Saturday, April 30, 2016

UDL Cases

I've been fine tuning my thinking and work with Universal Design for Learning for about a decade now--and that's after 15 years of wrestling with the ideas, though without formally calling it UDL.

Below are 10 'cases in UDL' that I developed and have used in professional development and training.  They are 'ripped from today's headlines' as they are composites and tweaked examples of classroom innovations that I have actually seen.  Use the 9 UDL Guidelines from CAST and identify the top 3 for each.



Here they are (more details here):



1.         Provide options for perception
           
2.         Provide options for language, mathematical expressions, and symbols
           
3.         Provide options for comprehension
           
4.         Provide options for physical action
           
5.         Provide options for expression and communication
           
6.         Provide options for executive functions
           
7.         Provide options for recruiting interest
           
8.         Provide options for sustaining effort and persistence
           
9.         Provide options for self-regulation
           



Identify the Three Most Salient UDL Guidelines in Each Case using the numbers 1-9.


Case 1: Household Vocabulary . UDL Guidelines _,________________________________

Ms. Fernandez teaches Spanish. She is introducing students to the “vocabulary of the household.” She gives students a list of vocabulary words and four different options—draw a diagram, create a short skit, write a poem, or create a comic—each must include the set of household vocabulary words.



Case 2: Unlike Denominators UDL Guidelines ________________________________

Mr. Kouse teaches a mathematics class. He notices that many students have problems adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. He gets a bunch of pebbles and puts them in plastic mixing cups and demonstrates adding amounts with unlike denominators (e.g. 1/4 of a cup and 3/8 of a cup). He sets this up as a station and rotates groups of students through as other groups do different activities.



Case 3: Enacting Novels UDL Guidelines ____________________________________

Mrs. Fodole teaches tenth-grade English. When reading novels and short stories, she notices that many students get confused when characters are speaking to each other. Students are unfamiliar with the conventions of dialogue in prose. She takes small excerpts from the book and has the students write and act scripts from these sections. The students exchange their scripts and enact the scenes.



Case 4: Feedback on Cards UDL Guidelines _____________________________________

Ms. Baer is reviewing the scientific method in the Intro to Science Class. Whenever she lectures for more than 5 minutes, she gives the students index cards with Y on one side and N on the other. Before she moves on to a new concept or idea she asks the kids if they understand and makes them all indicate by showing the Y or the N side of the card. Sometimes she re-teaches it another way, or other times she addresses student questions one at a time. She aloes creates a short action plan for each student to help them better attend and participate during lectures.


Case 5: Historic Tours UDL Guidelines ___________________________________

Mr. Harrigan teaches American History. The students were asked to prepare a ‘tour’ of a public place that is important to them. The tour can be a brochure, audio recording, public presentation. The teacher gives examples of each format. They can choose the place (a park, a street, a restaurant). They need to include the history of this place as well as interviews with people who have experiences at this place. As the students brainstorm and draft their tours, the teacher includes suggestions to make the tour more interesting to potential tourists.




Case 6: Figurative Language Contract UDL Guidelines _____________________________________

Mrs. Jones teaches ESL and is working on figurative language. She has 7 activities relating to figurative language. She believes that students can do 4 of them to demonstrate mastery. Each student must fill out a contract and indicate which 4 they will do. The students keep a checklist and their work in a separate folder. Each day for the week Mrs. Jones will consult with students on their progress through the checklist and contract, giving help and modifying the contract as needed.



Case 7: Pictures and Labels UDL Guidelines _____________________________________

Mrs. Sibli teaches Biology. During the lab she notices that many students have trouble remembering the terms for the equipment. Traditionally, students would have to pass a test on these terms before they began labs, but she worries that that would take too long for this group of students. On the written lab directions she inserts images of the pieces of equipment, and on the equipment she places tags and labels with the names.



Case 8: Cheat Sheet UDL Guidelines _______________________________

Ms. Anderson teaches chemistry. When she covers ionic and covalent bonds, she notices that students have trouble remembering major relationships of the concepts and definitions. In the textbook there is a full chapter of important information. She created a one page “Cheat Sheet” that she gives to every student and had them staple inside of their notebook. She also keeps a few laminated copies on her desk for kids who ‘forget’ theirs.



Case 9: EROX Learning System UDL Guidelines ______________________________________

EROX is an adaptive learning system to help with math. The system consists of assessments, practice problems, and tutorials that are customized to the characteristics of the learner. A student will practice a skill. If she is proficient, she will move on to the next skill. If the student is not proficient, she will practice with ‘hints’ or see a video of a solution method. The student’s home screen is a pie chart with segments of the different skills that show how much h of each skill they have mastered. The goal is for students to autonomously organize their time and resources to appropriately achieve their goal.



Case 10 Remixing Fables with Speech to Text UDL Guidelines ____________________________

Ms. Garcia is a 3rd Grade language arts teacher. Part of the curriculum is for kids to write their own fables. Some students have difficulty with both handwriting and keyboarding., so she has installed a speech to text program on several of the computers. So although all students will produce a written document, they have options for physically getting the words to paper. Some students have trouble ‘beginning from scratch’, she has given kids a list of fable beginnings, characters, settings, scenarios, and morals, and encourages students to choose and remix these critical features and big ideas while adding their own words at ideas at the computer stations.


Answers (of course, there can be very good cases for different answers, but even that activity of disagreeing with these 'answers' is a healthy exercise).



Case 1: Household Vocabulary UDL Guidelines _3,5,7,_____________



Case 2: Unlike Denominators UDL Guidelines __2,3,4,___________



Case 3: Enacting Novels UDL Guidelines _____2,4,6,__________



Case 4: Feedback on Cards UDL Guidelines ___5,8,9,________________



Case 5: Historic Tours UDL Guidelines ___5,7,8,__________



Case 6: Figurative Language Contract UDL Guidelines __5,8,9,_____________



Case 7: Pictures and Labels UDL Guidelines ___1,2,3___________



Case 8: Cheat Sheet UDL Guidelines ___1,3,8___________



Case 9: EROX Learning System UDL Guidelines ______6, 8, 9_____________



Case 10 Remixing Fables with Speech to Text UDL Guidelines ___3, 4, 7________