UDL Instructional Planning Process

As a framework, UDL requires educators to think proactively about the needs of all learners. In
consideration of the UDL Critical Elements, educators implementing UDL should use a
backwards design instructional process that incorporates the following five steps.

Instructions:
1. Read the words the first time. Look for, underline, and sound out the consonant blends.
2. Cover the consonant blend with your finger and read the words without the blend. Join the
consonant blend with the rest of the word to read it smoothly.
3. Create your own words (real or fake) that include consonant blends and read them outloud.

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Step 1: Establish Clear Outcomes.
This informs the Objectivesand Standards on the Lesson Plan Template.

Establish a clear understanding of the goal(s) of the lesson (or unit) and specific learner outcomes related to:

• The desired outcomes and essential student understandings and performance

for every learner. (What does learning look like? What will students be able

Students will be able to identify consonant clusters at the beginning and ending of words and
then read the words accurately.

to do or demonstrate?)
• The desired big ideas learners should come to understand and their alignment
to the established standards within the program of study.
The first grade reading Standards of Learning include “1.5 The student will apply phonetic
principles to read and spell. b)Use two-letter consonant blends to decode and spell one-
syllable words.”

My students are in 5th grade with a gap in the skill of reading consonant blends. I used first
grade reading standards because there are no phonics or decoding standards of learning at
the 5th grade level.
•
The potential misunderstandings, misconceptions, and areas where learners
may meet barriers to learning.
When a word looks similar to a known word, students assume it is the word they already know.
When given a text, sometimes they replace it with a word that makes sense instead of reading the
given word. It is also possible the students have not heard the word before based on background
knowledge and cultural experiences.
•
How will goals be clearly communicated to the learners, in ways that are
understandable to all learners.
The goal is to find words that have consonant blends, say all of the sounds in the blend and then
read the whole word accurately. Each student can keep a bar graph to track how many new
words with consonant blends they read accurately the first time.

Step 2: Anticipate Learner Needs

This informs the Audience Description: IEP Goals; Incorporation of other subject areas on the Lesson Plan.

Prior to planning the instructional experience teachers should have a clear understanding of the learner needs
within their environment, Understanding should minimally include:

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 • Learner strengths and weaknesses specific to lesson /unit goals
The students are strong in reading comprehension. They frequently monitor their comprehension
by rereading a sentence if it did not make sense to them. All three students have decoding goals
in their IEPs.They can identify the sounds of isolated letters.

• Learner background knowledge for scaffolding new learning.

Teacher will assess background knowledge of specific blends in real words and in isolation by
asking them to decode real words with the specific blends that will be assessed at the end.

• Learner preferences for representation, expression, and engagement.

Learners prefer to work in small groups and enjoy reading stories together.

• Learner language preference.

Although all students are English language learners, they all prefer reading and speaking in
English.

• Cultural relevance and understanding.

Vocabulary knowledge may be limited due to cultural experiences. The students’ ages are
relevant because they recognize other students in their class are not learning these same
concepts.

• Curriculum barriers (e.g., physical, social, cultural, or ability-level) that

could limit the accessibility to instruction and instructional materials.
Barriers will be limited because the students were chosen based on their physical, social, cultural,
and ability levels.

Step 3: Measurable Outcomes and Assessment Plan

This informs the Assessment area on the Lesson Plan Template

Prior to planning the instructional experience, establish how learning is going to be measured. Considerations
should include:

• Previously established lesson goals and learner needs.

Students were given a pretest that included a list of nonsense words with consonant blends.

• Embedding checkpoints to ensure all learners are successfully meeting their

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 desired outcomes.
When asking for whole-group response, I ask for a unison response so I can hear if someone is not
understanding. I also check in by asking students to read words individually.

• Providing learners multiple ways and options to authentically engage in the

process, take action, and demonstrate understanding.
Student will be given the opportunity to read words that I have written, make words by writing or
by assembling letter tiles.

