Trish Breault

EDS 543
Dr. Squires
UDL Mini Unit Critique

Dr. Squires,
I was unable to copy and paste the lesson into word so I have provided the link to the mini-unit I
found online: http://www.readyhoustontx.gov/schoolready/pdfs/ReadyHou_LessonPlans_K-
1.pdf

SIMULATION

UDL Mini Unit Critique Template

Name __Trish Breault Date ___12/8/17______

EDS 543WBFall 2018Dr. Squires

UDL Principle UDL Indicators Critique/Analysis/Rationale Points

I: Provide Multiple 1. Options for Perception 1.

Means of a) Offer ways of a) Although the teacher for this mini unit provides a number of ways to address the content
customizing the display being learned, there are a number of ways that the teacher could have listed the unit activities
Representation of information regarding the customization of the display of the information. For instance, in each lesson
b) Offer alternatives for that the K-W-L chart is used, the teacher could have digitalized the chart to provide for /3
auditory information larger font, to create a contrast between the background and the text, and to provide a bigger
c) Offer alternatives for visual for students to look at. In lesson 2, when the teacher reads the selected story, he/she
visual information could have also found a digital version of the story so that students could see an animation of
the story, with sounds and closed captioning as well as any other sounds that might appear in
the digital format of the book. When teaching the children the song in lessons 3 and 4, the
teacher could also have customized display by providing a large print or large digital picture
of the lyrics to point along to as the students learn it. Furthermore, the teacher could use an
enlarged version of the lyrics and paste pictures under the words that students may not be
able to read yet so as to create a deeper understanding/connection.
b) The teacher does a nice job of presenting the students with auditory information in the
form of song, stories, and videos but she fails to incorporate UDL methods that would make
that information accessible to students with hearing disabilities, who need more time to
process information, and who may have memory difficulties. When introducing the song in
lesson 2, the teacher should provide a visual diagram of the song that, for example, displays
the words for students who cannot hear the words or provide students with their own music
sheets of the lyrics. Particularly for the song, the teacher could use ShowSounds, a feature
that instructs programs to represent auditory information visually or provide students with a
text-to-speech device. When showing the students the videos in lesson 1 and 5, the teacher
should make mention of having the option for closed captioning for students, especially
those who require it.
c) The teacher for this mini unit somewhat achieves this component. In each lesson, she asks
students to generate their own ideas of emergency situations or community helpers by
opening up a discussion about each. This satisfies checkpoint 1.3 by avoiding a total reliance
on visual representations such as charts. However, when discussing emergency situations or
community helpers, the teacher could have used touch equivalents or physical objects for key
visuals, such as figurines that represent the various community helpers (e.g. police officer,
firefighter). Particularly when discussing emergency situations with students, the teacher
could also have provided auditory cues to represent the different situations. For example, if
students were discussing a fire drill as an emergency situation, the teacher could play the
students the sound of the fire alarm so they would know what to associate it with.

