Unit Planning

I hope that one day (SOON) I will get to teach the unit I just finished planning. Although I could not find all the works of art and literature and music that I wanted, I think I did well on the unit. I hope so anyways.

All I have to finish up now is typing up my Case Study. I finally have the paperwork for it and have it almost written up. I can't believe how long it has taken me. Then I have the Clinical Action Research Project (CARP) that I have to finish writing up. Most of it is written, I just have to type it up. Some of it (like my notes and stuff from class) I am going to have to copy and send to her. So, I might end up mailing a copy as well as e-mailing it.

This has been a crazy semester for me. I can only hope that Spring 2010 is 100% better.

Lesson Plans

I have been looking at my ideas for lessons for a week now. Simply, I can not write a lesson plan. Maybe I really do work better under pressure. Maybe around noon tomorrow, I will start spewing out lesson plans! However, right now, I'm having issues pulling them out!

Another issue I am having is putting my ideas into the UNCC Lesson Plan Format. (I'm really glad we only have to do one that way.) Of course, after I do ONE, I will probably realize that it's easy and do most (or all) of them in that format.

It's either going to be a really long night or a very stressful day trying to get only 5 lesson plans finished for tomorrow. I don't know HOW I'm going to finish the whole unit. :)

It will come to me. I was just hoping I wouldn't have "planner's block" right now! lol

Clinical Observations #6

This week ended my observations at MPHS. I finished up on Tuesday. I taught my lesson that I planned. I finished up all my Case Study stuff. And...I returned all the things that I had borrowed from the teacher.

On Monday, the students worked on using Context Clues to define new words in Grammar. Honestly, it did not go over really well. Most of the students ended up getting a dictionary and just looking the words up. They could not discover the meanings from the Context Clues.

Also on Monday, the students picked groups (except for one class had assigned groups) and began working on characters, setting, and plot diagrams for the play they are writing later. Mrs. J explained the requirements for the play very well. The students began working without many problems.

The play requirements are:
1. At least 5-10 minutes long
2. At least one SPEAKING part per group member
3. Minimum of 2 Acts
4. Decide on setting (define clearly)
5. Minimum of 15 stage directions
6. Plot diagram for brainstorming (must be turned in with final project)
7. Written script (copy to teacher for performance day)
8. MUST perform for class
9. Keep it PG-13 (no R rated plays)

The students really seemed to like the idea. Some of them began coming up with great things!

On Tuesday, my last day, I taught all three classes. I used the lesson plan I had developed. It really went better than I expected. I really thought I might pass out considering I was going to have to deal with some terrible discipline issues during the lesson. All 3 classes have students who spend more time in ISS/OSS than they spend in class. (It's really sad, but that's probably why they are failing English and have to be in the High School Success class!)

I had a list of 10 journal topics, and I asked the teacher to pick the one she thought would work the best. The journal prompt was, "Imagine yourself in 10 years. Where are you? What are you doing? Who of you current friends is still around?" Some of the students wrote over a page about it. Some only made a list of 4-5 items and I had to "convince" them to write actual sentences.

The lesson itself was really fun. I used an excerpt of "Pygmalion" (George Bernard Shaw) that they had already read and discussed and I showed them the clip from "My Fair Lady" that matched it. We re-read the excerpt first. We discussed how using words/grammar can make a picture in the reader's mind. Then we watched the clip. I asked them questions about the differences. It was one of the Strategies from Image Grammar.

The last 30 minutes of class (of course, as always) was study hall. The students worked on their plays in groups again. In 1st period, I finished up my work with my case study participant. She did improve her fluency some just by doing a couple of strategies that I gave her. However, I was a little disappointed that she did not finish the vocabulary strategy I offered.

So now, I have to write up my Clinical Action Research Project, my Case Study, my final Observation Reflection, and finish my Unit Plan.

This semester at MPHS has been very interesting to say the least.

Clinical Observations #5

This week was VERY short. Because of a teacher workday on Monday and Election Day on Tuesday, school was out until Wednesday. There were only 3 days this week. Honestly, I really do feel like I got nothing accomplished, but I know I did.

This week, I worked on finding some things I would include in my Unit that I'm planning. The Literature Books at the school really do not have a lot in them. Teachers have to pull from many outside sources since the books do not provide much help....unless you are going to do 2-5 days units.

In class this week, the students did an activity on Monday to get their brains thinking again....since they had been away for 5 days! They did some brain teasers that were really good.

Then, the classes did another quiz and practice on Infinitives and Prepositional Phrases like last week. Mrs. J told them that if they can pass, they can stop doing these. I think most of them tried a little harder this time. They did seem to take a little more time with it anyways.

They also did an introduction to drama. In their English I classes, the students are going to be going into drama. So, Mrs. J did an intro. into how to read plays for them. They have a book that tells strategies for how to read different types of print/non-print texts. It has most everything from websites to newspaper articles to classified ads to drama.

The students took notes on how to read plays on Wednesday. On Thursday, Mrs. J wasn't there. So the sub had them read a play (which was the plan anyways). Then the students had to choose one of the strategies for reading a play and do it. BUT...they could only use their OWN notes. So...some of them had nothing to look at because they had not done their notes on Wed. I love the play (part of a book from what I have been told) that the students read. It's called "The Sideways Stories from Wayside School" (by Louis Sachar). If you have never heard of it, like I hadn't, you need to check it out. It is really cute and funny.

