unit plan template - edsc304-shand -...

Intel® Teach ProgramEssentials Course

Unit PlanUnit PlanCRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRYCRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY

A Great Raiser of Popular Awareness*A Great Raiser of Popular Awareness*

Unit SummaryUnit SummaryAs students read this classic novel, they willAs students read this classic novel, they will gain a greater understanding of the roots ofgain a greater understanding of the roots of Apartheid from a South African perspective,Apartheid from a South African perspective, both black and white. Students will explore,both black and white. Students will explore, discuss and write about central charactersdiscuss and write about central characters and themes in the book as well as issuesand themes in the book as well as issues

concerning racism in South Africa. To linkconcerning racism in South Africa. To link the literature of the past with the reality ofthe literature of the past with the reality of

the present, students will go beyond the bookthe present, students will go beyond the book and engage in literacy activities to discoverand engage in literacy activities to discover

what life is like today in South Africa.what life is like today in South Africa.

*Based on a quote by Nadine Gordemer, ZA*Based on a quote by Nadine Gordemer, ZA writer/activistwriter/activist

Unit Author: Janice Jennings Language Arts – 9Unit Author: Janice Jennings Language Arts – 9thth & & 10 Grade10 Grade

Cry - CA Standards Unit Plan Presentation.doc Unit Foundation

Student Objectives/Learning OutcomesApply and identify reading and comprehension strategies while reading the novel, CRY THE

BELOVED COUNTRY, by Alan Paton Identify and understand the use of a variety of literary devicesSummarize and/or paraphrase passages from the bookIdentify and define unknown vocabularyAnalyze/evaluate in writing and discussions the main characters and major themes in the bookMake comparisons between Civil Rights (US) and ApartheidWrite a variety of questions and answers based on an understanding of Bloom’s TaxonomySelect and interpret favorite quotations Engage in critical and reflective discussions, written (blog) and verbal (small group/class) on topics

related to the bookCreate and participate in a class blog on the internetUse IT to explore, evaluate, gather and integrate information as it pertains to an assignment or project.Evaluate and compare versions of the book: print, audio and video. Approximate Time Needed – This unit could take anywhere between one month and six weeks, depending on content options that could be included in this unit. The most important consideration is giving students a sufficient enough time to read the book and complete their primary blog project without moving too fast or dragging it out (enough already!). In addition to the book there are audio and video versions, allowing some students greater access to understanding the book, as well as an opportunity to compare and contrast the different medias.

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Essential Question What can we learn from other cultures?

Unit Questions

How can reading about racism in South Africa help us learn about racism in our own country?

Content Questions

How did racism impact the lives of the Kumalo and Jarvis families?What was Arthur Jarvis’s manuscript about?What is the significance of the landscape in the book?

Assessment PlanAssessment Timeline

Before project work begins Students work on projects and complete tasks

After project work is completed

Questioning

Gauging Student need: Think-

Pair-Share Survey Class

discussion

Anecdotal Notes

Ready-Set-Blog Presentation

Blog agreements

Group/Class discussion

Questioning

Blog Rubric

Blog Checklist

Blog Self-Assessment

Periodic (Teacher) blog checks

Student- generated questions

FYI Reading strategies practice

FYI Quizzes

Anecdotal Notes

Conferences: Small Group; Individuals as needed

Blog Rubric

Essay Rubric: Questions selected from Student- generated questions

Assessment SummaryA variety of assessments are needed before, during, and after the unit as well as ongoing literacy assessments that continue throughout the course of the school year to insure academic growth and development. Ongoing literacy assessments: Assessment of a variety of literacy components through focused practice can help develop and reinforce skills as well as provide students with self-assessing feedback. Such assessments include timed readings, comprehension/vocabulary checks, quick writes and question formation, particularly in relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy. Most of these are FYI (For Your Information) self-assessments that only the student is aware of. This reduces the payoff for cheating and at the same time gives



students insight into their progress or what they N2K (Need to Know).

