Teaching Unit

In each of your files, there should be a teaching unit. Through my life I have created myriads of teaching units. It has always been one of my favorite parts of teaching. When three hours with a scanner produced only three jumbled pages of my 1966 Tsarina de Bergerac unit, I decided to put some on file in my office. In addition , I have the units that I worked on for DC Heath (now a subsidiary of Houghton Mifflin) in their DC Heath Middle School Literacy Series. Please come by 417 Humanities to view them. Better samples of teaching units are offered under the "Teaching Units" portion of the Teaching English Home Page. The format for the teaching unit is below; this will change yearly depending on what the State of Minnesota demands in the way of performance packages. Right now it is as follows:

Prefatory Statement- This section should include a lengthy paragraph of description of the unit, as well as the rationale for your unit. Why will this unit benefit students in their life? How will it benefit the world in the long run? It may seem lofty, but you should have good reasons for going to the work of creating a unit, and although your own interests are important to follow, it is also important that the unit will be meaningful and useful to your students. Discuss, as well, issues of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and social justice as they relate to your unit.

Class Specification- What kind of students is this unit appropriate for? Age/grade? Does it have any features that would make it inappropriate for certain groups? Is it more appropriate for some sushi-economic groups than others? If there are ways that a teacher might vary it for different groups of students, you can include that information in the sub-sections of the unit, but note in this section general information and where in the unit those variations will be found.

Significant Assumptions- Think through what teacher beliefs are behind your development of this unit. How do you think students learn? What are your assumptions both surrounding the concepts of the unit and how students will best acquire its concepts?

Desired Outcomes/Standards/ Objectives to be Met- What do you want the students to have learned by the end of the unit? What content, skills, concepts should they have developed/learned? Make these both specific and general? Assessment procedures should be able to work from these outcomes, so be careful in their construction. Figure out which Minnesota High Standard can be connected to or central in the unit. A performance package (assessment) will be linked to this standard.

Possible Whole-Class Activities: see Gere for examples

Possible Small-Group Activities: see Gere for examples (Are there outcomes and assessment for these activities that will make students/groups accountable?)

Possible Individual Activities: see Gere for examples

Ongoing Activities: Include a description of activities that will occur throughout the unit. This may include descriptions of journal work (learning logs, response journals, lit logs, eta.), reading projects, group projects, writing workshops, community work, eta.

Student Resources: Include a list of physical materials needed by the class during the unit. When considering the literature itself, try to work for a balance of male/female, western/non-western authors when appropriate. What else will students need to have during their class periods or at home during this unit of study?

Unit Launch/Anticipatory set/ Set Induction: Describe how you will initially motivate your students to engage in this unit. What materials you might use with students in this lesson. You may chose to make this one of your detailed plans for one of the three days.

Organization of the Unit: a week by week run down of what will happen -see Gere for examples

Detailed Plans for Three Days of the Unit- use the standard plan you learned in General Methods, include time that each activity in the methods section will take, include homework for each day. You need not do the class description or rationale for each day as that will be in the prefatory statement. Make sure that each day has objectives that match up with the unit's standards/outcomes/objectives and make sure that each day has assessment, ways that you will know that students have met the outcomes you designate.

Supporting Materials for Teachers Who Teach the Unit:
Include discussion questions when you indicate above that a discussion will take place. This is part of the gift you will give to busy colleagues in the field. Include handouts that present significant projects or on-going activities to students.

Assessment Package: See guidelines in the MN State Documents. Develop a performance package for your unit. Your method of assessment may be included in your instruction, but make sure Minnesota State Department of Education would approve of your package. What will the real product be in your Performance Package. In a school that you teach in next year, grading may or may not be necessary. What kind of authentic assessment will tell you if your students have met the intended outcomes? How will you translate that information to students/ parents? In most districts, most teachers still give grades. How will you give fair grades? How will students be able to use the grades to mark their progress? How will students be able to see on which "desired outcomes" they still need work?