Unit Plan: Power through Race
Unit Introduction
Unit 3: Power through Race: Week 8-11
This unit is designed to give students insight into racial issues of the 1930's. Students will track character development, participate in a mock trial, and examine a variety of different genres of texts.
In our third unit, students will expand their definitions of power by examining the role that racial differences play. To achieve this, students will be reading To Kill A Mockingbird, accompanied by various poetry and music written by African Americans. We will also be reading a number of documents to understand this novel through its historical context. We will further examine social tolerance through this novel by continuing our discussion on stereotyping. Students will see how stereotyping leads to injustice through the novel in parallel with stereotyping they may face in their own lives. Students will also study character throughout the novel by tracking each character and how they evolve and change. These two areas of focus will be brought together in a mock trial as students' final assignment. Through the mock trial, students will be asked to anticipate how a designated character would respond to a morally trying scenario.
It is important for students to learn to make connections between texts. By reading poems, songs, and informational historical texts parallel with To Kill A Mockingbird, students will learn to develop connections between a diverse range of linked texts. "As they make intertextual connections, students can consider thematic relationships between different texts" (Beach, Thein, Webb, Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, 54). Reading connected texts will also give students multiple perspective on the same topic. These perspectives will help students better formulate an opinion of the topic they are learning. A large topic of this unit is characterization. Colorado State Standards RL.8.2, RL.8.3, and RL.8.6 all address elements of understanding character. Through the planned activities for this unit, students will be comfortable analyzing characters personality, transformations, and perspectives through textual evidence. Students will use their new found knowledge of character to assist them in their mock trial. The mock trial will not only assess students knowledge of character perspective, but will also give students insight into how the legal system functions. Applying this assessment to a real world situation will help give students "skills, knowledge, and confidence to...be well-informed and responcable citizens" (Colorado Academic Standards in Reading, Writing, and Communicating) I hope that this course will not only give students English-content specific instruction, but will also help prepare students to be active, informed citizens
This unit is designed to give students insight into racial issues of the 1930's. Students will track character development, participate in a mock trial, and examine a variety of different genres of texts.
In our third unit, students will expand their definitions of power by examining the role that racial differences play. To achieve this, students will be reading To Kill A Mockingbird, accompanied by various poetry and music written by African Americans. We will also be reading a number of documents to understand this novel through its historical context. We will further examine social tolerance through this novel by continuing our discussion on stereotyping. Students will see how stereotyping leads to injustice through the novel in parallel with stereotyping they may face in their own lives. Students will also study character throughout the novel by tracking each character and how they evolve and change. These two areas of focus will be brought together in a mock trial as students' final assignment. Through the mock trial, students will be asked to anticipate how a designated character would respond to a morally trying scenario.
It is important for students to learn to make connections between texts. By reading poems, songs, and informational historical texts parallel with To Kill A Mockingbird, students will learn to develop connections between a diverse range of linked texts. "As they make intertextual connections, students can consider thematic relationships between different texts" (Beach, Thein, Webb, Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, 54). Reading connected texts will also give students multiple perspective on the same topic. These perspectives will help students better formulate an opinion of the topic they are learning. A large topic of this unit is characterization. Colorado State Standards RL.8.2, RL.8.3, and RL.8.6 all address elements of understanding character. Through the planned activities for this unit, students will be comfortable analyzing characters personality, transformations, and perspectives through textual evidence. Students will use their new found knowledge of character to assist them in their mock trial. The mock trial will not only assess students knowledge of character perspective, but will also give students insight into how the legal system functions. Applying this assessment to a real world situation will help give students "skills, knowledge, and confidence to...be well-informed and responcable citizens" (Colorado Academic Standards in Reading, Writing, and Communicating) I hope that this course will not only give students English-content specific instruction, but will also help prepare students to be active, informed citizens
Unit Calendar
unit_plan_calendar.docx | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Daily Lesson Plans
unit_lesson_plans_recovered.docx | |
File Size: | 59 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Texts
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic, Puliter Prize-winning novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus's children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930's. (Overview from BarnsandNoble.com)
Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic, Puliter Prize-winning novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus's children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930's. (Overview from BarnsandNoble.com)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning book of 1961. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in a racially divided Alabama town in the 1930s. He agrees to defend a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Many of the townspeople try to get Atticus to pull out of the trial, but he decides to go ahead. How will the trial turn out - and will it change any of the racial tension in the town? (Overview from IMDb.com)
Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning book of 1961. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in a racially divided Alabama town in the 1930s. He agrees to defend a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Many of the townspeople try to get Atticus to pull out of the trial, but he decides to go ahead. How will the trial turn out - and will it change any of the racial tension in the town? (Overview from IMDb.com)
Poems: "Black Misery", by Langston Hughes, “I know why the caged bird sings”, by Maya Angelou, “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, "Roaches", Peter Wild, from Nursery Rhymes for the Tender-Hearted, by Christopher Morley.
