I think I’ve mentioned before how having a student-teacher was very eye-opening for me. One day she told me the thing that she was most nervous about was unit planning. It really made me think about how I tackle my own unit plans and I became obsessed with researching how other people did it. While my method certainly isn’t for everyone, I thought I’d give a quick run-down of how exactly I plan a unit from start-to-finish.
First and foremost, I feel like I should start this out by saying that I FREAKIN’ LOVE teaching the “regular” or “inclusion” classes. That is my BREAD AND BUTTER. I love taking complicated texts that nobody else would ever dream of teaching and tailoring it to give those babies an enriching literary experience and making them feel confident in their own abilities. That being said, I also have the really scary dreaded EOC English class (English II) so I know my units HAVE to be aligned to all.the.standards while remediating all.the.things.
Even though I AM an English teacher and I AM supposed to love all things literary, I’m really embarrassed to admit that I do not love poems. I am a wordy kind of girl and the often conciseness of poetry makes my head spin. That being said, I’ve come up with a system that holds not only the students accountable but also myself accountable. I’ve assigned a specific area of study for each day of the week and I follow that plan throughout an entire unit. If it were up to me we would “oops omg so sorry we ran out of time for poetry” in every unit. Therefore, laying out my plans like this forces me to do the things I’d usually put aside. It’s also brought me to some pretty INCREDIBLE pieces of poetry and informational texts that I otherwise would not have gone digging for.
Here’s what my weekly area of study for each day of the week:
Monday: Make it Relevant Monday (Informational text relating the literary piece to something relevant to students)
Tuesday: Tackle Poetry Tuesday (A poem or 2 that has a theme/topic/tone which connects to the central piece)
Wednesday: Work on Writing Wednesday (Short writing pieces (1-3 paragraphs) which focus on the central text, a concept learned on Monday, Tuesday, etc.)
Thursday: Think about it Thursday (focus on deeper meaning/analysis in the central piece – here’s where we work on symbolism, metaphorical language, etc.)
Friday: Fill in the Gaps Friday (Quick quiz on CONCEPTS and SKILLS learned throughout the week with a cold read tackling concepts form the week, reflection on questions or remediation techniques, I also try to do some kind of quick and fun assessment on this day that involves creativity rather than purely academic skill)
Now that I have my outline, I choose my text (which is chosen by availability at my school) and focus on the standards that I know will work well with my chosen piece. I also think about any “big” takeaways and assessments I’ll want my students to be able to master.
I’ll try to quickly show you how this process works with one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES – The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
STEP 1: After choosing my standards here, I think about the assessments and takeaways I’ll want my students to master:
1. A literary analysis paper where they choose a prompt from this list (need to focus on run-on sentences, structuring analysis and removing summary, and paragraph structure)
2. Understanding how a story’s structure impacts theme and purpose (need to focus on flashbacks, foreshadowing, stream-of-consciousness, and how an author refines his/her purpose)
3. Using imagery to create symbolism (need to focus on concrete and abstract imagery, how authors use diction to create imagery, and how setting contributes to symbolism)
4. Understanding character development (focus on indirect and direct characterization, how authors use subplots to add depth, how an author’s life is often mirrored in characters)
STEP 2: I then consider which topics from the book would be good subjects for me to research for informational texts which are relatable to students.
– Betrayal
– Guilt
– Choices during childhood which affect us into adulthood
– The Middle East as a whole and their culture
– The treatment of women in the middle east
– The Taliban
STEP 3: I also think about which types of questions would be good for students to use/practice during their work-on-writing Wednesdays. I brainstorm questions about the text that would require a written response and would allow students to “dig” for textual evidence. I make a quick bulleted list to refer back to during the unit.
– How Amir’s guilt is characterized by differing emotions
– Is Baba a morally ambiguous character?
– How does the author use symbolic imagery to mirror the decay of “old” Afghanistan?
– Hassan’s character development: Is he the “real” protagonist?
– What’s up with all of the Biblical/Christian symbolism throughout the novel?
