Week 1&2: Unit Plan – Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), lesson objectives, Assessments & Differentiation Strategies

Guidelines for Unit Plan

Instructional Goal: This assignment will provide you with an opportunity to develop and plan a sequence of connected problem-solving/guided inquiry-based lessons, spend time with children in a classroom setting, teach a lesson, and continue to develop a sense of timing in teaching.

General Guidelines: You will design a five-day connected unit plan for teaching problem-solving/guided inquiry-based science. You can select any grade level for the unit plan. You will NOT write a formal lesson plan for each day. Instead, you will retrieve the lessons from the existing educational resources, e.g. (Project Learning Tree – sample lesson plan, Generation Genius, and other K-12 educational sites)

Not following the guidelines below will result in an automatic deduction of points.

What Should You Submit? (See guidelines & list of parts below for further detail of each point):

1. Cover page
2. Table of Contents
3. Unit Plan Overview: This is your overall purpose/overview of the unit and should be at

least one pg. What are the “big picture” goals for the entire unit? What is the real value of your unit? This document should be able to “stand alone” to “sell” your unit plan to any reader. Discuss assessment styles used throughout the unit and other pertinent information that summarizes and sells it.

1. The five connected lesson plans (Lesson title, grade & TEKS, Lesson Objectives). Five connected, problem-solving/guided inquiry-based lesson plans follow the Lesson Cycle format (below). Required Lesson Plans (identified in Table of Contents & individual lesson plan): You can select a lesson plan integrating two or more lesson types stated below. E.g. (a lesson plan integrating technology, guided inquiry, and cooperative learning)
2. Addresses Multiple Intelligences (The lesson should address a minimum of one intelligence. At the top of the lesson plan is a list of intelligence addressed in the lesson. Ex: Addresses Multiple Intelligence: Bodily-Kinesthetic)
3. Uses Cooperative Learning — include an explanation of how students will be assigned to groups.
4. Uses Technology
5. Uses Manipulatives
6. Uses of Literature Review/web resources
7. Bulleted descriptive list of differentiated instruction strategies
8. Bulleted descriptive list of assessment techniques/instruments used in the unit (quizzes, exit tickets, assessments). Assessment techniques/instruments that were used during the unit. This should be on a separate page. In a bulleted fashion, provide a 2-3 sentence summary of each assessment technique used in the unit plan.
9. List of resources used in the unit plan. Materials, resources, equipment, and citations page. Include any resources, etc., on this page that were not listed in other parts of the unit.
10. Discuss the incorporation of Culturally Responsive Teaching
11. Discuss the incorporation of Socio-Emotional Learning
12. Discuss the incorporation of the Global Perspective

Unit Plan Component Parts (Unit Plan Component Parts adapted from original work by Dr. Shahan, 2002). The purpose of creating a unit plan is to gain experience in developing an in-depth problem-solving/inquiry-based unit that incorporates various instructional materials and activities. Continuity of concept presentation, integration of subject matter, and preparation of varied evaluation techniques are emphasized. The unit will consist of activities and assessment techniques that will be included in the teaching of the topic. It should include at least five detailed lesson plans (no “review day” or “test day”).

Notes

• None of the five lesson plans should be reviewed as test days.
• There should be a variety of assessment techniques used throughout the lesson plan.
• The same assessment technique should not be used more than 2-3 times.
• Include a copy (document) of the selected assessment for each of the three lessons. This copy should be placed behind the respective lesson plan.
• Include all supplemental work for all lessons.
• Under the title of each lesson plan, identify which of the three required categories your lesson addresses. (Ex: Uses Technology)

Grading Instructions & Rubric

The weekly assignment will be graded using the embedded rubric. The feedback will be provided by the following week, Sunday 11:59 PM CST. The students will be provided an opportunity to address the provided comments and feedback and resubmit the assignment within a week, that is the following Sunday, 11:59 PM CST.