2. Options for Language, 2.

Mathematical Expressions, a) Although students are likely going to be aware of much of the vocabulary in the
and Symbols discussion of this mini unit, the teacher should still have reviewed key vocabulary terms with
a) Clarify vocabulary and the students (e.g. emergency, community helper, family emergency kit). The teacher also
symbols could have taught the students the symbols or even vehicles that correspond to community
b) Clarify syntax and helpers and how they are associated with a specific community helper (I.e. police cars or the
structure medical symbol). When the teacher wrote on the K-W-L chart what students know, she could /5
c) Support decoding of have provided corresponding pictures to match the important terms so that students who
text, and mathematical cannot read would have a connecting symbol/picture.
notations, and symbols b) With the context of the mini unit, it would be difficult to dedicate time to teaching correct
d) Promote understanding syntax and structure; there would more appropriate times to do so. Therefore, the teacher
across language does a fine job with this checkpoint because he/she provides multiple methods that reiterate
the content in a structured, syntactical way. For example, the teacher takes the students ideas
Trish Breault
EDS 543
Dr. Squires
UDL Mini Unit Critique
e) Illustrate through
multiple media
3. Options for
Comprehension
a) Activate or supply
background knowledge
b) Highlight patterns,
critical features, big ideas,
and relationships
c) Guide information
processing, visualization,
and manipulation
d) Maximize transfer and
generalization
and puts them into the K-W-L chart, shows them videos relating to the content, reads them a
story about safety, teaches them a song, and has them come up with something they learned,
publishing some of their sentences/ideas on the K-W-L chart. Each of the above examples
are ways that the teacher has provided the learning of proper syntax and structure without
making it the focus of the mini unit.
c) Generally, this checkpoint was also not as applicable as the teacher was not instructing in
math or attempting to decode text or symbols. However, it could be argued that facilitating
the text in the K-W-L chart or in the videos would be necessary. In that case, the teacher
could have allowed the use of text-to-speech or used closed captioning in the videos used
during lessons 1 and 5.
d) The written language of the mini unit is English, however, there is no mention of an
understanding of material across languages. In the event there are students involved in this
mini unit that do not speak English or have difficulties with the English language, the teacher
should have made the key English information in the student’s first language (e.g. Spanish or
ASL for learners who are deaf). For students who, for example, speak Spanish at home, it
would have been important for the teacher to note the linkage of vocabulary (e.g. emergency
= emergencia) to allow for a deeper understanding of the key vocabulary. Furthermore, the
teacher could also have provided electronic translation tools for students who struggle with
English. Finally, the teacher incorporated a lot of visuals that were linguistic in nature (i.e.
the song, the book, the videos) that can be difficult to understand across languages,
especially if a student does not speak English or learns with ASL. Instead, the teacher should
have embedded visual, non-linguistic supports for vocabulary clarification, such as the use of
pictures to identify a police officer.
e) This checkpoint is most certainly covered in the accompanying mini unit. The teacher not
only uses discussion and charts, but also song, story, and videos to display the information
the students are to learn. The teacher makes sure not to make each component of the lesson
text based. This is important especially when attempting to gain and maintain student
attention on the subject. The only small suggestion I would make is to have the teacher
provide an emergency simulation for the students so that they can practice their
preparedness, such as what to do, how to dial their number, and recall their address.
3.
a) This is clearly shown in the first lesson when the students are asked to brainstorm a list of
emergencies that they are already familiar with (I.e. real-life examples) and what they want
to know about such emergencies that they may not already know. Additionally, this occurs in
lesson 2 when they are asked to discuss and list community helpers that should be trusted
during an emergency. Perhaps the only suggestion here is that the teacher could have /4
provided pictures to represent more emergency situations or community helpers to activate
background knowledge, particularly if students know the words but do not make the
connection. In lesson 3, the teacher again satisfies this component by asking students if they
know ways in which they can be safe. In lesson 4, background knowledge is activated when
students are given the opportunity to put their own information into the song. In lesson 5,
students are asked to remember the important things in making a plan for an emergency and
are then asked to list items that would belong in an emergency kit after having viewed the
video. It is also important to use a K-W-L chart when activating background knowledge and
the teacher utilized this fully in each lesson of the mini unit. Also useful for this checkpoint
is the pre-teaching of important concepts through demonstration or models. The teacher
could have incorporated this by showing acting out an emergency situation with multiple
actors to represent the community helpers.
b) This checkpoint appears to be satisfied as well. The big picture in this mini unit is to to
make sure students know safety protocols, who to call/trust, and what to do in the event of an
emergency. In each lesson, the teacher constantly highlights big ideas by asking students to
recall information from the previous lesson to ensure the learning of the information and to
connect it to that day’s lesson. For instance, students begin by learning what an emergency is
by naming different emergency situations. They also learn who helps them in the
community, especially during emergency situations by listing such helpers. Critical features
addressed in lesson 3 include the learning of a song that instills the students phone number,
their own name, and their parents’ names. Finally, students connect their prior learning to
create paper-made emergency kits in lesson 5. To further support this UDL checkpoint, the
teacher could have used concept organizer routines to demonstrate the connection between
each of the lessons. The teacher also could have included more examples relative to the mini
unit topic to illustrate to his/her students.
c) Students are able to successfully visualize and manipulate the information in the mini unit.
They are shown videos that relay the important information of each lesson and are asked to
add their own information into the “I’m Ready” song as well as practice dialing their
number, writing their address and drawing a picture of their house, and finally, by choosing
the items to cut out that will go into their paper-made emergency kit. The teacher provides
explicit prompts about what is to be completed in each lesson and each step is sequential,
building towards the final lesson which is an overview of the whole process and a look into
creating a family emergency kit. As mentioned previously, I would have liked the teacher to
provide some sort of interactive activity, either interactive between the students or an online
interactive activity, that would help tie in the entire mini unit. Furthermore, as noted above,
Trish Breault
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Dr. Squires
UDL Mini Unit Critique
the teacher should have allowed for optional pathways to understand the content. Rather than
having everyone cut out pieces of emergency kit items, for example, she could have given
the students an opportunity to show what would go in through a comic strip or a short acted-
out play/skit.
d) Although students are learning some emergency strategies specific to them (e.g. learning
their number, address, and parents names), the teacher provides them with many different
lessons that are generalizable and transferable to a variety of different locations. For
instance, if a student can recognize an emergency situation and the community members they
can trust, it will not matter if it occurs in school or at the grocery store. Additionally, if a
student knows what should go into building an emergency kit, they should be able to
recognize that the kit can be used anywhere and is not specific to one dwelling. The teacher
in this unit is constantly providing the students with explicit opportunities to review the
previously learned material by asking them to remember what was discussed the previous
day. However, it would be one more step in the right direction if the teacher had provided the
students with concept maps or scaffolds connecting new information to prior knowledge to
deepen their understanding.

