Purpose of the assignment:  Students will become familiar with issues and procedures encountered in long-term planning.  The main skills to be improved through this project include the following:

1. Stating both short- and long-term goals for instruction
2. Relating goals to state standards
3. Selecting or inventing varied learning activities activities related to a single theme or subject
4. Integrating the different language arts in a purposeful way
5. Putting learning activities in logical order
6. Estimating time to be spent in completing goals
7. Developing multiple forms of assessment related to a single set of goals

Format:

Single Author: 10-12 pages, single spaced, including spaces between paragraphs and any outlines or lists.
Joint authorship, two writers: 12-15 pages.
Joint authorship, three writers: 15 pages minimum.

Use an 11- or 12-point proportional font and leave one-inch margins.

Date due:  Monday, November 19, 2007, any time of day or night.  If it's impossible to upload your plan to the D2L Dropbox, make arrangements to drop off a hard copy in person by November 19.   Optional: Schedule a conference to receive feedback prior to submission.  Allow at least one week for reading of a draft.  

Note: The following aspects of this assignment are not listed in order. Instead of proceeding step-by-step from the start of the list to the end, you will be considering many of the elements simultaneously as you develop your plans. Decisions about one aspect are likely to influence other aspects. Continue to refer to this list as you gather materials and revise your approach.

1. Establish a context. Imagine a class that you have observed or taught, and think of the distinctive characteristics and interests of that group of learners as you plan.

2. Select a unifying subject. Abstract literary themes such as fate or friendship usually allow greater flexibility in selecting materials and activities for a unit, and they can make it easier for students to explore and synthesize different kinds of information and relate material to their own experience. Sample themes of this type are listed in Tchudi and Mitchell, page 95. However, you may choose a historical period, major author, a group of authors, or a technical concept such as irony or local color if your plan is intended for upper grades.

3. Develop a set of learning activities that will involve students thoughtfully and appreciatively with the materials and concepts you select. These should

• include each of the language arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening, using media)
• require application of more than one kind of language skill at the same time
• be related to the theme or unifying subject (e.g., your choice of words or passages for analysis in vocabulary or usage activities should be drawn from the material the class is reading or tied in to the theme in some other way). Examples:

4. Put the activities in order in a calendar in a format of your choice. Once you establish how much time you have in class each day (usually either 50 or 100 minutes), allocate each activity to a day or days of the plan (day one, day two, etc.). In doing so,

• You may plan for an activity to take place on a single day, over two or more days, or over the entire time of the plan. Long-term activities can be going on "in the background" while parallel short-term activities are accomplished.
• Put activities in a logical sequence. Activities that take place later in the plan should build on skills or knowledge developed in earlier phases of the plan. Some repetition of activities is acceptable for purposes of reinforcement of skills and concepts.
• Be realistic in time allocation. Include alternative activities or procedures in case you underestimate or overestimate how long an activity will take.

6. Provide for differences among students--abilities, interests, and backgrounds. Important activities should be annotated to indicate optional materials or procedures to be used with students who have special needs; use your judgment to anticipate when such provisions will be necessary. Mention your plan for individualized reading--whether as an integral part of this plan or as part of your overall curriculum.

7. Develop a rationale for this plan. Why is it important personally, socially, politically, developmentally, and/or cognitively for these students to be doing these activities and using these materials? What long-term personal or social goals will they become better able to attain? What specific skills of language use--written or spoken--will they develop? What important knowledge will they achieve?

8. Make the major evaluation activity a culmination of related activities done in the course of the plan and, as much as possible, integrate it into the plan's structure. For example, if your main culminating activity is an essay on a literary theme, make sure students will have spent time during the course of the plan working on drafts, presenting sections of their paper for review, etc. Don't rely solely on a unit test (if you include one at all).

The following items will be considered in evaluation of the final product of this assignment:

1. Relevance of activities to goals
2. Relatedness of activities to central theme or other unifying principle
3. Appropriateness of activities for identified learners and other contextual factors
4. Incorporation of all language arts
5. Multiple forms of assessment
6. Cogent rationale
7. Attention to details of presentation, including spelling, usage, and document design
8. Completeness of all components

1. Title page
2. Overview. Provide a summary of the plan, including the subject, the purpose, and your overall approach. Mention for whom the plan is intended, specifying grade level and relevant school and community characteristics. Note how long the plan will take will take and its timing within the syllabus for a semester or school year. Length: about half a page.
3. Rationale. Tell why you have developed this plan in the way you have done. Discuss the choices you made in preparing the plan--choices of time, materials, activities, methods--in a way that "sells" the plan to potential critics and other interested parties. Length: about a page.
4. Goals. Describe the understandings and abilities that you expect your students to have developed upon completion of this plan. Include two separate lists, including a short list of broad, long-term goals and a longer list of more specific objectives, not necessarily in that order.  Somewhere in your goals, make specific reference to Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards for the English Language Arts.  This can be as limited as a parenthetical mention of the section and item, or a more detailed explanation of how your goals relate to the state standards.
5. Learning activities. Summarize each in a few lines. Include more activities than there are days in your calendar; students will do more than one activity on a given day. Not all activities need to be completed by all students; small group work, and projects, approaches are strongly encouraged. See examples above.
6. Assessment Plan. Provide a brief summary of the kinds of assessments of student learning and how they are integrated throughout the plan.
7. Calendar. Give a day-by-day outline of events in the plan. Examples are available for browsing. Ask to see them if you are interested.
8. Materials to be used by students. List books, recordings, filmstrips, names of speakers, TV programs, etc. Annotate this list so that teachers unfamiliar with the materials will have some idea of the nature of each. Give bibliographic information so that readers will be able to have access to the materials.
9. Professional resources. List books, articles, or other sources of teaching approaches used in the plan. Give complete bibliographic information and provide a one- or two-line annotation of each.
10. Appendices. Include samples of handouts, worksheets, scoring rubrics, anticipation guides, and other materials that will help clarify the activities of the unit.

Date due: Optional rough draft: no later than November 12.  Receive feedback by November 18 if you request it. (Suggestion: make an appointment to review the draft if you want feedback.)  Final draft: November 26.

Conference with instructor is optional.

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John Zbikowski, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Comments on this web page? Email zbikowsj@uww.edu Last updated November 01, 2007 URL: HTTP://facstaff.uww.edu/zbikowsj/uplanhnd.htm