• Supporting higher-order skills and encouraging a deeper connection with the

content.
Student will be identifying the consonant blend sounds among the rest of the word parts. They
will engage with the words by finding and reading the words in chunks.

Step 4: Instructional Experience

This informs the Resources; Introduction; Lesson Activities, Conclusion on the Lesson Plan Template

Establish the instructional sequence of events. At minimum, plans should include:

• Intentional and proactive ways to address the established goals, learner

needs, and assessment plan.
Words containing the consonant blends we are practicing are planned ahead of time. The
students need repetition with identifying and reading all the sounds of the words. They need
multiple opportunitites to practice reading new words. I can check their reading for accuracy.

• Establish a plan for how instructional materials and strategies will be used to
overcome barriers and support learner understanding.
White boards and magnetic boards are used to be able to write and manipulate the words. This
can help them isolate parts of the words into chunks or individual sounds and to touch the sounds
as they blend parts and whole words together.

• A plan that ensures high-expectations for all learners and that the needs of
the learners in the margins (i.e., struggling and advanced), anticipating that a
broader range of learners will benefit.
All of the students in this group are struggling with this same skill. I provide opportutnities to read
the words with me, at their own pace.

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 • Integrate an assessment plan to provide necessary data.
The assessment plan includes a list of 10 pseudo words that students will need to decode to
figure out the word. They will not be able to rely on their memorization of frequent words.

Considerations should be made for how to support multiple means of…

• Representation: Teacher purposefully uses a variety of strategies,

instructional tools, and methods to present information and content to
anticipate student needs and preferences
I share the why at the beginning of the lesson, I use sounding out, chunking strategies as well as
have students create their own words.

• Expression and Action: Student uses a variety of strategies, instructional

tools, and methods to demonstrate new understandings.
Students are reading print, creating words, sounding out, chunking words.

• Engagement: A variety of methods are used to engage students (e.g., provide

choice, address student interest) and promote their ability to monitor their
own learning (e.g., goal setting, self-assessment, and reflection)
Students create their own words using tiles. They track their own progress over time in a folder.

Step 5:Reflection and New Understandings

This informs your Journal response.

Establish checkpoints for teacher reflection and new understandings.

Considerations should include:

• Whether the learners obtained the big ideas and obtained the desired
outcomes. (What data support your inference?)
Students were not identifying consonant blends and were making words that did not contain
consonant blends.

• What instructional strategies worked well? How can instructional strategies be

improved?
Student creating and reading their own words worked well. They seemed engaged in using the
tiles to make words. I would improve the instructional strategies by limiting the consonant blends
to one or two new blends for the lesson, then have students create words by changing any of the
letters other than those specific blends.

• What tools worked well? How could the use of tools be improved?
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 Students were highly engaged in creating their own words with tiles. The tools could be improved
by limiting the tile options so they are not completely overwhelmed with so many tiles.

• What strategies and tools provided for multiple means of representation,

action/expression, and engagement?
I allowed them to make their own words and asked them to read words that I created. I was not
concerned if the words they made were real, or not. The point was to decode the words based on
knowledge of consonant blends.

• What additional tools would have been beneficial to have access to and why?
Letter tiles that are in the shape of the letters instead of tiles. It would make the activity more
tactile and they could trace the letters with their fingers as they say the sounds. It also would
have been beneficial to have a picture of a familiar word that includes the blend. For example, for
the /sn/ blend, a picture of a snake might help them remember the sound of that blend when
they see it in other words. Keeping an anchor chart of the blends for them to refer to could also
help.

• Overall how might you improve this lesson?

To improve the lesson, I needed to be more explicit about defining a consonant blend and how to
find them. I also needed to be more clear with my directions. I should have given them just one
consonant blend to work with at a time and change out the other part of the words to practice. I
would also have the students say the goal before the lesson and rate their own abilities of
meeting that goal at the end of the lesson.

Reference:

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