II: Provide 4. Options for Physical 4.

Multiple Means for Action a) It would appear that in this mini-unit, students do not have the option to vary response. In
a) Vary the methods for each lesson, students are directed towards the activity laid out by the teacher. For instance, in /2
Action and response and navigation lesson 1 the teacher asks students to discuss the types of emergency questions. Instead of
Expression b) Optimize access to simply naming the situations, students could provide answers in picture form (either by
tools and assistive drawing them or point to a master list of images). In lesson 2, students are asked to list
technologies community helpers in their neighborhood. Instead of a discussion, the teacher could have had
students respond by identifying pictures of the various community helpers or even drawing
images of community helpers. In lesson 4, the teacher could have asked students to create
their own songs or stories that also include their own information. Finally, in lesson 5, the
teacher could have varied the methods for response in the creation the emergency kit
exercise. Instead of simply cutting out images, students could have drawn their own “bag”
and inside it drawn pictures of their kit items. The teacher also could have had students take
the assignment home for extra credit to bring in a real emergency kit to class to share. The
teacher could also have provided varied means of response by allowing students, instead of
writing, to type answers. For some students, they may be able to use the keyboard, but for
others who cannot, the teacher should have provided a means for interacting with the
material using, for example, a camera mouse, no keys virtual keyboard, or click-n-type
which make it especially easy to use a virtual keyboard without knowing how to type or if a
student cannot physically type and/or use both hands. Furthermore, the teacher could have
provided alternatives for physically responding to the material. For instance, the teacher
could have had students generate their own ideas or what they learned via use of
presentations or indicating on an online app their answers.
b) Here is another component to UDL that the teacher did not quite account for. Although
the teacher provides for different means of representation, he/she does not make reference to
optimizing access to assistive technologies or tools. For instance, the teacher could have
provided tools, such as inviting actual community helpers to the classroom, to help students
connect ideas to real-life persons. In each lesson, when the teacher has students work on the
lesson activity, the teacher does not make note of how assistive technologies can be
incorporated if need be. For instance, in most of the lessons the teacher has the students
using their hands (whether it be for drawing, writing, or cutting). The teacher should have
included a note on assistive technologies that could be used instead of relying on hands,
especially for students who have weak fine motor skills and may have tremors that render
their hands incapable of performing properly in such activities. If that were the case, the
teacher could have made note about use of an iPad to draw or write, which only requires the
touch of one finger whereas holding a pen or scissors requires functional use of the whole
hand. Or, for work involving the computer or online activities, the teacher should have
provided in the mini unit keyboard alternatives for students who cannot use them effectively
(e.g. camera mouse).

