Directions for Web & Unit Plan Inventory (UPI)
Web The web is the result of your brainstorming. In the web you can put all the ideas and activities you can think of related to your theme. Please include at least two activities under each subject area. It is also possible for you to do a free-form web in which you web out your ideas and have various subtopics as the spokes of the web. If you choose this option, make sure to check your free form web for attention to various areas by using the various subject areas Multiple Intelligences as "filters, " in order to check to see that you have included different topics and activities. Unit Plan Inventory Scenario This is a short description in a few sentences summarizing the unit including the beginning and end. Stage 1 What students should know and be able to do Enduring Understanding(s Essential Question(s): The enduring understanding is the “big idea” of the unit. The essential question gives the unit focus. Targeted Standards: These can be the national foreign language standards and/or local standards. Outcomes/Objectives Here you will list what the students will be able to do at the end of the unit. There do not necessarily have to be three objectives, the number will depend on your unit. Remember that the outcomes must be measurable and observable and must specify what the students will be able to do. Attached are lists of verbs to help you in this process. Stage 2 How students will demonstrate what they know and can do Performance Assessments At various points in the unit (Some, but not all at the end) you will provide assessments for the students that show that they have mastered the objectives. Be sure to assess language objectives as well as content objectives. Please provide an assessment for each of the three communication modes: interpersonal, interpretive and presentational. Include the rubric for each of the assessments attached to your unit Stage 3 Preparing students to demonstrate what they know and can do Columns This section of the UPI contains the inventory of functions, structures, vocabulary, materials, and major lesson topics and performances. As you work on your UPI, look at your web and begin to narrow down the ideas that you will actually use in this unit. Some of the ideas that you brainstormed for the web might be useful in another unit. As you narrow down your outcomes and assessments, you will begin to see what parts of the web you can use most successfully and what parts might not work so well, or might take too long, or might not work for other reasons. Functions: List the language functions that you will have the students perform in the unit. Two or three is sufficient. Write in which context the functions will be used. For example instead of just saying “identify” you would say “identify geographical areas of Peru” or “describe foods available at the market.” Structures List the grammar the students will be using in the performances for this unit. Vocabulary List the vocabulary for the unit. You do not have to list every word, but be specific about the vocabulary so that the scope is clear. For example say “adjectives such as tall, short, cold, hot” rather than simply “adjectives.” This column helps you to identify the scope of the vocabulary for the unit. Materials/Resources What materials will you need to complete the unit? List books by name and author, name songs, and give web addresses. Be as specific as possible. Remember others will be using your unit. Major Lesson Topics/Performances This is not a complete list of all the activities but a general framework for the unit. This shows the “story form” and the flow of the unit. In the “Beginning” section list some ideas for how you will motivate your students at the beginning the unit. In the “End” section, include how you will end the unit and what the culminating activity will be. In the “Middle” section, list the skillbuilding activities that you will do in the middle of the unit. Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Page 1
Format: Partner & Cooperative Learning Activities Topic/Theme: Title: Grade Level(s) in Elem. Mid or High School: Language Level: Objective(s)/Outcomes: Productive Vocabulary: (Vocabulary students will actually practice during the activity) Materials Needed: (Attach the activity sheets the students will use) Time limit: (How much time will you give the students?) Motivating the Activity (How will you give the activity a context so that it is more like real-life?) Procedures for each Partner or each Group Member
Step by step directions these procedures are a step-by-step script for doing the partner activity. Communicative Feedback: (How will you extend the language after the activity has been completed. What follow up questions will you ask? How will you check to see that students have successfully accomplished the activity?) Source: (If the activity is not original, please identify the source for the idea or for the visuals) Visuals/Worksheet/Activity Sheets
Attach visuals and copies of materials with which the students will be working! Your partner activity is not complete without a copy of the materials that you will give to the students.
Be sure to include the activity sheet with which the students will be working.
Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Page 2
Unit Plan Inventory
Language/Level: School:
Unit Title: Author(s):
Scenario/Unit Overview:
Stage 1 What students should know and be able to do Enduring Understanding(s) (Big Idea) (Students will understand that‌) Essential Question(s): Targeted Standards: (Local, State, National) Outcomes/Objectives/Progress Indicators: (Students will be able to‌.)
