How are Classworks units structured?

How are Classworks units structured?

Overview

This document describes how each Classworks instructional unit is organized and defines the purpose of each component. Use this document whenever you wish to review the components of an instructional unit.

Components

Classworks instructional units have been constructed using research-based methods and strategies. Within each unit, Classworks incorporates a variety of activities. Each instructional unit, grades 1-8, has three main components: a mini lesson, practice activities, and a quiz. As students work through a skill unit, Classworks will bookmark which lesson or activity they were last working on and bring them back to that lesson or activity the next time they log in. If they completed that lesson or activity, it will automatically move them forward to the next lesson or activity in their progression or assignment.

Mini Lesson


Students begin each new unit by going through a mini lesson. The purpose of this mini lesson is to introduce or review the skill/objective with the students. Prior to entering a mini lesson, the student is presented with an introduction to the skill which sets the stage for what the student is about to learn. This introduction is available in English and Spanish.



The mini lesson is typically 3-5 screens long and is divided into 3 parts: Learn, Apply and Review. Time on task is recorded for the mini lesson, but it is not scored. If students exit before completing a mini lesson, they will start the mini lesson over the next time they log in. 

Mini-lessons in each unit contain three elements: 

  • Learn – delivers the instruction to learn the lesson content. 

  • Apply – provides practice with feedback. 

  • Review – reviews the key lesson content. 

Students can access directions for each screen by clicking on the robot head. They can revisit the introduction by selecting the Activity Instructions from the drop-down menu in the top right corner.


Practice Activity


When students complete the mini lesson, they begin the practice activities. Practice activities provide a variety of instructional approaches to learning. The practice activities are the games students will play that reinforce what they learned in the mini lesson. Each activity focuses on a single skill. The student receives differentiated instruction to facilitate mastery. 

A unit may contain several activities. The practice activities become increasingly complex as students move through the unit. Time-on-task and scores are recorded for activities. Default mastery is set at 70%. Students exiting before completing an activity will return to the beginning of that activity the next time they log in.


Quiz


Once students have successfully completed the practice activities, they take a short, 10-question quiz. This quiz determines student achievement in this specific skill. It provides immediate feedback to both student and teacher. Time-on-task and quiz score are recorded. Default mastery is set at 70%. Students exiting before completing the quiz will return to the first question of the quiz the next time they log in. The score the student receives for the quiz will be the score the student receives for the whole unit.

Projects (not available for all units)


A project is an optional extension and application of a unit. Students who master a specific skill can participate in these performance tasks which provide an opportunity to apply what they just learned. The project lesson plans can be used in many ways, and require students to employ higher order thinking rather than simply demonstrate basic recall.

Exceptions

The five-component framework for an instructional unit does include some variations. These are: 

  • Kindergarten Units contain only practice activities. 

  • Applied Math and Integrated Reading have their own unit structure.

  • Units that contain “Skill Builder” in the unit name do not have mini-lessons, quizzes or projects. They include activities only. 

  • High School units have a pretest instead of a mini-lesson. Students may test out of the unit by passing the pretest with a score at or above the set mastery level. Instead of a quiz, units typically contain a 10-15 item post-test. Some units only have practice activities. 

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