5. Options for Expression 5.

and Communication a) This is satisfied in the mini unit because the teacher uses song, stories, and videos as uses
a) Use multiple media for of media for communication. For instance, she utilized the song to teach students a way to
communication communicate important information that should be relayed in an emergency, such as their
b) Use multiple tools for name, their phone number, and their parents’ names. There are two videos that the teacher /3
construction and uses in the mini unit. The first video, found in lesson 1, communicates to the students how to
composition get ready for an emergency (I.e. safety tips of knowing your name, creating an emergency
c) Build fluencies with kit, and making a plan including a meeting place). The second video, found in lesson 5,
graduate levels of support communicates to the students how to create a family emergency kit, specifically the items
for practice and that should absolutely go into the kit. Finally, the story read aloud by the teacher in lesson 2
performance communicates to the children general tips and tricks on safety. My only suggestion would be
to offer alternatives to the learning of the song (and inclusion of one’s own information) in
lesson 2. That is, students would have the opportunity to choose the song, design a comic, a
storyboard, a short play, or even a story.
Trish Breault
EDS 543
Dr. Squires
UDL Mini Unit Critique
b) Because the teacher in this mini unit did not use any means of technology for student
responses, this checkpoint does not necessarily apply. Instead, the teacher could have
provided prompts for students if they writing sentences about emergencies and helping them
with their grammar, etc. If, however, the students were capable of using computer-based
programming, the teacher should have provided her students with simple (as they are young
learners) spellcheckers, like flash cards, that would have the important vocabulary written on
them. For students who cannot speak, the teacher would also need to provide a text-to-speech
software.
c) With this checkpoint, the teacher could have done better. For instance, in addition to
reading the selected book in lesson 2, the teacher could also have used a resource much like
BookBuilder that provides students with a visual story that not only has the words for the
story but has an audio function that reads the words as well. In some instances, the
vocabulary may be underlined to provide students with written and visual definitions.

6. Options for Executive 6.

Functions a) It is in this checkpoint that the teacher is neglectful. Although it is clear in the mini unit
a) Guide appropriate goal that the goals are to be able to identify and trust community helpers, emergency situations,
setting the student’s name/parents’ names and number, and what goes into a family emergency kit,
b) Support planning and the teacher does not appear to relay those goals to the students. In order to satisfy this
strategy development component, the teacher should have posted a goals/objectives in an obvious place, such as in /4
c) Facilitate managing front of the group gathering area, for all students to see. The teacher could have also utilized
information and resources goal setting worksheets that he/she could have filled out with the students. It also would have
d) Enhance capacity for been appropriate for the teacher to display an agenda that would act as a short term goal
monitoring progress checklist, in which students would get to cross off the agenda items as they completed that
“goal.”
b) The teacher for this mini unit has satisfactorily reached this checkpoint. The teacher
allows students to “stop and think” during the beginning discussions of each of the lessons
when he/she either asks the students to discuss new ideas or remember old ones. The teacher
also uses think-alouds when the students brainstorm ideas about what emergency situations
are (or are not) and who community helpers are and then determining if the information
belongs in the K-W-L chart. My suggestion is small. When students are asked to cut out
items for their emergency kit in lesson 5, the teacher should also embed prompts that allow
the students to explain why they put that item into the kit.
c) The teacher could have done more to satisfy this checkpoint. When discussing the
different types of emergency situations and community helpers in lessons 1 and 2, the
teacher could have embedded prompts in the mini unit for categorizing and systematizing.
For instance, the teacher could hold up a picture of a police officer and the students would
need to decide whether it belonged in the community helpers column or the emergency
situations column. Additionally, if the students are able, the teacher could have provided
guides for note-taking during the read-aloud of the selected story using, for example, the
learning toolbox to help his/her students in the note-taking process. The notes could then be
later used to review the important material.
d) Although the teacher provides ways to learn the various information in each of the
lessons, there is no opportunity for feedback. In addition to the practice of writing their
addresses and drawing a picture of their house, the teacher should also have them practice
writing down their phone number without help. It is here that the teacher would be able to
ask the students questions to guide self-monitoring of their memory skills. The teacher can
also provide a use of assessment checklists or even small reward systems (such as stickers)
when a student has successfully remembered and transcribed the information correctly ‘X’
number of times over a span of ‘X’ days.