Before the Unit Begins:Readiness is the main objective for assessments prior to the beginning of the unit. Do students have the foundation to proceed? Have I provided them with enough background information? This N2K Survey is an assessment for gauging student need as well as an activity that provides access to the related information. IT’s also a way of introducing the unit through a class discussion, which can then transition to a project description and power point presentation: Ready-Set-Blog! In addition to a class discussion on blogging, this is an opportunity to insure that students understand their personal responsibility as bloggers by discussing and signing the Student Blogger’s Contract. During the Unit: Assessments that provide support, guidance and feedback help direct teaching and learning. In addition to assessing students through questioning, discussions and conferencing, students need a clear description and frame of reference (modeling/scaffolding) in order to meet project expectations. The purpose of the Blog Rubric is to provide students with clear expectations that can be used to guide their project as well as the criteria that will be used for grading. In addition to the Blog Rubric, two other self-assessments are used to provide students with help in designing and executing their projects. The Blog Checklist and Questions for Self-Direction provide supporting frameworks to help students engage in planning and development of their Blogs. I will also do periodic blog checks to insure students are on track. In addition, to their Blogs, students with be ask to develop questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy that will serve as in class quizzes, and possibly a final exam. This not only helps to assess their reading comprehension, but insures they grasp the concepts associated with higher and lower order thinking skills. Since much of the Unit involves interacting, cooperating and collaborating with other students, a periodic peer review assessment should also be included. My preference would be to have students collaboratively design this assessment. By creating their own assessment, they create their own expectations to work by. After the Unit: Once the unit is finished, students will have completed their blogs. Since the blog will be a collection of work over a period of time, it can be considered a unit portfolio. The Blog Rubric will be used for a final grade. To tie up the unit, students will write an essay that ties the Unit Question or the Essential Question back to the book. I would ask students to construct essay questions that reflect this connection and then select one (or several) as their final assignment.

Prerequisite SkillsReading and comprehension skills/strategies Literary basics Question formation skills based on Bloom’s Taxonomy IT skills, including responsible use agreementInvestigation (research) skillsBlogging basicsMap skillsCooperative learning skills

Instructional Procedures



Introducing of the UnitWhat can we learn from other cultures? Since this is the Essential Question that guides the overall literary point of view in this class, students already anticipate a unit with a multicultural focus. Introducing this Unit with a power point presentation, similar to the Cry the Beloved Country Unit Presentation (but designed for students), is one approach. However, I think a more engaging opening would be to introduce the unit with a clip from the movie version of the book followed by posing the Unit Question: How can reading about racism in South Africa help us learn about racism in our own country? Showing a short clip from the movie also facilitates a discussion about watching the movie compared to (or in lieu of) reading the book. Students would then work on a N2K Survey activity (see assessment) as a collaborative way to attain background information before beginning to read the book.

Next would be to introduce the unit Blog Project. Ready-Set-Blog! is a power point presentation that provides information about setting up and creating a blog as well as the personal responsibilities of blogging. Contracts are provided for students and for their parents: Student Blogger Contract and Parent/Student Contract.

Heterogeneous Groups of four, and not more than five, are formed by me, the teacher, in order to strive for a balance of student characteristics and personalities. Small groups will also serve as Blog-mates. During the UnitStudents view a sample blog, http://crythebelovedblog.blogspot.com . In addition, they receive a Blog Rubric and two self-supporting resources, a Blog Checklist and Questions for Self-Direction in order to support their project development. Blog groups can work together while setting up their blogs and use these self-directed resources in making decisions about what to include in their blogs.

Class activities and blog entries will be based on and paced according to reading assignments. In addition to working on their blogs, class time and homework will focus on discussions and activities that correspond to topics related to the book and the Unit Question. As students progress through the book, not only will they respond to teacher prompts and questions, they will write questions themselves as a means to demonstrate reading comprehension, as topics of discussion and to make quizzes for each other. Students will use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a framework for writing different types of questions.

In addition to examining topics related to the book and the Unit Question, classes will incorporate more generic objectives that apply to literature, such as understanding literary devices. If possible, class lessons will include presentations found on the internet, such as Examining Style that directly relates to the book and that students can access on their own. The book can be used to reinforce a strategies approach to learning by using it for a variety of focused literacy activities such as summarizing, making predictions, timed readings, etc.

