Unit and Lesson Planning

Unit 5C
(Unit Planning adapted from Mr. Bradley
Sheppard Andrews University, Department of
Teaching and Learning)
 Unit Planning Overview
• Unit planning begins with identifying the
particular content to be taught and your goals
for learning outcomes. 
• Goals are about your purpose or aim. They
relate to your rationale for teaching the
particular content that your students will
study.
• (Ebert II, Ebert & Bentley, 2011)
 Unit Plans – Benefits
• For Teachers: Help bridge gap between long-
term planning and daily lesson plans.

• For Students: The components (goals,

objective, content, activities) are tied together
in a logical coherent manner, providing
structure for the new material to be learned.
 2 Types of Unit Plans
• Single Topic Units
• Most typical. This kind of organization generally reflects
a daily schedule in which reading, math, science, social
studies, and so forth are taught separately and divided
from each other by assigned time periods.
• Thematic/Integrated Units
• Assumes students learn best when the curriculum is a
coherent whole and when they can connect their studies
to the real world. The rationale is that it demonstrates
the interdisciplinary nature of learning itself.
 Unit Plan Template
• Subject:
• Topic/Theme: (Should be broad enough to cover
at least 4 weeks.)
• Duration: (Length of session and X occurrences)
• Grade/Class:
• Description of Population:
• (Include information on the students who will
participate in the unit re ability levels, ages,
disabilities among other necessary information.)
 Unit Components
Components Function
• Overview/General • Summarizes the general
Goal purpose of the
unit
• Answers the question,
• Rationale “Why is this topic
important?”
• Goals (General • Describe the specific
Objectives) outcomes expected
from the unit
 Unit Components
Components Function
• Content (Topics) • Identifies and organizes the
topics that are included in
• Methodology/Strategies/ the unit
Techniques: • Describes the methodology,
• (http://ulyarosyita.blogspot.com/2011/03/
what-is-difference-between-strategy.html) tactics, specific strategies

• Materials
• List of things to be used in
the execution of the unit
•
 Component Function
• Learning Activities • Describe the
experiences that will be
used to help learners
reach the unit
objectives

• Evaluation • Identifies ways that

learning will be
measured
 Tips for the Unit Plan
• Introductory lesson to the unit should be
given extra attention:
– this lesson should grab your students' attention
and stimulate them to want to know more.
• Culminating lesson: You will want to wrap up
your unit by helping students reflect upon and
synthesize the content that they studied. If
there is to be a final test or exam, you might
also plan a review activity that is also fun.
 Unit Topics:
Selected Content Areas
Reading (Foundational Mathematics (Early
Literacy) Number Concepts)
• Phonemic awareness. ... • Number and
• Phonics. ... Operations
• Fluency. ... • Basic Facts (+, -, x, ÷)
• Vocabulary. ...
• Comprehension.
 Do Activity
• Write out four or five different unit topics for
your own particular content area(s) your
group.

• Share your unit topics with class.

 Unit Plan: Overview/Goal
• Describes
Example: the
“This purpose
unit of to
is intended thedevelop
Unit fourth-graders’ ability to use
• reference
Starting files,
pointboth
forinunit
paper form andprocess
planning on computer. This unit will focus on
titles, authors, and subject files.”
• Conceptual organizer for the rest of the planning process
• Communicates instructional intent to students, teachers, and
Teach This Concept To Your Partner
administrators.
 Do Activity
• Write an overview/goal for one of the unit
topics that you wrote a few minutes ago.

• Share your overview/goal with your team.

 Unit Plan: Rationale
• Explains why the unit is
important and how it will
benefit students
• Encourages teacher to be
thoughtful and reflective
while planning
• Connects new content to
other topics
• Helps students see
importance of topic and adds
motivation
Teach this concept to your partner!
Example: “Understanding
reference systems and how they’re
organized is necessary for students
using the library. They need to be
able to locate desired materials to
use in research projects, and
eventually they need to be able to
work independently. Because
many libraries have both physical
and computerized cataloging
systems, students should
understand
both.”
 Do Activity
• Write a rationale for one of the unit topics you
wrote a few minutes ago.

• Share your rationale with your peers.

 Unit Plan: Objectives
• Deal specifically with “What do I Example: “Given a ruler and
want my students to learn?” compass, geometry
• Involves translating general goals
students will construct the
into more specific objectives
bisector of an angle within
• Desired Educational Outcomes
listed in specific terms. 1 degree of error.”
• A description of a content area or
skill
• A statement of what students will
Teach this concept to
be able to do when they reach the your partner!
objectives
 Do Activity
• Write two or three objectives for one of the
unit topics you wrote a few minutes ago.

• Share your objectives with your partner.

 Unit Plan: Content

• Describes what students will Examples: Schematic Diagrams,

actually be studying Hierarchies, and Outlines are
• The information students will all effective ways of
know or understand, or the organizing and
skills they will develop communicating the way the
• The way information is content is organized.
organized
Teach this concept to
your partner!
 Do Activity
• Write one “small” segment of the course
content section for a unit plan from one of the
topics you chose a few minutes ago.
– You may create brief outline or diagram.
– Do not write anything elaborate right now.

• Share your “Content” section with your

partner.
• Methodology/
Strategies/Techniques:
 Do Activity
• Write one
Methodology/Strategies/Techniques that you
will want to use in your Unit

• Share your “Method” section with your

partner.
 Unit Plan: Learning Activities
• Most important
Example: Cooperative
partLessons
of the Unit
and Today’s Lesson called Say-
• See-Do.
Elementary or Secondary Methods
• “What you teach should influence how you teach and how
your students
Teach should learn”
this concept to your partner
 Do Activity
• Brainstorm with your partner a list of ways
you can teach the objectives you wrote a few
minutes ago.
 Unit Plan: Evaluation
• and
• Provides students with feedback Connected
feedbacktofacilitates
all other parts
learning of the unit plan
• The
• Provides teachers with information waystudents’
about you measure student
learning
progress learning depends on what
you want students to learn
• Allows teachers to make decisions(objectives)
about whatandto dothenext
learning
activities involved.
• Teachers test what they have
taught.
 Unit Plan: Evaluation
Example: “What are the three kinds of reference
systems?” OR “Go to the card catalog and
locate the author’s name and call number for
each title listed below.”

Teach this concept to your partner

 Do Activity
• Write ONE evaluation question for one of the
unit topics you wrote earlier in the period.

• Share your question with your partner.

 Lesson Planning
• The 5 E's is an instructional model based on the 
constructivist approach to learning, which says that
learners build or construct new ideas on top of their old
ideas.
• Each of the 5 E's describes a phase of learning, and each
phase begins with the letter "E": Engage, Explore, Explain,
Elaborate, and Evaluate. The 5 E's allows students and
teachers to experience common activities, to use and
build on prior knowledge and experience, to construct
meaning, and to continually assess their understanding of
a concept.
 5 "E“s Procedure
• Engage,
• Explore,
• Explain,
• Elaborate, and
• Evaluate.
Special education Lesson Plan template

• See separate document in Moodle container

 Sp Ed Lesson Plan
• Evaluation 1 (your report on how the students
did)

• Evaluation 2 (your self-evaluation)