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!?)