Don’t Skip the K-U-D Organizer

Denise Burson
Jul 06, 2009

Teacher comments from Learning-Focused Conference Days:

"Don't skip the K-U-D Organizer! We decided this is the best tool to transform the standards."

"The K-U-D Organizer clearly communicates the expected learning to us and to our students."

"We have learned a way to transform the standards into meaningful units and lessons."

To truly understand the standards, it is necessary to use a K-U-D (Know, Understand, Do) Organizer. Although this may sound daunting, the K-U-D Organizer is basically an outlining technique in which teachers identify and interpret the expectations of the standards in terms of knowledge, understanding and skills. The purpose of the K-U-D Organizer is for teachers to collaborate and to identify the specific information from the state standards that students are being required to know, understand and do for mastery. Analyzing the state standards and creating a list of what students should know, understand and be able to do by the end of a unit ensures that what students learn in classroom lessons are driven by the standards.

Steps to follow (from Learning-Focused Strategies: Transforming Standards into Learning):

  • Identify the content area in your State Standards for the unit you are planning
  • Examine the State Standards to select a topic for the unit focus
  • Examine the standards to determine exactly what students should know (concepts-the nouns) and be able to do (skills-verbs).
  • Determine the overall Understanding for the unit. This is what students will understand overvall by the end of the unit. It is the important generalization about the subject, the "aha!" realizations students are to reach after instruction is completed.                   
  • After completing the K-U-D Organizer, decide if you think that some of the things on the K-U-D Organizer have already been mastered. Check the K-U-D Organizer against the standards to make sure that there are no redundancies or gaps.

Remember, don't skip the K-U-D Organizer." This process will provide the structure from which a deep and rich Student Learning Map can be built. Your Student Learning Maps provide a focus for what to teach and clearly communicates the expected learning to students.

"I now know what I am accountable to teach. I truly understand what the standards say students are to know."