Fourth Grade UbD New Hampshire UnitBy Lauren E. Simpson

IntroductionThis Understanding by Design Unit has been written for two different yet related reasons.

The first is to enable fourth grade children to understand New Hampshire’s significant

celebrations, monuments, symbols, and documents. The second more broad purpose is for these

same children to realize that whom they are and what they do is a product of the immediate

world around them. The unit escorts the students through all seven regions of New Hampshire,

exploring what is special and unique in the areas of geography, music, art, politics, and sport.

All of the lesson plans have been designed to accommodate various student intelligences,

strengths, and needs. Simple modifications can be made without sacrificing content or quality.

The lessons also allow children a choice around what they would like to explore further or how

to carry out a task while still achieving the goal of the lesson. The final performance task,

creating a new New Hampshire State Flag, also allows students the opportunity to showcase their

strengths for a powerful performance product. Assessments occur throughout the unit to allow

the instructor an opportunity to either confirm the students understand the material or to provide

additional instruction when needed.

This unit is a wonderful tool that guides students through the significant celebrations,

monuments, symbols, and documents of New Hampshire. But what the students understand at

the end of the unit is not only regional differences and similarities but that the immediate world

around them has influenced who they are as people. It is this understanding, this empowering

revelation, that I hope children gain as a result of experiencing this unit.

Unit Culminating Performance Task

The students will demonstrate the desired understandings through the followingperformance task:

Goal: Create a piece of tangible evidence that accurately reflects what New Hampshire is allabout.Role: The job is to provide evidence that is as arguably accurate as possible.Audience: The general public will first choose 15 top submissions with the gubernatorialcommittee making the final choice from the 15 finalists.Situation: Have the created evidences accepted as reasonable first by the public and then by thecommittee as well.Product: Create a new New Hampshire State Seal on a flag for display in the State House inConcord. The flag must visually capture each of New Hampshire’s unique regions. The studentmust also include a paragraph that will be engraved on a plaque for display next to their flag,explaining the symbol choices made and what they represent.Standards for Success: Using a rubric the following will be rated: symbols/colors,organization, visual appeal, plaque inscription, and plaque format.

The student needs to be able to EXPLAIN why certain images and designs were chosen;INTERPRET why including said images/designs were important; APPLY their understanding ofNew Hampshire’s character in determining what images/designs be chosen; SEE THEPERSPECTIVE regarding what images/designs would be most inclusive considering thediversity within each region of New Hampshire; DEMONSTRATE EMPATHY by respectfullyrepresenting the diversity of New Hampshire’s culture; and finally REVEAL SELF-KNOWLEDGE by being able to reflect in a presentation at the conclusion of their performancetask expressing how their understanding and appreciation of New Hampshire has changed.

This performance task will enable the children to express their understanding of the variedattractions in New Hampshire’s regions while simultaneously impacting the citizens of NewHampshire and possibly altering the New Hampshire State Seal. The student’s products will bedisplayed and reviewed by the general public and a gubernatorial committee. Because this largeaudience will be exposed to a variety of regional symbols in New Hampshire chosen by thestudents, the impact is great.

The students will be assessed based upon the Performance Rubric on the following page.

UNIT PERFORMANCE RUBRICFlag/SealSymbols

Flag/SealOrganizatio

n

Flag/Seal VisualAppeal

PlaqueInscription

Plaque Format

4 7 symbolsdisplayed, 1for eachregionjoined withunifying flagcolors

Easy to seeimages,

clearly andcorrectlywritten

words, looksneat andcarefullycreated

Layout is wellbalanced andeasy to see,color choicesblend well

All symbols andcolors

accurately andthoughtfullyexplained,

addressing thereasons for

each symbolchoice clearly

Spellingaccurate,completesentences,goodparagraphformat

3 6 symbolsdisplayedwith nounifying flagcolors

Images andwords

present,although

donemessily and

sloppy

Layout is nicebut a littlecrowded orunbalanced,poor colorchoices

6 symbolsaccuratelyexplained,most colorsaccuratelyexplained

1-3 spellingerrors, mostlycompletesentences,paragraphformat

2 3-5 symbolsdisplayedwith nounifying flagcolors

1-3 Imagesand/or

essentialwords

missing,sloppilycreated

Layout is sloppy,uneven,unbalanced,poor colorchoices

3-5 symbolsaccurately

explained, noexplanation ofcolor choices

4-6 spellingerrors, mostlyincompletesentences,inconsistentparagraphformatting

1 0-2 symbolsdisplayedwith nounifying flagcolors

4 or morevisual itemsare missing,overall look

is sloppyand

careless

Unorganizedlayout, colorchoices eitherpoor or notpresent

A total of 0-2symbols or

colorsexplained

7 or morespelling errors,incompletesentences andno paragraphformat

Student Designed New Hampshire State Flags