Assignment: Creating a Unit Plan

Once you've gotten to know your students through learning profile inventories that identify individual areas of strength and learning styles, you can design multimodal lessons that incorporate instructional technology that engage the 21st century learner. This week, you will create a three-day unit plan outline that addresses students' diverse learning styles and multiple intelligences, acknowledges cultural and language differences, and integrates digital tools and technology.

Using the textbook as guidance, create a Unit Plan outline, using the provided template that includes:

Introduction: Describe the demographics of your current (or fictional classroom) including:

• Grade Level and Subject Area

• Total number of students - ability levels, gender, students with special needs, English Language Learners (ELLs)

• Other relevant information (such as socioeconomic status, family background, recurring behavior issues, etc.)

Stage 1: The first stage is to determine the "Big Picture"; what you want students to learn, conceptually, at the unit's conclusion. You must:

• Identify the content, unit title, unit subject, and at least one Common Core State Standard (CCSS) that aligns with the unit.

• Create at least two measurable unit objectives that align with the CCSS.

• Describe what you want the students to master including key concepts, "big ideas", and major understandings (see the textbook, Chapter 4 for guidance).

The following resources are helpful when creating Stage 1:

• Common Core Standards - The Standards
• Writing measurable learning objectives.
• P21 common core toolkit

Stage 2: The second stage outlines evidence of learning including pre-assessments, formative assessments, and a summative assessment.

• Pre-assessment: Explain how you will measure student's level of readiness and preexisting knowledge specific to the content chosen. Include how you will take into account student strengths, interests, and learning needs.

• Formative Assessment: Explain how you will use formative assessments to drive differentiated instruction throughout the unit specific to the content you've chosen. Be sure to include how these assessments address UDL principals.

• Summative Assessment: Design a summative assessment that will measure the student's level of unit mastery. You must include how this assessment addresses UDL principals and DI theory and how the assessment takes into account your diverse student population.

Stage 3: The final stage of the unit plan involves developing the activities and experiences, building upon what you determined in Stage 1. "This stage involves tailoring learning activities to the identified strengths, learning styles, and interests of students, organizing lessons in a meaningful way that emphasizes the relevance of the learning, and engaging the learners with active learning strategies"(Chapter 4, pp. 5-6).

In addition, this stage should also incorporate self-regulation strategies (behavior management).

In Stage 3 you must:

• List the daily breakdown of lesson topics to meet the final unit goal and that also addresses differentiated instruction and UDL. For example:

o 9th Grade English, Unit: Character Analysis

o Unit Goal: Students will use a word processing program to write an analysis of Holden Caulfield (main character in The Catcher in the Rye) and how his behavior is indicative of typical adolescence

o Day 1: Pre-assessment, introduction to book
o Day 2: Watch parts of "Dead Poet Society" with discussion
o Day 3: Writing Prompt (based on initial book chapters)
o Days 4-5: Graphic organizer- begin building character analysis with teacher-selected partner

• Describe how each daily activity incorporates differentiated instruction and UDL.

• Discuss two technology tools that will be incorporated throughout the unit including how each addresses differentiated instruction, how each will be used to aid instruction and how each is an example of universal design. Be sure to support with evidence from at least one scholarly source.

• Describe which self-regulation strategies have been built into the lesson and how they are reinforced and differentiated depending on the student's level of need.

Instructive tools to consider for your lesson:

• 10 Emerging Education and Instructional Technologies that all Educators Should Know About (This list summarizes Emerging Education and Instructional Technologies)

• Tech Connections (this website provides a chart that explains how to connect technology with each multiple intelligence level and how it can be used to differentiate instruction)

• Ten Tips for Differentiation (this website lists technology tools by area of motivational needs to create a more engaging lesson)

• LiveBinders (this is a Live Binder that was created to provide teachers with resources for using digital tools in the classroom).