TEACH-NOW Unit Plan Template

Unit Plan Template

Teacher Candidate Name: Sarah Beck Martin

Unit Name: Unit 4: Open your hearts.
Subject and Grade Level: EFL, Middle School grade 8
Standards:
WIDA: ELP: Standard 1: Social and Instructional Language: Formative Framework.
Reading: Use of information.Level 3: Summarize information on socially-related topics
from illustrated paragraphs.

ELP: 6-8.2: An ELL can . . . participate in grade appropriate oral and written exchanges of
information, ideas, and analyses, responding to peer, audience, or reader comments and
questions. (Level 3: participate in conversations, discussions, and written exchanges on
familiar topics and texts • build on the ideas of others • express his or her own ideas • ask and
answer relevant questions • add relevant information.)

Overarching Goals: What would you expect for mastery?

At the end of the unit, 7 lessons, my students will be able to write their own blog post using
an image, text, cartoon, or other media, that they will then analyze using observation and inference,
and respond to another student’s blog post and respond to that student’s analysis of a different
media type.

S- Students will be able to write their own blog posts analyzing and image, text, cartoon, or other
media, using observational language.
M- This goal will be achieved after students have completed 4 formative assessments, and will be
considered complete when the students have finished their blog posts.
A- This goal will be assessed through a rubric, checking for language use, comprehension of peers,
and a response to another student’s post.
R- This goal is relevant, as students will be able to better articulate how they view media. It also
gives students an opportunity to practice 21st century skills like communication and media literacy.
T- This unit will end after 7 classes (4 weeks). Students who need extra support will work with the
teacher to adapt the time frame for the completion of the final project.

1. Students will be able to identify the difference between observations and inferences by
pointing out language used in sentences.
2. Students will be able to discuss their observations about an image using the key vocabulary
“He/She/It seems to be …”.
3. Students will be able to use passive voice in speech and text.

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Objectives: Identify the objectives for the unit and a table that shows 21st Century skills addressed.
Use the objectives that you created in Unit 1.

Objective 21st Century Skills

Addressed
Students will practice describing images from newspapers, social
media, blogs, and magazines using observation and inferences.
(creativity, critical thinking)
Students will demonstrate the ability to discuss each others’ views Collaboration,
about an image verbally and through writing. communication,
social skills
Students will work together to analyse media- images, texts, blogs, cartoons. Technological
literacy and
critical thinking.
Students will be able to demonstrate the use of key expressions and communication,
vocabulary verbally and in writing while responding to peers’ analysis as well initiative,
as their own. productivity.

Prerequisite Skills: What skills do students need to have before beginning this unit?

-Ability to make complex sentences using conjunctions (spoken and written)

-Make opinion statements “I think, she thinks, he thinks…”
-Read short texts ( 1-2 paragraphs in length).
-Use personal pronouns correctly in a sentence (he, she, we, they)
-Familiarity with Edpuzzle software.
-Familiarity with blogging software (Blogger, etc) for the project.

Summative Assessment: What evidence or project will students submit to demonstrate that they
have met the standard and objectives? How will you assess these products? How will you
differentiate the assessments based on varying reading levels of students?

Week 4, Lesson 6:
Summative Test: Reading comprehension and short answer: Students read a text with image,
respond to questions with short answers and describe the image they see. This is a discrete point
and short answer test covering the grammar, vocabulary, and concepts in the textbook (test created
by textbook publishers).
Differentiation:
The textbook offers 2 versions of the test, one high and one intermediate. These tests will be given
to the intermediate and high level students respectively. For lower level or struggling students, the
questions will be rewritten to match their levels (the goal of this summative assessment is checking
comprehension of inference regarding an image, so the goal is to check that comprehension not
check for complex or high level vocabulary usage). Students will also be able to adapt their short
answer questions from multiple sentences to one sentence. Tier 2 and 3 supports will also be used
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to help students build more fundamental skills with the L2.

Formative Assessment: How will you monitor and track student progress?
Week 1: Edpuzzle. Lesson 2 of 6. Students will respond to a short video. At the pauses, students will
practice describing the scene using “...seems like/seems to be..”. The results of this assessment are
ungraded, but will be used to decide who needs more practice, group or individual, with the
language. If enough students show the need for more practice, the teacher will reteach the material
during class.
Week 2: Observation vs inference exit ticket.Students respond to an image with 1-2 sentences of
inference (it seems that/ he seems to be) and observation (I see snow, etc). Assessment gauges how
well students understand the difference between observation and inference.
Week 3: 60 second journal- exit ticket. Students respond to a text prompt, writing 2-4 sentences. The
teacher will check for content and grammar comprehension.
Week 4: Reading comprehension and short answer: Students read a text with image, respond to
questions with short answers and describe the image they see.

