Unit Planning
What is Unit Planning?
Unit planning is a continuation of your planning as you begin to flesh out the units you outlined in your long range or year plan. This is where you are able to determine what type of units you will teach, how you will teach them, what outcomes you will cover, how you will assess those outcomes, and approximately how long it will take you to do this.
Depending on the grades and subjects you teach, you may find yourself creating a variety of different units that could span anywhere from a month to six or eight weeks. According to Teach for America Inc. (2011, p. 53-54), an organization that helps teachers across the United States with providing supports for teaching practice, there are a few key reasons why teachers need unit plans. They are as follows:
I support those ideas; however, there is one key element that applies to us and it is that unit planning helps us ensure that we are effectively teaching the outcomes as they are outlined in the Progam(s) of Studies, or the curriculum as it is outlined by Alberta Education.
When planning out what units you will teach and in what order you will teach them, as it is outlined in your long range plans, you need to decide what type of units you are going to teach. There is a lot of flexibility in how these are planned and what they can ultimately look like in the end. The most important thing is that they provide a scope and sequence of activities and/or objectives that will be taught, how they relate to the outcomes, and how you will assess each of the different activities or objectives. Remember, that unit plans are/or should be living documents that can continue to evolve as they develop, but should still be mapped out or developed before you begin teaching the unit. It is also important to note that as teachers teach the same things over and over again, they begin to internalize their units; however, that should not be an excuse to continually look for new and effective ways to enhance your units and continue to add, delete, or change different activities, objectives, etc. If you were to look at my units that I taught in language arts or social studies over the years, you would see a number of different anecdotal notes on them to the point that there was more scribed notes than typed words from the time that they were originally conceived. I even got to the point that I simply chicken scratched them on large 11x17 pieces of paper because of the way they continued to evolve over the course of the year as I taught them. This is the way it should be.
Here are the different types of units as they are outlined by Teach for America (2011):
Regardless of which style of units you plan and deliver, the driving force behind your planning should be the Program(s) of Studies. Period. If you are not teaching the outcomes, and not demonstrating how you are doing it through your planning, you are not planning properly.
Reference
Teach For America Inc. (2011). Teaching as leadership: unit planning. Retrieved on Monday July 21, 2014 from teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-Readings/IPD_Ch4_2011.pdf
Depending on the grades and subjects you teach, you may find yourself creating a variety of different units that could span anywhere from a month to six or eight weeks. According to Teach for America Inc. (2011, p. 53-54), an organization that helps teachers across the United States with providing supports for teaching practice, there are a few key reasons why teachers need unit plans. They are as follows:
- A unit plan forces you to make difficult decisions about what to teach and how to teach it.
- A unit plan keeps you on pace to reach your unit (and ultimately long-term) goals.
- A unit plan provides an opportunity to stimulate student interest through overarching content that is relevant to students.
I support those ideas; however, there is one key element that applies to us and it is that unit planning helps us ensure that we are effectively teaching the outcomes as they are outlined in the Progam(s) of Studies, or the curriculum as it is outlined by Alberta Education.
When planning out what units you will teach and in what order you will teach them, as it is outlined in your long range plans, you need to decide what type of units you are going to teach. There is a lot of flexibility in how these are planned and what they can ultimately look like in the end. The most important thing is that they provide a scope and sequence of activities and/or objectives that will be taught, how they relate to the outcomes, and how you will assess each of the different activities or objectives. Remember, that unit plans are/or should be living documents that can continue to evolve as they develop, but should still be mapped out or developed before you begin teaching the unit. It is also important to note that as teachers teach the same things over and over again, they begin to internalize their units; however, that should not be an excuse to continually look for new and effective ways to enhance your units and continue to add, delete, or change different activities, objectives, etc. If you were to look at my units that I taught in language arts or social studies over the years, you would see a number of different anecdotal notes on them to the point that there was more scribed notes than typed words from the time that they were originally conceived. I even got to the point that I simply chicken scratched them on large 11x17 pieces of paper because of the way they continued to evolve over the course of the year as I taught them. This is the way it should be.
Here are the different types of units as they are outlined by Teach for America (2011):
- Goals-based units - "When we refer to goals-based units, we refer to a group of standards focused in the same content or skill area. For example, a middle school math teacher might plan a measurement unit to teach students the skills of measuring temperature, speed, volume, mass, and the dimensions of an object. An elementary teacher might create a unit on writing letters, focusing on the skills necessary to write friendly, informative, or persuasive letters" (p. 55).
- Thematic units - "Also seek to reach goals, but integrate standards from multiple subject areas to do so, focusing on a common theme or topic. For example, elementary teachers might develop a thematic unit about dinosaurs to teach science, math, and writing skills. A teacher could have students measure model dinosaurs using centimetres and inches. They could address sentence structure learning goals by having students write sentences about dinosaurs, or science learning goals by having students identify which dinosaurs were carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores" (p. 56).
- Project-based units - "Focus on producing an end product, such as a book, a play, a trip, or a presentation that serves as a rallying point for the students and motivates them to learn. Students must learn skills in order to complete the project, and therefore they see the utility of skills as they apply their knowledge... A middle school English teacher might have students write and present a play of their own after reading various works by famous playwrights.... Perhaps in your unit on poetry, you are all working toward a "Poetry Slam" where students read and perform their work for an audience" (p. 56-57).
Regardless of which style of units you plan and deliver, the driving force behind your planning should be the Program(s) of Studies. Period. If you are not teaching the outcomes, and not demonstrating how you are doing it through your planning, you are not planning properly.
Reference
Teach For America Inc. (2011). Teaching as leadership: unit planning. Retrieved on Monday July 21, 2014 from teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-Readings/IPD_Ch4_2011.pdf
What does Unit Planning need to consist of?
Please use the following Unit Planning Checklist to ensure that you have all the necessary components in your unit plans.
alberta_education_unit_planning_checklist.pdf | |
File Size: | 45 kb |
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Template and Exemplars of Unit Plans
The following are templates and exemplars of unit plans to help you effectively write your own unit plans.
alberta_education_unit_planning_templates.pdf | |
File Size: | 103 kb |
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edmonton_public_unit_planning_templates.pdf | |
File Size: | 78 kb |
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unit_plan_template.pdf | |
File Size: | 51 kb |
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unit_plan_example_grade_2_math.pdf | |
File Size: | 367 kb |
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unit_plan_example_ela_7.pdf | |
File Size: | 600 kb |
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