Specifying Elements of Rigor
To clearly define the work of framing a standard requires the teacher/team to seek out a deep understanding of what is meant by rigor and how rigor is correlated within the dichotomy of relevance. The process requires the teacher/team to sequence all the elements of the selected standards for the unit into a coherent, workable framework of knowledge level and application. The critical elements to the success of the framing process is determining the depth and rigor by applying a scaffolding technique that identifies two critical performance areas. These two performance areas include the concepts that students will understand (Big Ideas), and the background (Declarative Knowledge) that students will need to perform the task.
One method in determining big concepts and declarative knowledge is to use a web to brainstorm the types of learning expected within the unit. These generated statements will be helpful when constructing statements of rigor. |
|
- Big Concepts or Ideas .... Essential Questions The big idea are the foundational concepts or understandings that an instructor wants their students to discover and state in their own words by the end of the unit of study. The big idea can be established through an essential question that conveys to students the benefit or value of learning the standards. The essential question is an open‐ended questions that educators use to hook student interest the content of the unit.
- Declarative Knowledge .... Relationships (The students will need to know how to implement the writing process through an expository mode and how to demonstrate their knowledge of basic grammar skills through their writing.)