Lessons: What are the lessons that you will teach for this unit? How will you sequence the lessons
that you will teach for this unit? Will your lessons be goal oriented, theme-based, or project-based?
What strategies will you use to teach vocabulary to students of varying reading levels? Mention any
other literacy skill covered in a lesson. What follows this unit?
1. Lesson 1- Introduction to vocabulary and sentences. Focus on listening comprehension.
Students listen to a conversation from the textbook, and a) note the key expressions and b)
mark down what the characters’ opinions are on the conversational subject. (Teacher can
play 2-3 times to help students’ comprehension). Introduce concepts: observation vs
inference. Model the concepts using the textbook scenarios.
2. Lesson 2- Class discussion and roleplay with textbook scenarios to help students become
more comfortable with the grammar and vocabulary. Once students are more familiar with
the key expressions, the teacher will then introduce images from media and news and allow
students to come up with one or two sentences expressing what they think is happening in
an image. Ask students to clarify if they are observing (fact based) or inferring (opinion
based) what is happening in the images.
3. Lesson 3-Video commentary: Students watch a short video. In a group, one student will
make a video comment of what they thought “seemed to be happening”. A second student
will respond to that video, etc. (if using videos is not an option, round-robin discussion
circles will happen instead).
4. Lesson 4-Collating data: Students will select a team leader (or teacher will assign) to then
present their findings from the discussion to the class at large. Students will remain in their
groups from lesson 3: each team is given a video to watch and discuss using key expressions
and vocabulary. In the groups, students will discuss what they think is happening and work
to come to a consensus on that video. Then, the group will choose a presenter (or the
teacher will assign the role) to then present to the class their video’s topic and what the
group decided the video was about.
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5. Lesson 5-Blog posting project 1: “Blog posting” using a classroom

blog or journal: students choose an image and describe what they believe is happening in
the images, using key expressions. Students are assigned an image (1 of 3), and use key
expressions, vocabulary, and prior knowledge (inferences) to describe what seems to be
happening in the image. Students follow a rubric, which states how many key expressions
should be included, length of description, what tone to use, and what grammar will be
looked at (punctuation, spelling).
6. Lesson 6- Blog posting project 2: Peers will choose 2-3 posts and respond to the
descriptions, and should ask at least 1 clarifying question. This is part 2 of the project, and
follows a similar rubric.
7. Lesson 7: Summative test and blog project reflection: Wrap up: Students read the response
to their posts in the previous week, and reflect on them (using student journals). Students
take a short summative test: reading comprehension and use of key expressions with short
answers.
8. Review and reteaching- the teacher goes over the test, reteaches content that needs to be
retaught, and also goes over the project rubric with the students (individually is ideal, but
may be done in groups). Students have the option to redo either the initial blog post or the
responses as needed.

Differentiating Instruction: How will you differentiate the product, content, and/or process for the
various needs, preferences and readiness levels of your students? How will you differentiate the
lesson for students with varying reading levels, disabilities and English language learners?

Reading levels: The teacher will provide leveled readers and adapted texts for students who are
below or above the grade reading level. As we will be discussing observations, the teacher will also
be looking for various and appropriate for class images and media for the students.
Listening: Some of the .mp4s in the textbook include rapid speech. The teacher will play these audio
clips 2-3 times, and ask students to listen for key expressions as they listen. Also, the teacher can
(and should) play back some of the audio clips at .75x speed for those students who still have a hard
time following the pace of the speech.
Week 3 project: Image choices: Students have the option of choosing 1 out of 3 images to discuss in
their blog posts. Some images will be easier to describe for both observation and inference, while
others are more tricky. Students have the option of switching images once before the end of the
project. This allows students the opportunity to “move down a level” or “up a level” if they feel their
initial selection was more difficult to too easy than they first thought.
SPED: Students will work with SPED assistants in class, with supports in L1. Some of the SPED
students will work as individuals with the teachers and assistants.
Next Steps: What will you do after the unit? Review, re-teach, extend, or move to the next unit?
Extension:
Prepare students for the end-of-semester project (culmination of vocabulary, grammar, HOT skills,
and communication learned in Units 2-4). Students keep a portfolio of their work from Units 2-4 to
use in the project.
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Low level, or struggling students:

Reteach concepts as needed (1-1 tutoring, Tier 2 or 3 supports), with a focus on the grammar in the
chapter. Students are given dialog prompts and put into homogeneous groups to practice using the
key expressions and vocabulary.

For intermediate students:

Review Units 2-4 for communication, reading comprehension. Include short open ended questions
at the end of the comprehension texts. Review the text with the students. (using tools like Nearpod,
can be beneficial if we are teaching online at this point).

For higher level students:

Expand past strict image use and introduce video and text. Ask students to watch a short video clip,
news related but appropriate for the classroom, and have them discuss their feelings on the matter
using “It seems that”. Students practice HOT skills using prompts to flesh out their reasons for those
responses.

After the review lesson, students will begin preparation for the next unit/end-of-semester project.

References: Add resources you used to create this unit plan (preferably in APA format).

Stauffer, B. (n.d.). What are 21st century skills? Retrieved February 11, 2021, from
https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/what-are-21st-century-skills