Music: "Strange Fruit", Billie Holiday
Readings: "Help! Is it Dr., Mrs., or Ms.?", by Cynthia Grosso, “The shocking story of approved killing in Mississippi”, Look Magazine, "Facts About Finches", "American Robin", "Northern Mockingbird"
Music: "Strange Fruit", Billie Holiday
Readings: "Help! Is it Dr., Mrs., or Ms.?", by Cynthia Grosso, “The shocking story of approved killing in Mississippi”, Look Magazine, "Facts About Finches", "American Robin", "Northern Mockingbird"
Sample Grade Book
grade_book.docx | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Assignment Sheets
assignment_sheets.docx | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Handouts
handouts.docx | |
File Size: | 1272 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Reflective Commentary
How did you develop ideas?
A lot of my ideas came from searching on the internet through teacher websites. Once I had came up with a concept and standard I wanted to teach, I searched the web to find an activity that corresponds. Once I found an activity that I liked, I adapted it to fit my daily routines, time frame, and class. Many of my other ideas came from units and activities that I had learned in my college courses, seen in my practicum classes, or had done myself as a student.
How did you make decisions as you planned?
I made decisions by starting with my unit three section of my year long plan and fitting the activities I designed there into my unit calendar first. I then filled in the remaining days in the calendar with other concepts that I wanted to include in the unit. For those concepts, I searched for corresponding activities. Once I had my unit calendar all planned out, I began expanding to my daily lesson plans. From those plans, I created my handouts and assignment sheets. I ended up planing from large scale to small scale.
How did you address questions?
As in my year long plan, I consulted my classmates and my supervising teacher for student teaching when I had questions. Both of these sources gave me a diverse range of advise and support. This diversity was very helpful for me. I think that asking questions is such an important part of learning and growing. Asking questions is essential for being a new teacher to help you learn and improve. I will continue to ask my peers and mentors for advise and help as I enter the teaching world.
How do you think this unit will play out in the classroom?
There are many aspects of unit plan that I would need to adapt if I taught it in a real classroom. I think the biggest problem I would face in teaching this unit in a real classroom would be the time frame for each activity. I think that a lot of my planning would take longer than the time I allowed for in my plan. I had a hard time planning because I was trying to fit everything I wanted to teach into a limited amount of time. In order to do this, I adjusted the time for each activity. I think that if I were to actually teach this unit, I would have a hard time fitting everything into the time I would have.
Anything else?
I am very happy with my calendar, daily lesson plans, and handouts. I wish I could have had more time to put into the other aspects of my unit plan, especially the assignment sheets and assessment tools. Also, I feel like I struggle with making assignment sheets and assessment tools and I really dislike making them. I feel like I worked very hard on some aspects of my unit plan and ran out of time to put that same level of effort into the other components. As a whole, I do not feel as happy with my unit plan as I did with my year long plan.
A lot of my ideas came from searching on the internet through teacher websites. Once I had came up with a concept and standard I wanted to teach, I searched the web to find an activity that corresponds. Once I found an activity that I liked, I adapted it to fit my daily routines, time frame, and class. Many of my other ideas came from units and activities that I had learned in my college courses, seen in my practicum classes, or had done myself as a student.
How did you make decisions as you planned?
I made decisions by starting with my unit three section of my year long plan and fitting the activities I designed there into my unit calendar first. I then filled in the remaining days in the calendar with other concepts that I wanted to include in the unit. For those concepts, I searched for corresponding activities. Once I had my unit calendar all planned out, I began expanding to my daily lesson plans. From those plans, I created my handouts and assignment sheets. I ended up planing from large scale to small scale.
How did you address questions?
As in my year long plan, I consulted my classmates and my supervising teacher for student teaching when I had questions. Both of these sources gave me a diverse range of advise and support. This diversity was very helpful for me. I think that asking questions is such an important part of learning and growing. Asking questions is essential for being a new teacher to help you learn and improve. I will continue to ask my peers and mentors for advise and help as I enter the teaching world.
How do you think this unit will play out in the classroom?
There are many aspects of unit plan that I would need to adapt if I taught it in a real classroom. I think the biggest problem I would face in teaching this unit in a real classroom would be the time frame for each activity. I think that a lot of my planning would take longer than the time I allowed for in my plan. I had a hard time planning because I was trying to fit everything I wanted to teach into a limited amount of time. In order to do this, I adjusted the time for each activity. I think that if I were to actually teach this unit, I would have a hard time fitting everything into the time I would have.
Anything else?
I am very happy with my calendar, daily lesson plans, and handouts. I wish I could have had more time to put into the other aspects of my unit plan, especially the assignment sheets and assessment tools. Also, I feel like I struggle with making assignment sheets and assessment tools and I really dislike making them. I feel like I worked very hard on some aspects of my unit plan and ran out of time to put that same level of effort into the other components. As a whole, I do not feel as happy with my unit plan as I did with my year long plan.