LeeUPAGES

Andrea Lee UPAGES 9/6/11


 * 1) The three unit plans that I seleted to take a closer look at were Identity: How We See Ourselves & Others, Voice, Power, Identity: Guide to Choosing a Path & a Place, and Identity: Coming to Know One's Self Through Literature.
 * 2) I narrowed in on these three unit plans because I believe that each one focuses on creating different activities and learning experiences for the students in ways that will be beneficial to students of different learning styles. They also all pose the question of identity; who we are and if experiences shape us into the people we are. Identity is a theme that is a focus and is also relatable to students throughout middle and high school because they too, are trying to find out who they are.
 * 3) Of the three unit plans the one that I liked the best was Voice, Power, Identity: Guide to Choosing a Path & a Place because I believe that the author of this unit plan is trying to connect with their students by incoroporating a novel, film, short story, and poems into the lessons which all connect to the theme of identy, but also adapts to preferences of different students. The author had some very well thought out activities like a "life map" which shows students that their life experiences can have an influence on who they are today. Lastly, I found the unit plan to be very organized and explained in a clear manner which I found to be beneficial and easy to follow.
 * 4) One thing I would change about the unit plan How We See Ourselves & Others is that for the Analytical Essay Assignment there are twenty-five different novel choices for the students to choose from. Although I believe giving your students options is very important I would narrow the options down to around ten different novels because I would overwhelmed myself having to pick from such a large number, and as a teacher I think I would be able to be a better resource for students if there was not such a large selection.
 * 5) All three of these units are well organized and can keep a teacher on track with their activities and break downs of time. Each also has students working in groups and discussing the literature that the students are reading which will be beneficial to students because they will be working with others for the rest of their lives. One thing that is different about the unit plans is that the unit plan How We See Ourselves & Others has students read an article the is in the NY Times that deals with race. By having students read a current newspaper article it will connect students to what is going on in today's world.
 * 6) I believe that these similarities exist because of the importance of group work throughout schools and the real world. Each of the unit plans also incorporate different types of literature such as novels, films, poetry, and short stories because the authors of these unit plans see the importance of variety in the reading material so all students needs are met. I think teacher preference and personal learning techniques account for the differences within the unit plans such as the different activities they have planned for the students because everyone has different ideas.
 * 7) The criteria that I would use to evaluate the structure of unit plans would be Organization; coherence, logical sequence, are the lessons presented in a way that students will follow and we are not jumping around, and Content; does the material relate to the unit goals, objectives, and standards.
 * 8) Each of these three unit plans put an emphasis of variety in the delivery of the lessons being taught. The curriculum of ELA can be presented throughout many different ways such as, group work, hands on actitivites, and discussion. Good instuctional practices in ELA are ones that are flowing and building off of the lesson that you have done before. They also need to be implemented through different learning styles to meet the needs of every student throughout your classroom. ELA students should be capable of making connections between the text and real life. They also should be capable of discussing relevance of the texts important passages.
 * 9) I have noticed that the attitudes of the teachers while looking at these three unit plans are all ones of postivity and trying to meet the needs of all students. I enjoyed the variety of the lessons that these teachers were going to implement.
 * 10) I agree with both of these attitudes because I believe that our jobs as teachers is to do what works for your students not what works best for you and what style of learning you might prefer. Also, I agree with the implementation of lesson variety because then students are not constantly doing the same activities and they will be more attentitive doing something they enjoy.

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