Standards – Yes, “I can”
At the beginning of a unit, I give my students an “I can” sheet of everything they need to be able to do by the end of that unit. The “I can” statements are grouped under student-friendly questions based on the indicators.
For example:
5-3.5 Summarize the reasons for the United States control of new territories as a result of the Spanish American War and the building of the Panama Canal, including the need for raw materials and new markets and competition with other world powers.
Becomes:
Why did the United States control new territories after the Spanish-American War?
- I can explain how the need for raw materials and new markets lead to imperialism
- I can summarize the causes and effects of the Spanish-American War on the United States
- I can explain the reasons the United States controlled new territories
- I can summarize the reasons for the building of the Panama Canal
- Vocabulary: imperialism, Spanish-American War, yellow journalism, U.S.S. Maine
Notice that the actual Spanish-American War is not mentioned in the indicator, just the result. I think in order to understand the effect of something, you need to understand what the something was – hence the “I can summarize the causes and effects of the Spanish-American War. This idea is based partly on Marzano’s setting goals and objectives. In the workbook, it suggests that you create a guide for each unit with the essential vocabulary and concepts that students will be expected to understand.
Ways to use:
- I use this sheet to plan out my interactive notebook handouts/activities to make sure I don’t “miss anything” – I also use it to review my tests to make sure each indicator is represented.
- I project this at the beginning of each class instead of writing objectives on the board.
- I have the students read over the statements after we have finished our lesson and rate themselves on their understanding.
- It is a goal of mine for this to become their study guide for their tests.
[...] I unit and had access to ten copies of America Enters World War I. The book addressed most of the I Can statements my students had to master for the unit, so I decided to jump in and see [...]