Unit Plan General Description:
For this assignment, you will think about holistic approaches to teaching a unit (for example, your unit focus could be a thematic unit, a specific novel or author, or some literary time period/tradition) and how to combine what we have learned about reading process, discussion, lesson planning, student motivation, essential questions, language study, etc.
You will choose the content for a teachable unit and create a unit (at least 2 weeks long) that represents those themes/texts/ideas. You will also complete 3-5 sample lesson plans that would be a part of that unit.
During the course of the semester, you will complete a series of scaffolded assignments that will guide you to a final product. They include:
Teaching Philosophy Draft
Unit Plan Proposal
Unit Plan Rationale Draft
Unit Assessment and Rubrics Draft
Unit Plan Lesson Plan Draft
Unit Plan Final Draft
Your final draft will include the following parts. As you will note, many of the sections below are completed during the scope of the semester. The final draft will reflect any revisions or updates to those documents:
1. Cover Page
Unit Title
Your Name
Course Name
Semester
2. Table of Contents w/ page #s
2. Teaching Philosophy Final Draft
3. Unit Rationale Final Draft
4. Unit Assessments/Rubrics Final Draft
5. Sample Lesson Plans (At least 3-5, using this TEMPLATE) with full Unit Calendar (see HERE for sample)
6. Overall Unit Plan Reflection. The overall reflection has two parts.
Part 1:
Because much of the work for the unit plan has been finished at other points during the semester, it is important for you address how you’ve revisited and revised those sections for the final draft. For each of the following sections (Teaching Philosophy, Unit Rationale, Unit Assessments and Rubrics, and Daily Lesson Plans), write a few sentences explaining what you revised and how. For example, if you added a paragraph to your unit rationale that attended to counter arguments, let me know that.
Part 2:
In addition to attending to revisions in part 1, please write a paragraph reflection on the process of creating your unit plan. What was it like to do this? How is it similar or different to planning that you’ve done before? How do you work to incorporate what we’ve learned and discussed together in class this semester (e.g. attending to deficient language in your rubrics, choosing appropriate standards, etc). How will you use what you’ve learned about pedagogy and curricula in your future teaching?
