the stress and anxiety that can inhibit reading fluency * Increase vocabulary *Overcome reading difficulties that can interfere with comprehension By enriching your understanding of how the brain processes language, emotion, and other stimuli, this book will change the way you understand and teach reading skills--and help all your students become successful readers. Note: This product listing is for the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of the book.

What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.

Many teachers in regular classrooms feel unprepared to teach students with learning disabilities. Fortunately, brain research has confirmed that strategies benefiting learners with special challenges are suited for engaging and stimulating all learners. In this book, neurologist and classroom teacher Judy Willis explains that we can best help students by putting in place strategies, accommodations, and interventions that provide developmentally and academically appropriate challenges to suit the needs, gifts, and goals of each student. Brain-Friendly Strategies for the Inclusion Classroom will help teachers * Understand how the brain learns and the technologies that reveal this process. * Implement strategies that are compatible with students' individual learning styles and honor their multiple intelligences. * Improve the focus of students with attention disorders and help them gain the confidence and skills they need to develop goal-oriented behaviors. * Create an enriching learning environment by incorporating student-centered activities, discovery and hands-on learning experiences, cross-curricular learning, and multisensory lessons. * Implement strategic review, study, and test preparation strategies that will allow students to retain information and connect it with future learning. * Build safe, supportive classroom communities and raise class awareness and empathy for students with learning disabilities. It's time for teachers to lower the barriers, not the bar. Using strategies that align with research on how people's brains function, teachers can engage all students as individuals and help them reach their maximum potential with joy and confidence.

How can educators leverage neuroscience research about how the human brain learns? How can we use this information to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment so our students achieve deep learning and understanding in all subject areas? Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience answers these questions by merging insights from neuroscience with Understanding by Design (UbD), the framework used by thousands of educators to craft units of instruction and authentic assessments that emphasize understanding rather than recall. Readers will learn - How the brain processes incoming information and determines what is (or is not) retained as long-term memory; - How brain science reveals factors that influence student motivation and willingness to put forth effort; - How to fully engage all students through relevance and achievable challenge; - How key components of UbD, including backward design, essential questions, and transfer tasks, are supported by research in neuroscience; - Why specific kinds of teaching and assessment strategies are effective in helping students gain the knowledge, skills, and deep understanding they need to succeed in school and beyond; and - How to create a brain-friendly classroom climate that supports lasting learning. Authors Jay McTighe and Judy Willis translate research findings into practical information for everyday use in schools, at all grade levels and in all subject areas. With their guidance, educators at all levels can learn how to design and implement units that empower teachers and students alike to capitalize on the brain's tremendous capacity for learning.

An advanced look at curriculum mapping to align with 21st century learning.