CI 4000 Elementary School Curriculum and Instruction
Interdisciplinary Unit Guidelines
For CI 4000 you will develop an integrated unit in collaboration with your supervising teacher at your internship site. The unit should fit the curriculum at your field assignment grade level. It is expected that you will use a variety of sources when creating your unit such as your supervising teacher, the NCSCOS, research for the content outline, instructional materials, etc. The following instructions and the models presented in class should help guide you through this process. See your course syllabus for specific points/percentages for the unit.
Unit Components
Selecting a Unit Topic: Due February 14
· Choose a topic that can encompass a variety of NCSCOS objectives in conjunction with your supervising teacher.
· Choose a topic that will integrate English Language Arts (ELA) and at least one other content area (See English Language Arts guidelines).
· You are encouraged to use lessons that you will create for other content area courses as appropriate for the unit of study.
· Your unit should be based on a variety of resources such as teacher manuals, texts for background knowledge, website material, ideas from your supervising teacher, etc. Activities should incorporate a variety of strategies based on student need.
Cover sheet: Due February 21
· Name of unit
· School, grade level, supervising teacher
· Your name and date (semester)
· Your rationale should include a basic overview of your goals (as related to the NCSCOS), and a section discussing why this unit is important for students to learn.
· Your rationale should answer the following questions:
o Why is this topic/theme/concept related to the grade level curriculum? Your rationale should include the big ideas and concepts you want the students to learn from the unit.
o Why is this unit appropriate for this age group?
o What instructional strategies will be used to teach the content? (For example, inquiry based science lessons, guided/shared reading, writing, responding to literature, direct instruction).
· Include a detailed content outline that lists and describes all of the major concepts to be learned during this unit (not teaching strategies).
· Become an expert on the topic—do background research and gather as many resources as you can find.
· Content should be outlined based on your NCSCOS objectives with other goals and objectives outlined as appropriate for your unit.
· Include a plan for assessing student learning for your unit. Your assessments should be aligned with your unit goals/objectives and include a variety of formats as appropriate. Assessment strategies that you may choose to use include KWL, observation with anecdotal notes, webs, graphic organizers, surveys, discussion, prompting questions, student products, presentations, written responses, tests, worksheets, anticipation guides for reading, and journals.
· Please include the following components:
o An initial assessment of student learning. It may be appropriate to use a worksheet, a few essay questions, a survey, a pretest, an anticipation guide for a reading selection, an observation with anecdotal notes, etc. An initial assessment should be developed that encompasses the main concepts that will be taught in your unit. Use the NCSCOS to guide you.
o A summative assessment of student learning (aligned carefully with the initial assessment and may be the same assessment in the case of a pre/post assessment).
o Formative assessments that will be conducted throughout the unit aligned with specific lessons. This can be as simple as worksheets, science journals, observations, presentations, journals, discussions with anecdotal notes, other products, etc.
· Use the following questions to guide you in planning for your unit assessment:
o How will you know if your students have achieved your goals/objectives?
o What evidence will best provide you with information about what the students have learned?
o Did you assess your students at the taxonomic level for which the goals/objectives were written?
o How will informal and formal assessment activities during the unit lessons provide information that supports your goals? (Daily assessment activities should relate to your overall assessment).
o Do your assessment activities cover all of your major goals and objectives?
· Include at least 6 detailed lesson plans using the six-point lesson plan format or other lesson plan format as appropriate (science lesson plan, pre/during/post for reading lessons).
· Make sure you are covering your stated NCSCOS objectives and the necessary content as developed in your content outline.
· Use a variety of formats appropriate for the goals and objectives of your lesson.
· Make sure you have an assessment for each lesson.
· Make sure you check for understanding as needed throughout the lesson.
· Specify strategies for adapting to diverse learners.
Resources: April 26
· Include a list of high-quality children’s literature (fiction and nonfiction if appropriate) that will aid in the teaching of your concepts.
· Include a list of other resources as appropriate (websites, professional books, materials, etc.).
· You may add other pertinent information to your unit that will make it helpful for you to plan and teach.
Analysis of Student Learning: April 26
· It is essential that you include an analysis of the impact your teaching has had on student learning. In other words, what have your students learned? And, how do you know this? To answer these questions you will analyze the information provided by your students on the initial assessment and compare this to the information provided by the students on the summative assessment. You will also want to discuss how the formative assessments give evidence of their learning. You will be asked to explain your findings based on the growth of each student gained over the course of the unit. You may want to consider developing a matrix with each student’s name and the different assessments given during the unit in order to analyze student growth for each objective taught. Discuss with your classroom teacher how this student growth translates into letter/number grades if appropriate.
Teaching Reflection: April 26
· Any teaching/learning/assessment cycle includes an analysis and reflection of your teaching. The information that you gather can be used to gain an understanding of your students and inform further instruction.
· As a conclusion to your unit, you will analyze and reflect on at least four lessons you have taught. Your reflections should be based on the “Reflection Cycle Questions about a Lesson” attached. Do not answer each question individually, but rather address each section in your reflection. Make sure to concentrate most of your reflection on the last two or three sections where you analyze your lesson and describe how you would do things differently in the future.
· Make sure to address any comments regarding your lesson that were given to you by your supervising teacher and/or university professor. Please include all feedback forms you received.
English Language Arts
Guidelines
These guidelines should be used as a checklist to ensure that you have included objectives and activities related to the NCSCOS English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum. Please answer the following questions using examples and explanations. It is expected that your answers can be directly evidenced in your unit.
NCSCOS
· Did you use specific objectives from the English Language Arts NCSCOS as suitable for your unit? Which goals did you choose and why?
Vocabulary
· How did you help students understand key words essential to your unit of study?
· What activities did you incorporate when teaching vocabulary throughout the unit?
Comprehension
· What strategies and activities did you use to teach them comprehension?
· How did you support them in becoming strategic readers?
High-Quality Literature
· What were the titles and authors of the books you used in this unit? How did you use these books to help teach your unit?
· Did you incorporate a variety of texts/literature to support your content (consider books for read aloud, independent reading, modeling think-alouds, etc)?
· Do your selections represent a variety of literature including fiction, nonfiction, etc.?
· Do your selections represent our diverse society as appropriate for your unit?
Writing
Assessment of reading and writing