UNIT PLAN – LANGUAGE ARTS NOVEL STUDY

Unit Topic / Guiding Question:

This unit will differentiate from other units by allowing students a choice from a selection of novels and books. Questions and inquiry well be
generalized and students will narrow the focus down to context. My guiding question to them: Is the development of an antagonist vital to a good
story? Why or why not? How does setting impact the story? Additionally, in this unit students will create a profile for the story they are reading
that will help them develop a stronger grammar base.
Rationale:
This 6/7th grade split language arts unit will be taught for 12 lessons during my Spring 2019 practicum. Allowing students a selection of choice will
hopefully give them greater incentive to engage further into reading since it will allow them to explore a genre that appeals to their personal
preference. I want to focus on story making, particular with characters and setting in order to help students build their critical thinking skills on
what constitutes a good story as well as being able to analyze the story from a different perspective (that of the antagonist, or side character if one
is lacking).
STAGE 1: Desired Results
Big Ideas Essential Questions
UNDERSTAND

● Language and text can be a source of
creativity and joy.
● Exploring stories and other texts helps us
understand ourselves and make connections
to others and to the world.
● Exploring and sharing multiple perspectives
extends our thinking.
Core Competencies:
● What makes a good villain? Is it important for a story to give the reader
perspective from that person’s point of view?
● How does this story help us understand what we are interested in? How
does it apply to our own views?
● What role does setting play in developing themes in a story?

Communication Thinking Personal & Social

 Connect and engage with others (to
share and develop ideas)
 Acquire, interpret, and present
information (includes inquiries)
 Collaborate to plan, carry out, and
DO
Creative
 Novelty and value
 Generating ideas
 Developing ideas
Critical
Positive Personal & Social Identity
 Relationships and cultural contexts
 Personal values and choices
 Personal strengths and abilities
Personal Awareness & Responsibility

review constructions and activities  Analyze and critique  Self-determination

 Explain/recount and reflect on
experiences and accomplishments
 Question and investigate
 Develop and design
 Self-regulation
 Well-being
Social Responsibility
 Contributing to community and caring for the environment
 Solving problems in peaceful ways
 Valuing diversity
 Building relationships
 Curriculum Competencies:

● Use a variety of comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading, listening, or viewing to deepen understanding of text
● Apply a variety of thinking skills to gain meaning from texts
● Communicating and representing
● Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding
○ Identifying opinions and viewpoints, asking clarifying questions, collaborating in large- and small-group activities, building
on others’ ideas, disagreeing respectfully

Content:

● Story/text
○ Forms, functions, and genres of text
○ Literary elements
○ Literary devices
KNOW

● Strategies and processes

○ Reading strategies
○ Writing processes
● Language features, structures, and conventions
○ Sentence structure and grammar
○ Conventions

STAGE 2: Assessment Plan

Summative Assessment (of Learning):
● Pre-assessment – Word cloud – “What makes a hero? What makes a villain? How are they the same and how are they different?”
● Pre-assessment – Word association – Attach words you think are connected to different settings (give examples)
● Assess comprehension of the book’s contents through creating vocabulary lists and journal writing.
○ Spectrum Writing
○ Big Fat Notebook on English Language Arts
● Activity booklet
○ Using senses to describe a location (help the blind person)
○ Adjectives and adverbs list
○ Invention brainstorm
○ Perspective writing
○ Persuasion writing
○ Settings list and associated descriptive vocabulary
● Final Project – Character addition
Formative Assessment (for Learning):
● Pre-assessment – Who is your favorite (fictional) hero and villain? Share and discuss.
○ Distribute a few pictures of sharks around the classroom and have groups discuss what them
● Observation during class discussions and independent tasks by circulating among students to listen to and question them about their
thinking and reasoning.
● Talking with students about patterns they are noticing in the book
● Assessing independent work done and conferencing with students about areas that are still causing difficulty.

Stage 3: Learning Plan

Learning Intentions
Instructional Activities
(brief description here – lesson plans will be used to flesh out each lesson)
 Pre-assessment - I can reflect on what I  Discuss and talk about character and setting while building adjectives
know about character and setting
 I can ask questions and search for  Create inquiries that links text to real life
answers before, during, and after  Identify compound nouns in text, break down their meanings and individual words
reading.  Create questions about what will happen next
 Link daily activities to interests  Link book context with their own experiences
 Identify, break down, and decipher
compound nouns
 Connect images and content to book
context
 I can identify causes such as feelings,  Creative writing – character perspective
events, or actions, that make something  Group discussion – asking additional questions
happen
 I can link my own activities to that of the
protagonist in the novel
 I can create my own inquiries using the
5W questions about content and context
in the book
 I can create descriptive adjectives to  Vocabulary list and exchange
describe physical features of places,  Comparing stories
people, and animals
 Expand my vocabulary by looking up
synonyms to words I already know

 I can connect book content to factual  Inquiry – explore a component of the book (pairwork)
information about content  Group profile development (final project)
 Learn independently about topics of
interest
 Work with a partner to collaborate and
learn about given topics

 Summative assessment - I can reflect on  Write a letter to one of the characters in the book
what I know about the novel
Resources needed:

● Laptop/screen
● Novel selection
● Poster paper
● Profile template

Reflection
How did it go? How do I know?

Where to next?