I would also like to incorporate parts of the audio and video versions of the book as a means of comparing media versions. Anticipating some students may try to opt out of reading, this raises the issue as part of a class discussion. For some students, listening or watching may be a more appropriate format, though in most cases, not a substitute for reading. At some point it would be great to watch parts (if not all) of the movie Cry Freedom, because it not only brings Apartheid to life, but is about a writer, a journalist. Assigning the Timeline, web-based activity would be a relevant follow up. Lastly, it would be great to have a guest speaker from South Africa that lived through Apartheid—real life media!

Once the unit is finished, students will have completed their blogs. Since the blog will be a collection of work over a period of time, it can be considered a unit portfolio. The Blog Rubric will be used for a final grade. To tie up the unit, students will write an essay that ties the Unit Question or the Essential


http://crythebelovedblog.blogspot.com/


Question back to the book. I would ask students to construct essay questions that reflect this connection and then select one (or several) as their final assignment.

Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction

Special Needs Students

Accommodations for Special Needs Students will be made according to their exceptionality and assignments/expectations will be adjusted to build on what they can do and how much they can do. If reading the book is too difficult, they can listen to the audio book or watch the movie. They will be grouped with other students that can lend the greatest support and encouraged to be active participants. Learning strategies that support their particular approach to learning can be incorporated to provide support.

Nonnative Speakers

ELLs will benefit from a small group approach to learning and will be placed with other students, preferably bilingual, who can support language development. This should help reduce affective stress as well as increase opportunities for speaking. Reading this book could be difficult, and a strategies approach to reading will help ELLs increase their vocabulary and comprehension. Talking about the readings in class can support comprehension. And since question formation is part of the class objectives, ELLs have an opportunity to develop this skill as they ask for clarification. Moreover, since most ELLs are from foreign countries, they will have an added perspective regarding the Essential Question, What can we learn from other cultures? As well, they can share information regarding racism in their home country and compare it with the US and ZA.

Gifted/Talented Students

Blogging should provide Gifted and Talented Students with lots of opportunities to extend themselves and expand their academic curiosity. They could even be cultural scouts for the class by doing added research on South Africa. With guidance, some students would make excellent partners/mentors for ELLs and Special Needs Students.

Materials and Resources Required For UnitTechnology – Hardware (Click boxes of all equipment needed)

Camera X Computer(s)

Digital Camera X DVD PlayerX Internet Connection

Laser DiskX Printer X Projection System

Scanner X Television

VCR Video Camera Video Conferencing Equip. Other

Technology – Software (Click boxes of all software needed.) Database/Spreadsheet Desktop Publishing

X E-mail SoftwareX Encyclopedia on CD-ROM

X Image Processing X Internet Web Browser X Multimedia

Web Page Development X Word Processing

Other



Printed and Other Related Materials

Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton

Embedded Documents: Cry - CA Standards

Unit Plan Presentation.docBlog Checklist.doc Cry - CA Standards

Unit Plan Presentation.doc

Cry Blog Rubric.doc Cry+Beloved+country+Unit+Plan+Show ppt.ppt

IT Permission Parents.doc

N2K Survey.doc Questions for Self-Direction.doc

Ready Set Blog.ppt

Student Blogger Contract.doc Examining Style.pdf

Timeline - Web Activity.doc

Supplies

Internet Resources

Blogg Website and Support:http://www.blogger.comhttp://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp

Examining Style:http://personal.insider.rockwood.k12.mo.us/personal/maiercrystal/teachersite/APLit/Shared%20Documents/Cry,%20the%20Beloved%20Country/ExaminingStyle_Chapter1.pdf

Other ResourcesGuest speaker from South AfricaMovies: Cry, the Beloved Country, Cry FreedomAudio-book and Video Version

Programs of the Intel® Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation.Copyright © 2007, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Education Initiative, and Intel Teach Program are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.


http://personal.insider.rockwood.k12.mo.us/personal/maiercrystal/teachersite/APLit/Shared%20Documents/Cry,%20the%20Beloved%20Country/ExaminingStyle_Chapter1.pdf

http://personal.insider.rockwood.k12.mo.us/personal/maiercrystal/teachersite/APLit/Shared%20Documents/Cry,%20the%20Beloved%20Country/ExaminingStyle_Chapter1.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp

http://www.blogger.com/