III: Provide 7. Options for Recruiting 7.

Multiple Means for Interest a) The teacher did not give students in this checkpoint options/choices in how the objective
a) Optimize individual (learning important emergency information) could be reached. For instance, some students
Engagement choice and autonomy may already know their phone number, parents’ names and address. The teacher could
b) Optimize relevance, increase the level of perceived challenge by asking those students to remember the phone /3
value, and authenticity number of, for example, the non-emergency number for the local police station or asking the
c) Minimize threats and student to locate their address on a map. On the other hand, there may be some students who
distractions find it difficult to memorize that much information. In that case, it would be important for
the teacher to let the student set their own personal academic goals, within reason.
Ultimately, the teacher, in this checkpoint, would need to create choices instead of asking
students to learn their numbers, for instance, using a song format only.
b) The teacher could have incorporated more into this checkpoint to make it more relevant
and valued to diverse learners. For instance, in addition to having students practice dialing
their phone number, the teacher could also have the students practice writing their phone
number out, particularly for students who are not verbal. This is important to have because
some students, perhaps because of their cultural or ethnic background, may not have access
to phones at home and may need to know how to write it for someone else to dial. In
contrast, if the students are attempting to write their addresses based off of a teacher’s
printing of their address, students should also practice saying their address out loud in the
event they do not have paper and pen on hand. Finally, the teacher should have included
Trish Breault
EDS 543
Dr. Squires
UDL Mini Unit Critique
activities that foster imagination to solve a problem or to see a bigger picture. That is, the
teacher should have had his/her students act out an emergency situation, even using toys as
props, to further cement the key concept of the mini unit. The teacher, however, did a nice
job of making the activities age and ability appropriate and inviting personal response during
the discussion components of the lessons.
c) Overall, the teacher does a nice job with this checkpoint. The teacher varies the level of
novelty by differing the methods of engagement (I.e. song, story, video, hands-on). My only
suggestion on this note would be to have a visual schedule so learners can identify where
they are on the list. The teacher does, however, create a K-W-L chart to showcase student’s
ideas. The teacher also does a nice job with varying the level of sensory stimulation by
providing students with multiple means of engagement. Students are able to be sensory
stimulated by discussion, song, video, and hands-on work. For students who have sensory
processing disorder, however, the teacher could have included movement into the learning of
the song in lesson 2 (I.e. a dance to go along with the song). Although the teacher has time
posted for each lesson, he/she does not appear to incorporate breaks for the students, which
can be particularly helpful for students who have difficulty paying attention for long periods
of time (especially at young ages). Finally, the teacher involves all participants in whole
class discussions in the beginning of each lesson.

