Hope Myles Scott

Reflections - Creating Curriculum Using CAST Lesson Builder

This week I re-worked my curriculum for How Coyote Stole Fire using CAST's Lesson Builder Web site. "Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.[1] As I re-worked the lesson plan, I looked at tips on the site for each category. Many times I design lesson plans without really thinking about all of my students, including those with special needs. I simply copy and paste the lesson plan from the resources that came with my textbook. Using the UDL approach, I have learned that I need to focus on the needs of all students in the course. I have never considered adding additional resources to my lesson plans. Nor have I ever added an anticipatory set to the lesson. Our campus uses the Madeline Hunter elements of lesson design. This means that our lesson plans must include purpose, guided practice, independent practice, and closure. We do not need to include anything else. We are, of course, expected to list TEKS that will be covered. I think by spelling out every step as the UDL design does, forces teachers to really think about what will happen in their classroom. This method should also be very useful in case of subs. They can teach the lesson as designed by the teacher.

My part of the lesson was to include multimedia. I created a lesson that required students to break into groups of 3 - 4 students per group. Each group had a multimedia project to create. The link to my lesson plan is UDL Multimedia Lesson.

[1]About UDL (n.d.) Retrieved March 11, 2011 from http://www.cast.org/udl/index.html