STEP 4: I go researching! This is probably my favorite part of my job because I seriously LOVE to read and research. I go on searches to find articles and poems relating to the topics mentioned above. Some of my favorite sites to use are:
– CommonLit
– The History Channel
– Psychology Today
– Time
And lots more – but those are just my top favs.! I compile lists of everything I love, create PDFs, write questions, ALL THE THINGS. Side note: I’ve been teaching all English II’s for the past 7 years (I mixed in AP Lit. and English I a time or two, but I’ve had this one course as my “staple” for nearly a decade. I started small but now I have a hefty repertoire of work from my research that I can now rely on. There’s no possible way I could do this as a new teacher or a student teacher!)
STEP 5: I use two planners: Planboard digitally and a paper planner from Plum Paper. Most of my units last 3-4 weeks so I sketch out a ROUGH outline of the entire unit. Then, I put pen to paper and legitimately plan everything for one week at a time. That way, I know where I’m headed, but I give myself grace by only writing/listing everything I’ll need for an entire week. That way, I can slow down a little if the imagery isn’t clicking or speed up if symbolism is a cakewalk and add in a little extra article or two. I make sure to schedule the central text’s reading FIRST and then schedule everything else around that.
Also, YES I do make my students read nightly, on their own. I record myself reading the book for my students who have modifications so that they can get their homework done, too. This also helps my students who are busy with sports or working after school so they can “read with their ears rather than their eyes.” I think it is absolutely imperative that students read outside of the classroom – and also, I’d never get through a single text if I sat and read the entire thing to them. I’m ALL ABOUT some rigor…and mostly just showing students that they can do things they never thought they could. YES, they do try to “buck the system” and not read. I give 3 question quizzes every day until they realize oh snap, I better read. It usually just takes a zero on a quiz or two for them to realize I’m serious. They also realize when they come to class unprepared, they feel pretty silly sitting there in silence or in an anxiety-crazed haze as they try to quickly cram a chapter in before a fun activity with the text.
At the end of the day, here’s what a week all planned out would look like for me:
Monday:
1. Mini-lesson on word choice (connotation vs. denotation) and author’s purpose
2. Read “We’re All Handcuffed in This Country.’ Why Afghanistan Is Still the Worst Place in the World to Be a Woman”. Students should note word choice which relates to the author’s purpose.
3. Complete Graphic Organizer in small groups
4. Discuss last night’s reading with focus question: How does Amir’s relationship with Baba contribute to his guilt?
HOMEWORK: Read next chapter
Tuesday:
1. Review work from yesterday
– Mini-lesson on imagery and how it impacts mood and symbolism
2. Discuss last night’s reading – relate it to “A Poison Tree” by William Blake
3. Using imagery from the text, sketch out Hassan’s dream about the monster in the lake from last night. Label what each piece of imagery from the dream could possibly symbolize.
4. HOMEWORK: Finish drawing and read next chapter
Wednesday:
1. Review
2. Discuss drawing of Hassan’s Dream in small groups/ideas for symbolism
3. Constructed Response: How does the author use Hassan’s dream to create a symbol within the text?
4. Color code your response to check for all elements
5. Partner grade with a rubric
6. Discuss last night’s reading with focus question: How do father/son relationships within the novel teach us something about Afghan culture?
Thursday:
1. Review
2. Mini-lesson/Review on Imagery creating symbols and those symbols impacting theme
3. Discuss reading from last night
4. Create a chart in your notebook outlining the symbols the author uses for guilt and betrayal in the novel. How do these symbols reveal something about the characters? What are these characters meant to teach us?
HOMEWORK: Finish chart and read next chapter
Friday:
1. Review
2. QUIZ! Use cold read, “And of Clay We Are Created” by Isabel Allende to test concepts learned throughout the week.
3. After quiz, discuss weekly learning
4. Create a playlist for the book thus far. Use only 5 songs and indicate which character’s life is reflected most within the playlist. Make sure you track tone, mood, and overall feel of the song and how it correlates with the character’s progression throughout the novel.
WHEW! That was a mouthful, BUT it’s seriously how I plan each week. This way, I can not have the Sunday scaries as I head into a fresh start/Monday. I typically make all of my copies for the following week on Fridays so that I can get everything organized and prepared for my students.
I’M SO INTERESTED in how other teachers plan. I have friends that strictly do genre studies and tackle each element one at a time – a poetry unit, an informational text unit, etc. Then, I have friends who teach by a time period which fascinates me but I could never be skilled enough to keep everything in order. What is your planning style? How do you plan your units for maximum impact? I’D LOVE TO KNOW!