On Thursday, I also gave some reading and vocabulary strategies to my Case Study participant. She did not bring them back on Friday, but I did ask her to make sure I have them on Monday.

On Friday, Mrs. J did fluency testing on all the students. She tries to test them every week, but with Nov. here, it might be more difficult. They only have ONE full week for the entire month.

Next week, will be my final week of observations. I am hoping to collect my case study materials from the student. I am going to be teaching on Tuesday. I have already completed the hours required, but I needed to be there for the Lesson Plan and Case Study, so I have been going for the past couple weeks.

I am looking forward to teaching next week. However, I did not get to be very imaginative in my lesson plan. I am using an Image Grammar strategy. I'm doing their spelling words for the week (5 of them anyways). I have a journal that I'm going to collect from them (and help them with and let them share). Then they are going to have the last 30 minutes or so of class for study hall (which is required for this class). So I did not have to stretch much at all for this lesson. Which...to me...personally....is unfortunate. However, I will have plenty of stretching to do next semester in my Student Teaching! :)

Clinical Observation #4

This week was a 4 day week. The students were out on Friday so that the teachers could get all the grades completed and into the computer. Obviously, this was great for the students. :)

Last week, I gave the Case Study permission form to the student I chose to work with. On Monday, she returned it to me. So on Tuesday, I interviewed her and did her formal assessment for the case study. Right now, I'm working on strategies to give her and ways to improve her fluency (reading level).

The students took quizzes in this class every day this week. The only reason they had to take one every day was because they continued to fail the quizzes...everyday. First, Mrs. J gave them a practice sheet (almost an exact copy of the quiz). The students could work together, ask questions, or whatever they needed to. Then, when they turned it in and she looked over it, they were given the quiz. The quiz was only about 5 sentences they had to mark as Prepositional Phrases or Infinitives. Then they had to correct the sentences for punctuation and meaning. Every day, the students would get enough wrong out of the 5 questions that they had to do it again.

For a couple days this week, the students worked on Study Guides for their English I classes. One English I class is on "The Necklace" and the other is working on "The Cask of Amontillado".

Next week is only going to be a 3 day week. (I'm going to feel like I got nothing accomplished by the end of the week; I'm sure!) I will be finishing my lesson plan to teach the following week. I will be working on and giving some strategies to my Case Study participant. I think I will get it all done in only 3 days.

Conceptual Unit Planning

The three units that I chose to use for this week’s discussion are (all are 11th grade):

“Bridging the Harlem Renaissance to the Hip Hop Movement” (Kasha Whorton and Kristy Mulkey)

“The American Dream—Fact or Fiction?” (Jennifer Howell)

“A Sense of Self” (Jennifer Feldman, Melissa Lynn, and Amy Winter)


What concepts appeal to you most?

Of all the units I looked through, and honestly it was mostly 11th grade, I really liked the concepts of discovering oneself, finding the American Dream, and living the American Dream. Knowing the American Dream and living it are definitely two different things. I liked these concepts because they dealt with what is perceived and what is reality.


How do you see a concept differing from a theme in these units?

In these units, the students will get to explore more of what they know and think. They will get to see things in a different light than what they are used to. For example, in “A Sense of Self”, students will get to read many multicultural texts. This will help the students to see themselves (or their own cultures) as others see them. If this were a thematic unit, the teacher could use one—possibly two—texts and say “Ok, so now you see how these cultures are different.” That could be the end of the unit. However, with the units being conceptual, the students will go deeper inside themselves to pull from knowledge they already have and new knowledge they are accessing.


What purpose does the rationale serve in these units?

For me, the rationales in these units tell me (a teacher looking for ideas) exactly why they plan to do the lessons and use the materials that are included in the unit. It tells me why they have chosen certain things they are planning to use as resources/materials in the unit. The rationales also gave me an idea of what they planned for the students to have learned/mastered/attained for the duration of the unit. For example in Jennifer Howell’s “The American Dream—Fact or Fiction?”, she starts at the beginning. In her rationale, she explains that the colonists had open access to the American Dream. She explains how we know this, and then she tells why it is important. Then, she brings the unit to today by showing what she is planning for the students to know, do, and learn during the unit. Howell explains why she has chosen each of the texts that she plans to use.

I think that without the rationales, the units I looked through would be hard to follow. Some of them, of course, it would be possible. However, others would be almost impossible to even follow if they did not have the rationales with them.


What resources do these teachers use that you might not have considered? That you already use?

Honestly, I have never planned a unit. I have never planned for more than two consecutive days. So, I have never thought about the resources (other than novels and the primary reading materials) that I would need.



How is the planning in these units similar to or different from you own?

I can only hope that when I begin to put my Conceptual Unit on paper that I am as clear as many of the ones I viewed. Right now, I do not know how these units are similar or different to my own planning. This goes back to the fact that I have never planned for more than two consecutive days, so I do not know what my unit planning will actually be like.

After reading several units, I hope that my Rationale is as in-depth as most of them. I hope that when I begin to put my unit to paper that my assessments and rubrics will be as useful as the ones I found in these units. I hope that if, in the future, I am helping a student to learn to develop a unit of his/her own, I can show him/her my unit and it will help him/her to see what can (and possibly should) be included. (I know that sounds a little selfish…doesn’t it!?)