Learning Target/Goal: MIT students will create a two week integrative, interdisciplinary, conceptually-based unit, built around a guiding question, that promotes equity, embraces diversity, develops critical and creative thinking, and leaves no child behind. This unit should represent best practices as discussed in Daniels and Bizar and Brooks and Brooks and as represented in the Washington State Pedagogy Assessment and WAC 180-78A-165 (linked on home page).
 
 

1. Read the requirements for the unit, linked under Handouts. Be sure you are clear about what is expected.
2. Read the Pedagogy Assessment rubric, linked to our homepage. You are striving to meet the standard.
3. Review Brooks and Brooks and Daniels and Bizar. These books contain valuable guidance and useful examples.
4. Read carefully, What Makes a Good Guiding Question and Principles of Theory Into Practice.
5. Decide on the grade level for which you will create your unit. Read the description of the students for whom you are planning this unit, linked under Handouts.
6. Remember that units of this type should involve more than one subject area.

• The K-8 grade-band folks must create a unit that incorporates social studies and art, as well as either math or science.
• The secondary folks should include at least two subject areas.
• As the requirements indicate, all of you must include lessons related to the tools of reading and writing, as well as learning experiences that offer multiple perspectives and address different learning needs.

7.  Download, print, and read the EALR's and GLE's appropriate for the content areas and grade level your unit will address.
8.  Select a concept around which to build your unit.
9.  Create a concept web of related concepts and sub-concepts.
10.  Using the GLE's from the grade-level you selected, circle all the related concepts in your web that could be appropriate for your unit.
11.  Then select the one you will use as your focus. Create the concept sequence you will need to address through your learning experiences, i.e. what concepts must be understood PRIOR to the target concept and what concepts FOLLOW the target concept? This sequencing allows you to address multiple learners' needs in one unit.
12.  Now create a possibilities web that opens up avenues for investigating the guiding questions (subject areas, topics, media, etc.)
13. Write a good guiding question for your prospective students based on your selected concept or sub-concept and your possibilities web.
14.  List the learning target(s)/goal(s) for your unit.
15.  Write a description of the final assessment.
16.  Bring your concept web, possibilities web, guiding question, learning target(s)/goal(s), and description of your final assessment to class. Also bring the appropriate EALR's and GLE's with you.

1. Finish writing your sequence of objectives.
2. Review Brooks and Brooks, Daniels and Bizar, and appropriate books on Closed Reserve in the Library for examples and ideas. Create an annotated list of teacher resources that you used to inform your work on this unit.
3. Create learning experiences that will help students learn HOW to accomplish the objectives. Use Daniels and Bizar to help yourself think about ways to create small group learning experiences and authentic learning experiences. Remember, you must determine WHAT students will be able to DO (the learning targets), WHAT they need to know in order to DO (the learning experiences), and HOW you will assess their knowledge and skills (the summative assessment).
4. Locate, evaluate, and annotate children's or adolescent literature and internet websites appropriate for students to use as part of their learning experiences.
5. Enter your work into one of the unit plan templates linked under Handouts. Be sure to align learning experiences with the appropriate objectives, EALR's, or GLE's,. For each learning experience, indicate whether it is a pre or formative assessment, a discrepant or disequiliabrating event, an activation of prior knowledge, an opportunity to elaborate, or an opportunity to crystalize knowledge or skills (see Principals of Theory into Practice).
6. Bring your unit plan to class Tuesday of Week 3.

1. Using the feedback provided in class, revise and finalize your curriculum unit.
2. Download and print the Pedagogy Assessment rubric. Use a printed copy to self-assess your work.
3. Hand in your unit with your self-assessment (on the rubric) to your seminar leader on Tuesday of Week 5.