Unit Components Purpose/objectives (specify grade level)

Alignment with literature, reading, writing, speaking/listening, media literacy standards http://education.state.mn.us/html/intro_committee.htm

Activities (series of guided assignments) Sequence “first things first” Include different media forms/learning style

Specify overall goals for unit For each activity, specify learning objectives

What do you want student to learn vs. what will they be doing (See Planning Instruction paper in WebCT)

Framing Units Topics (power, suburbia, the family, etc.) Themes (fantasy vs. reality, individualism) Issues (being dependent vs. independent) Genres (ballads, drama, poetry, film noir) Literary periods (romanticism, Victorian) Historical/cultural periods Production (TV news, story/ad writing)

Unit design: Resources Web links: Teaching Activities: WebCT Nicenet (CI5441--literature)/CI5472: media/film www.ncte.org(back issues of English Journal--

search by topic) Google: topic: “instructional unit”/ “webquest” Data base search: www.lib.umn.edu -- go to

ERIC Categories: “poetry instruction,” “high school,” Time: 1995 to present, etc.

Your school’s book room, resources, curriculum guides, teacher input

Goals and learning objectives Not what students will do, but what they will

learn from what they will do Not: “will create dialogue for characters” But: “will learn how dialogue functions to constitute

character” Goals: purposes for the overall unit Learning objects: for specific daily activities

What will they learn from doing the activities

Unit design: Interest rousers Begin with something that hooks students into

the topic, issue, theme, genre, etc. Engage students by having them immerse

themselves or bring in own materials/texts Motivate students by having them perceive

the value or worth of the unit Connect topic, issue, theme, genre, etc., to

students own experiences

Unit Design: Literature Drawing on textual/reader/context lenses Modeling/illustrating ways of reading Framing activities with critical strategies

Defining key terms, critical jargon Studying cultural/historical contexts

How texts were perceived historically Reflecting on stances/positioning

Invited versus actual stances

Top-down versus bottom-up Students need top-down theoretical

lenses--applied to concrete examples “Feminist” theory: model application

They also need bottom up practice applying those lenses Find texts and apply lens

Invite connections

Invite “bottom up” inductive connections Students make their own links Connect experiences/other texts to writing

and reading Define meaning of links Create multi-genre/hypermedia texts

Developing Specific Activities Draw on guided writing assignments Specify learning objectives

What do you want students to learn vs. do Students will learn to connect texts to other texts

Specify tasks (first things first) Use of writing/oral tools (see paper on WebCT) Consider whether tasks fulfill objectives

Time: difficult to predict overall time Typically include 8-12 specific activities

Organize time blocks Block out periods: 45 minute period:

two 20 minute tasks Anticipate attention span/time to

complete tasks small groups: max out after 15-20 minutes

Provide students with overall plan how each task contributes to the next small groups-->leads to large group

Shared responsibility:Teacher/student roles Consider/build in co-teaching ideas

Cooperating teacher and you provide joint presentations, activities, feedback

Provide students with responsibilities Leading groups discussions Directing feedback groups/editing journals Presentation of work to others Develops a sense of agency/competency

Provide range of response modes Employ different modes of learning

Oral Drama Art work Performance Writing

Homework assignments Determine how much students read at

home Specify realistic # of pages Specify journal assignments

Not: “Respond to this chapter” But: “Contrast the characters’

perspectives” Use dialogue journal sharing

Free-reading/time to read Build in free-reading days/time to read Enforce seriousness of time spent Have books available Work with librarian to do book talks Conference with students Have students recommend books

Use of technology tools Find out from cooperating teacher:

access to computers/labs Software (Inspiration, Hyperstudio)

Create class web site (for assignments/bulletin board) or use Nicenet.org or Tappedin.org

Use of presentation tools for final projects

Unit Design: Final Projects Providing Choice Giving students options for final projects

Recognizes variation in student interest/motivation Specifying different, multi-modal ways of

completing projects Recognizes differences in student “intelligences”

(Gardner) Some students: “visual/spatial/artistic” vs.

“performance” vs. written

Criteria for Evaluating Student Work Specify criteria for evaluating student projects

or work Align criteria to your initial goals

Did students learn what you wanted them to learn?

Indicate differences in criteria between “exceptional,” “proficient,” vs. “needs work”

Provide students with “ground rules” Demystify the expectations for their work

Portfolio: unit or ten weeks Specify materials to include Include revisions/reflections

What I learned from doing task Most versus less successful work Changes over time

Create a clear Table of Contents Define connections between material Use of free efolio site

http://www.efoliomn.com/