UBD Implementation

I had to write a unit plan in UBD format for my Curriculum Development class and then also write some lessons for that unit. When I used this particular lesson it worked out really well, and I happen to use the essential question all the time, especially the question about how working cooperatively with your team affects the team's success. My middle school students are very competitive and think that it is better if they play a game like soccer and never pass the ball or include only certain team members in their strategies. But when I ask this question I can see that they are truly thinking about how they are playing and how they can change the way they play. Nine times out of ten when they include everyone in the game, they become the winning team in the class tournament.

These two games that I picked for the shooting lesson really helped the students when they were tested on their skills. I do not normally like to test on skill, but as part of this unit I tried it out. The students found that the two games, around the world and horse, really made them focus on their shooting and they saw that by using different shooting techniques their shots had different outcomes. For instance, some of my students tried to shoot with two hands, which was forcing them to push the ball and not shoot it. This made their shot very inconsistent. But when I helped them with the correct shooting technique, they saw that even if their shot did not go in the basket, their shot was in line with the basket and they were much more successful in the long rung.

I would like to use UBD more often for my lessons, but due to the fact that I teach so many different age levels and different topics, I am overwhelmed by the process of it.