Integrating Teaching and Learning

Integrating Teaching and Learning: "Timeless Essentials" for Creating Integrated Units of Study is a unique series that PK-12 educators are successfully using to create new units of study, or enrich existing ones, with indispensable elements that fully integrate their instruction with students' learning. Volume Two in this series presents the second set of "timeless essentials" that are fully described and illustrated with educator-created examples and A.I.-generated examples, along with key points on how to best utilize these essential elements in all grades and content areas.

You will first learn how to create Essential Questions that fully engage students to discover and express in their own words the "Big Idea" responses about what they have learned. Next, you will see how to improve your assessment literacy to write or select—with the aid of A.I.-generated questions—quality end-of-unit assessments that are a blend of selected-response and constructed-response questions. Then, you will learn a simple, "tried-and-true" format for creating student-friendly Scoring Guides with clearly understood criteria that will expedite the scoring of students' assessment responses. And finally, you will see how to critique the entire assessment for quality before administering it to students.

Each chapter of the Integrated Teaching and Learning System© begins with the "what" and "why" of the individual element in focus, illustrated with content-specific, grade-level and/or course-level examples. Relevant research from prominent educational thought leaders adds support to the practical value of the various elements. Educators can experience the step-by-step Integrated Teaching and Learning System© design process firsthand by applying it to a unit of their choice, individually and/or collaboratively with colleagues. Through this direct engagement, they can determine for themselves the efficacy of this multi-step process to optimize instruction and maximize student learning.