English Methods
Dr. Meehan
Unit Plan Assignments
Guidelines
Think of these units as a chunk of a term (somewhere between 2 weeks minimum and 6 weeks maximum) where you explore with your students a particular approach to, and focus on, some aspect of writing, reading, or language/media that is consistent with both school and NCTE standards and reflects best practice and pedagogy we are exploring in Methods. Each of the three areas can and should integrate (hard to do writing without reading, etc), but the idea of the unit is also to provide a sharper focus for your students for a given period of time. One way to do this: pick a particular genre or theme within the general category; for example, autobiographical writing or reading fantasy or the language of film.
NCATE program objectives these assignments implement:
1.0 Candidates follow a specific curriculum and are expected to meet appropriate performance assessments for preservice English language arts teachers.
2.0 Through modeling, advisement, instruction, field experiences, assessment of performance, and involvement in professional organizations, candidates adopt and strengthen professional attitudes needed by English language arts teachers.
4.0 Candidates acquire and demonstrate the dispositions and skills needed to integrate knowledge of English language arts, students, and teaching.
1]Writing
3-5 page (typed) description of your unit, including the following:
Context: a summary of the overall unit that you imagine this lesson being part of, including some of the key objectives that the unit would have (including NCTE and Sioux City district standards). Your unit plan should be between 2-6 weeks.
Research/links: a description and/or citation (from our text, a professional article, a digital resource) of relevant pedagogy or research that informs your thinking behind the unit. In other words, what are some of your theoretical assumptions (“best practices”) behind the unit. Why do a workshop approach—what does that mean?
Unit activities and experiences: A sketch of the kind of work and experiences students will encounter in each class of the unit: materials and media you will use; what new information you will be presenting and how you will model that; what kinds of practice: guided, independent, collaborative. The sketch should include specifics about what you plan to do with students each class, what you expect students to do.
Assessment: how you will assess student learning and the effectiveness of the unit; how the unit will culminate.
Individual lesson plan: In addition to the overall sketch of the unit, develop out in more detail (and prepare to present in class) a lesson plan for one of the class sessions of the unit. Your lesson plan for that day should include: lesson objective(s); activities; assessment (check for understanding, etc); assignment for next class
Note: these are basic categories—you can adapt the language to fit your needs.
As a model (and for future use) consider the format used in the lesson plans on ReadWriteThink.org
2]Presentation
Prepare to teach your individual lesson plan (or a portion of it—say 10-15 minutes) in our class the day it is due or when I assign a time to you. Also, be prepared to discuss your overall unit, ask us for feedback that will be useful to you in further developing your unit, as well as share your research links with us.
3]Self-Reflection
In your journal, at some point during the term when you have had the opportunity to teach your lesson or some aspect of the unit in your field experience, add at least a page of self-reflection, focusing on how you feel things went, what worked well, what didn’t seem to work, how you might revise the lesson and/or the unit for next time. When we have discussions of practicum experience, you will also share with us these reflections and how you might further develop or revise your original plan.
______________________
My Assessment
This development of your curriculum is ongoing. My initial assessment of your unit will be directed toward evaluating how well your work reflects best practice and research from our class and readings as well as providing a formative assessment: where you might take this, further develop and revise for your final portfolio and for your student teaching classroom.
Accordingly, I will assess the unit plan using this rubric. This is a rubric intended to give you feedback on your performance in the course; it does not automatically translate into a grade at this point.
Excellent. The unit and lesson are very well thought and developed, displaying an excellent grasp of English language arts pedagogy from readings and class. This unit is ready for your portfolio and student teaching—consider expanding it into other areas for your teaching.
Strong. The unit and lesson are fairly well thought and developed, displaying a strong grasp of ELA pedagogy from reading and class—with some room to further develop and implement that pedagogy in one or two areas. This unit, with some further revision and reflection (after practicum) will be ready for your portfolio.
Adequate. The unit and lesson are sufficiently developed, displaying an adequate grasp of ELA pedagogy from reading and class—with a need to further develop and implement that pedagogy in several areas. This unit, with additional revision, will be ready for your practicum and then your final portfolio.
Weak. The unit and lesson are poorly developed, displaying a weak grasp of ELA pedagogy from reading and class—further development, clarification and implemention of that pedagogy is required in most areas. This unit requires considerable revision (and re-submission to me, with conference) before it will be ready for your practicum or portfolio.