Stage 2 How students will demonstrate what they know and can do: Performance-based Assessment Interpersonal Task and Rubric
Interpretive Task and Rubric
Presentational Task and Rubric
Stage 3 Preparing students to demonstrate what they know and can do Language/Communication Grammatical Language Structures Functions
Vocabulary
Culture(s)
Subject Content (Connections)
Essential Materials
Learning Activities , Performances (Formative Assessments) (Use separate page for this section)
Beginning Middle End
Comparisons: Communities: Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Page 3
Learning Activities , Performances (Formative Assessments) Beginning Middle End Sample Lesson Plan Format Theme: Lesson Title or Topic: Standards Addressed: Outcomes or Objectives: Language Culture Content Assessment: Materials: Lesson Outline: Warm up Introduction Lesson Activities or Procedures Closure Follow-up/homework Reflection: Special Considerations: Lesson Plan Directions Theme. We start by listing the theme. This helps us to keep in mind where we have been and where we are going with the theme on which we are working. It’s also helpful to list a lesson title or topic. This title, of course, refers back to the theme. Standards. Here we list the foreign language standards that we are targeting in this lesson, and possibly other standards that support the goals of the lesson. It isn’t realistic to try to include all eleven standards in a single lesson, but communication standards should always be represented. Outcomes or Objectives. Here we identify observable student outcomes for the lesson. They describe student behavior at the end of the lesson. The components of Language, Culture, and Content are listed as a reminder to keep them in balance over the course of the unit. Some teachers note which of the components are represented in each objective. Individual objectives might include more than one of these key components. Assessment. The assessment category describes any procedures for determining student performance during this lesson. If we are doing a formal assessment, the needed rubrics or checklists are provided on separate pages at the end of the lesson. This would also be a place to indicate names of students for whom we intend to do an informal assessment.
Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Helena Curtain, hcurtain@uwm.edu, 4
Materials. It is valuable to indicate on the lesson plan which materials we need for the lesson, so we can see at a glance what we have to bring with us to class or to prepare in advance. For traveling teachers this is especially important. Lesson Outline. Here the teacher provides a step-by-step description of activities and procedures, with a time designation for each one. As we plan for the class flow, it is important to keep in mind what we have learned from cognitive theorists. The first five minutes and the last five minutes of a class period are prime learning time. We need to use this precious learning time very carefully, and make sure that it isn’t wasted in routine or unchallenging, undirected activity. Within this step-by-step lesson outline we will plan for Warm up, to help students make the transition from their previous activity to the language class. Often the warm up consists of an opening routine. Introduction to the lesson for the day, and informing the students so they know the objectives of the lesson. Lesson activities or procedures, a step-by-step guide to how we present the main part of the lesson and how students will practice the lesson components. We want to make sure that there is sufficient variety in the activities we have planned. Early language learners need variety and are unable to stay on task if an activity is too long. Eric Jensen (1998) suggests a maximum of five to seven minutes of focused attention time for K–2, eight to twelve minutes for grades three to seven, and twelve to fifteen minutes for grades eight to twelve (49). Closure, how we will bring the lesson to a close. This could be the culminating activity of the lesson, or an opportunity for students to demonstrate their new learning. Follow-Up/Homework. How will we follow up on this lesson? If we assign homework we list it here and indicate whether handouts will be needed. Reflection. How did the lesson go? Here we make notes on items to remember for the next time that we teach the lesson, or the next time we meet with this class. Observations about individual students might also be listed. Other Considerations. It is important to plan in advance for strategies within the lesson to help us meet the needs of the diverse student populations in each of our classes. Sharing the Lesson Plan with Students. Actually writing a lesson plan or a lesson outline on the board helps students to anticipate the variety of activities they will experience and to feel a sense of progress through the lesson or through the material. The plan itself can become the object of meaningful communication and language practice, as the teacher asks learners to remind her or him of the next activity, or invites them to choose an activity from those remaining. Teachers in some advanced classes write the day’s schedule in sentences on the chalkboard, and it becomes a class activity at the end of the lesson or the day to rewrite the sentences in the past tense to show that the activity has been completed. Rather than talking about changing the tense of the verb, the teacher says, “This sentence isn’t true anymore; how can we change it to make it right?” In some classes, especially immersion classes, the revised daily schedule could be written in a class diary, illustrated, and used to maintain a class history. Reference: Jensen, Eric. Teaching with the Brain in Mind. 2nd. Ed. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005
Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Helena Curtain, hcurtain@uwm.edu, 5
Sample Thematic Unit Physical Education Animal locomotion charades/pantomime
Science Animal habitats Animal food How animals move Classify animals according to type and various attributes
Where do Animals Live? Language Arts Read fiction & nonfiction animal stories Read & recite poems Write pattern poems Recite chants & rhymes Recite animal sayings
Social Studies Locate habitats on maps according to continent, countries and landforms Identify animal symbols Identify importance of animal to the culture Identify animals used as pets
Art Identify and describe animals in cultural art works Make and describe animal masks
Music Sing animal songs Listen to animalthemed classical music Mathematics Measure animal sizes in metric system Survey and graph favorite animals of class Compare sizes
Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Helena Curtain, hcurtain@uwm.edu, 6
Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Helena Curtain, hcurtain@uwm.edu, 7
Unit Plan Inventory
Unit Title: Where do Animals Live? Teacher(s): _________________________
Language Level: Novice Grade Level:_____ School: ___________________
Unit Overview: After learning about animals and their various homes, students at the end of the unit show that they have integrated their learning by creating an imaginary animal and describing it from various aspects.
Stage 1 What students should know and be able to do Enduring Understanding: Students will understand that all living things need a place to live. Essential Question(s): Where do animals live? Standards: (Local and/or National) 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 2.1, 3.1 (Local standards are not filled in here because the sources will vary.) Outcomes/Objectives/Progress Indicators: Students will be able to compare and contrast selected animals based on specific criteria such as habitat, size, movement, color and cultural connections
Stage 2 How students will demonstrate what they know and can do: Performance Assessment Interpersonal Task and Rubric Each student will take on the role of one of the animals and interview another student.
Interpretive Task and Rubric Students will answer questions based on a reading at the end of the unit. Students will listen to (or read) a story about an animal looking for its habitat and draw a series of pictures that retell the story.
Presentational Task and Rubric Create an original product relating to animals and present it to the class or another audience. For example: • Create an imaginary animal and describe its appearance and habitat
Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Helena Curtain, hcurtain@uwm.edu, 8
Stage 3 Preparing students to demonstrate what they know and can do Language Functions
Describe animal appearance and characteristics Identify animals by name and habitat Express likes and dislikes Ask questions concerning animal characteristics
Grammatical Structures
Key Vocabulary
Culture(s)
Subject Content
Comparisons
Adjectives to describe:
Animals sounds
• Science habitats animal food locomotion • Mathematics measuring animal sizes, comparing sizes graphing favorite animals of class • Geography locations of habitats • Fine Arts animal paintings make masks • Language Arts animal stories fiction and nonfiction pattern poems
1., 2., 3. person singular of verbs: like live eat be see Verb to be is , are
Comparisons: Communities:
color speed size texture personality Nouns for animals habitats geographic regions continents Verbs for animal movement
Symbolic animals Cultural importanc e of animals Animal sayings Animal stories Animal songs Artists and animals
Essential Materials Maps Animal pictures Art prints Art supplies Pattern poem examples
Major Learning Activities/ Performances BEGINNING • Fantasy (virtual) trip to various habitats MIDDLE • Identify animals using art prints • Match animal with habitat • Locate world habitats on a map • Ask questions about animal hidden in bag • Do animals jigsaw activity • Do Finding Differences partner activities • Use rhymes, songs related to animals • Survey animal likes and dislikes in class • Graph animals according to attributes, habitats • Compare & contrast pets in various countries • Identify animal symbols in various countries • Classify animals in various categories, e.g. number of legs, color, locomotion, etc. • Take on animal identity and participate in interviews • Move like an animal • Make and describe animal masks • Write animal poem (cinquain/diamante) END • Create a story about favorite animal OR • Create fantasy animal and describe it and its habitat
Compare and contrast pets in various countries
Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Helena Curtain, hcurtain@uwm.edu, 9
Best Practices for Teaching Asian Languages in International Schools, Helena Curtain, hcurtain@uwm.edu, 10