8. Options for Sustaining 8.

Effort and Persistence a) The teacher could have done more to heighten salience of goals and objectives. For
a) Heighten salience of instance, the teacher could have posted, in a visible place for all students, the goal of the
goals and objectives entire mini unit so that students know what they are working towards. To relay short term
b) Vary demands and goals, the teacher also could have listed some sort of a list or agenda to show the students the
resources to optimize goals of that day’s lesson. It would have also been a good idea to provide students with an /4
challenges example of each “activity” first. For instance, the teacher could have demonstrated the “I’m
c) Foster collaboration Ready” song in lesson 2 to her students by singing it for her students with her information in
and community it. Furthermore, she could have given her students an example of what her family emergency
d) Increase mastery- kit looks like in lesson 5. These last two would have been beneficial to this checkpoint
oriented feedback because they are ways to engage learners in assessment discussions of what constitutes
excellence. Additionally, it might have been useful for the teacher to generate examples that
are relevant to various cultural background and interests of the students in the classroom.
b) In this mini unit, it appears that the teacher did not vary demands or optimize challenge. In
lesson 3, when the students practice dialing their numbers, the teacher does not account for
students who may already know their home numbers. To increase the challenge and demand,
the teacher could have asked those students to practice their mother and father’s cell phone
numbers or perhaps their grandparent’s home number. The teacher, however, does a good
job with incorporating the song to teach an important topic.
c) Although the teacher allows for group peer discussions at the beginning of the lessons,
much of the activities (like the inserting of one’s own information into the song and the
creation of one’s own emergency kit) are very individualistic and do not coincide with this
checkpoint. To foster collaboration and communication, the teacher could have had students
share their songs with the whole class or in small groups and during lesson 5, students could
be placed in peer groups to create the emergency kits so that a discussion is opened rather
than have students complete the kit on their own. It would also be beneficial to create peer
groups in which each member is assigned a role (e.g. act out an emergency situation like
being a fire, a community helper, other adults, etc.) and after meeting and rehearsing, enact
their scenario in front of the rest of the class.
d) In the mini unit, the teacher makes no mention of feedback, which is critical to this
checkpoint. The teacher should include time for feedback after every activity in the lessons
that deals with students learning (i.e. timely and frequent feedback). For instance, after the
students have a chance to add their own information into the song in lesson 2, the teacher
should give them feedback on how well they did. Feedback should also be specific to the
individual rather than comparing a student’s work to another’s. When students have created
their emergency kits in lesson 5, the teacher could give feedback to the individual and to the
group, specifically on what items would have been best to put in and what items you would
want to avoid.

9. Options for Self- 9.

Regulation a) Generally, the teacher does a nice job with this checkpoint by promoting expectations and
a) Promote expectations beliefs that are never too difficult to ask of the students. The teacher also provides different
and beliefs that optimize ways of engagement that help motivate students who learn better when the work is not
motivation mundane. As noted earlier, the teacher should have accounted for the addition of self- /3
b) Facilitate personal regulatory goals for students who become easily frustrated (this could be particularly helpful
coping skills and when attempting to learn their phone number).
strategies b) The teacher does not account for this checkpoint. For some students, singing a song in
c) Develop self- front of peers is anxiety-inducing. The teacher should recognize that there should be
assessment and reflection differentiated options to the song, such as students can create a story or a poem about being
ready, that includes the same components as the song, such as their phone number. For
students who would naturally struggle with the activities, it would also be important for the
teacher to appropriately handle subject specific phobias, especially if a student has
undergone a trauma related to the mini unit objective(s).
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UDL Mini Unit Critique
c) The teacher seems to only develop self-assessment and reflection in one area, and that is
during lesson 1 when the students are asked to reflect on what they learned and write down
one thing. The teacher should incorporate this after each activity because it allows learners to
self-assess their own progress (such as what they grasp and do not grasp) and reflect on the
learning experience. For students to have a visual aid of their own behavior, the teacher
should include a behavior chart, wherein students remain on green (as opposed to yellow or
red) if they are on-task. The teacher should not only provide feedback to the students after
each activity, but perhaps also provide his/her students with a visual (e.g. feedback display)
that allows students to understand their progress in an understandable and timely manner.

References

CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: Author.

Hall, T., Meyer, A., & Strangman, N. UDL Implementation: Examples Using Best Practices and
Curriculum Enhancements. In The Universally Designed Classroom: Accessible
Curriculum and Digital Technologies (149-193).

Ready Houston. Kindergarten & 1st Grade Mini-Unit. Retrieved from

http://www.readyhoustontx.gov/schoolready/pdfs/ReadyHou_LessonPlans_K-1.pdf