Misunderstanding and Backward Design: Examining Practical Application in the Language Arts Classroom

Backward Design - Language Arts Classroom

Unfortunately common is student misunderstanding in the language arts classroom. Within the curriculum of upper-elementary and middle public schools, a range of opportunities exist for intelligent students to misconstrue information and, too often, they do not voice their confusion. More saliently, students may not be aware of their misunderstanding at all; this is dangerous in that even minor misconceptions can preclude successful learning in the future. The backward design approach to planning seeks to disallow for student misunderstandings by defining the ultimate goal and working backward via deconstructing the main aim. This brief inquiry explores a common student misconception in the language arts classroom, and seeks to remedy the misconception using backward design.

Problems with Historical Fiction

A common student misconception, and certainly one of which adults are guilty as well, is the failure to accurately distinguish between historical fiction and non-fiction. With texts such as Johnny Tremain and The Scarlett Letter, there is a tendency to perceive elements of the texts, if not the entire text, as true. Undoubtedly, Esther Forbes and Nathaniel Hawthorne were well-versed in their history and made every attempt to illustrate the details of their time period as accurately as possible. However, readers of such profoundly accurate historical fiction understandably struggle between ascertaining fact out of fiction; the tendency is to unwittingly absorb everything as truth.

As a public school teacher, this writer is fully cognizant of both the profound advantages as well as the unseen pitfalls of teaching historical fiction. Each year, lessons on the above-mentioned texts lend themselves to an ambiguous understanding of the function of historical fiction. More importantly, rigid curriculum timelines often preclude a thorough deconstruction of the texts during which students distinguish fact from fiction and vice versa. Alternatively, some students are absent when historical fiction is discussed and they thus wrongfully assume that either the text is entirely true or truer than it actually is upon their return. In their text entitled Understanding by Design, authors G. Wiggins and J. McTighe contend that "evidence of misunderstanding is incredibly valuable to teachers, not a mere mistake to be corrected. It signifies an attempted and plausible but unsuccessful transfer. The challenge is to reward the try without reinforcing the mistake or dampening future transfer attempts" (2005). With respect to historical fiction, this challenge is slightly exacerbated.

Difficult is it to support student recognition of that which is true in a work of historical fiction in conjunction with charging them to ascertain what is fictionalized. Perceiving the entire work of The Scarlett Letter, for instance, as pure fiction, with not only the plot and the characters fabricated but the setting and context as well, undermines the brilliance of the work. Conversely, perceiving the entire work as true does neither supports learning nor serves the students in any other capacity.

Using Backward Design with Historical Fiction

Designing lessons using backward design is crucial when working with historical fiction, as one of the primary goals should always be to allow students to accurately distinguish between fact and fiction. Authors Wiggins and McTighe contend that the following questions should be integral to effective, backward design:

- "What should students understand as a result of the activities or the content covered?

- What should the experiences or lectures equip them to do?

- How, then, should the activities or class discussions be shaped and processed to achieve the desired results?

- What would be evidence that learners are en route to the desired abilities?

- How, then, should all activities and resources be chosen and used to ensure that the learning goals are met and the most appropriate evidence produced?

- How, in other words, will students be helped to see by design the purpose of the activity or resource and its helpfulness in meeting specific performance goals" (2005)?

These questions are the foundation for stage I of the backward design process; that being, "Desired Results."

In beginning to teach The Scarlett Letter for instance, an introductory lesson that seeks to eradicate the tendency for students to misconstrue too much of the text for fact would have the following desired results: 1) Students will understand the most salient elements of colonial life 2) Students will understand common elements of the colonial, judicial and penal system 3) Students will understand what makes a text a work of historical fiction. All of these results will be supported by the following two stages in the process.

Assessment evidence of student understanding, as the authors note, is not limited to standardized testing but can include a wide range of alternative channels for assessment. For this particular lesson, assessment would include simple, graphic organizers to be handed in that clearly demonstrates understanding of the genuine context in which the text is set as well as what makes the text a work of historical fiction. Additional assessment will come from the students' creation of their own work of historical, colonial fiction.

The learning plan for this lesson will embody the first two stages of backward design, being clearly fueled by the ultimate aims of the lesson. In small groups, students will research the colonial time period using the internet and encyclopedias and prepare three graphic organizers that will handed in at the end of the class; each organizer focuses directly on one of the desired results. Thus, each group will have an organizer for colonial life, colonial judicial system, and historical fiction, identifying the most salient elements of each focal point. For homework, students will individually write a brief (1-2 pages) work of historical fiction that makes use of at least two elements from each organizer. For instance, a single story might encompass colonial gender roles, colonial religion, colonial jails, colonial laws, accurate historical setting and fictionalized characters.

Summation: In Defense of Backward Design

Ultimately, backward design would thoroughly dissolve the common student misconception that too many elements of historical fiction are true. Too often, teachers do not perceive the valid harm in this misunderstanding. Is it truly counteractive for students to believe that Hester Prynne was a real person? Absolutely; it undermines the value of historical fiction entirely and demeans the amount of time and research conducted by the authors in order to complete their works.

Backward design, in essence, is a means of beginning with the end in mind; it eradicates the waste of valuable classroom time and ensures that every activity is wholly and thoroughly useful to student understanding. More importantly, it creates a sense of continuity throughout the lesson that keeps students on task and fully cognizant of the ultimate goals. Backward design leads to more accurate and effective assessment and charges teachers to design lessons that will counter student misunderstandings without making them feel embarrassed or otherwise unintelligent for having made the mistakes; it is the most effective channel for cultivating student understanding.

References

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design.