Unit plan word vomit

1 week of lessons includes the 15, 30, and 60 minute lesson demos (only truly create two more)
Rewrite rationale and goals and rubrics (see feedback on former draft assignments on turnitin.com).
Work backwards on unitstart with the extended definition essay final draft then go back through
drafts using the writing workshop methods from the writing workshop textbook. Go back and extend 15
and 30 minute lessons to 60 minute lessons. Include CD project.
15 minute lesson begins the unit on Music
30 minute lesson continues the Music
60 minute lesson begins the poetry section
(need two more music lessons)
CD project is the final for the music section
Should I have a mini essay for this section?
Rework lessons so that they incorporate more writing/journaling
One lesson should be the introductory lesson on the unit (explain the final projectessaybeginning
with compare/contrast essay)
Essay drafts on each section? At least two drafts, peer and teacher reviewed
One song (of choice), one poem (of choice), and the text as beautiful literature as a whole
See common core standards for 9th grade on writing and reading literature and gear lessons towards
them. The problem I have with incorporating these into my lessons is that they feel restrictive and Im
not sure how to word what Im teaching so that it aligns with the common core.
The all important question in the lessons is this: what am I asking my students to do?
Go back and read about the rationale; go over my overall unit plan and REALLY think about why it is
important and why it needs to be taught and give EVIDENCE LOTS OF EVIDENCE!
Cover sections of compare/contrast essay in lessons (can cover one component a day; would cover all in
a week; give students time in class to research and think/practice/vomit the components in each class.
Or I could do one component a weekbut that might take too longthat would be five weeks and a unit
is at the most 6 weeks (check daybook for that)).
Drafts of compare/contrast essay components? At least two drafts? Definitely peer reviewed
Portfolio for all of this work?
Unit Plan:
- Rationale
- Goals/rubrics
- Materials
- Introductory activity
- Specific lessons and activities (1 weekinclude one of my lesson demos)
Draft 2 Rationale Feedback:
- Too informal
- Cite sources

Unclear
Too rough (concerning)
Beyond romanticism plans? (not visible/clear)

Draft 3:
- Third draft of rationale
- Second draft of intro activity
- First draft of 1 week of lessons
- Reflection letter
Reflection letter includes:
- Where Im really struggling
- Planning ahead
- Huge workload
- Too many things to work on at the same time (trouble multitasking and utilizing effective time
management)
Rationale:
- Lead into virtues as being beautiful (part of inner beauty and aesthetic awareness in general)
- The virtues and Romanticism
- WHY do I think Aesthetic Awareness should be taught in the classroom? (give at least 3 points)
- What about this unit makes it significant to learning?
- What is the relevance to my argument? (ex. Studying what is beautiful in literature through
romanticism is important because)
- Give evidence (sources) for each relevant point/claim ( a source for each claim)
- Counterargumentrealism vs. idealism
- True beauty touches the soul; the soul longs to find beautiful things
- CSN song (49 bye-byes), NEEDTOBREATHE Something Beautiful
- Negative vs. positive portrayals of literature (songs, poems, and literature in general and within
Romanticism)
- Christian perspective (ties in with my philosophy of teachingthis is the backbone of my
argument)
- HAVE A WORKS CITED LIST!!!!
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-romanticism (this is a source on Romanticism)
On the Shoulders of Hobbits by Louis Markos source on the virtues (brief explanations of what they are
and how they are/were important in literature in the past and how they need to be made important
again)
Four cardinal virtues (from ancient Greece):
- Prudence (discretion)
- Justice
- Temperance (restraint)
- Courage
Finding all four of these in literature today is hard (they are often twisted into lies such as revenge,
recklessness, and arrogance)

Why are these important to teach students? Provides a different role model than the usual cocky,
reckless hero out for revenge; that hero (or antihero) is overused (is also popular today), has
become a stereotype in films at least, not really a positive role model, teaches negative messages
USE MY PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING AS BACKGROUND AND EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT WHY I AM DOING
WHAT IM DOING IN THIS UNIT PLAN!!!!!
Writing a Rationale (Smag pp. 146-147)
- What concepts are central to the topic of this unit?
- Why am I teaching this unit and its concepts?
- What types of justification am I primarily relying on to support my rationale (e.g. psychology,
human development, cultural significance, etc.)?
- Within each justification, what are the main claims I can make about its relevance to the unit Im
proposing (e.g. studying protest literature is important because it helps students understand the
role of conscience in social action)?
- For each claim, what kinds of evidence can I provide that would be persuasive to others, and
how can I include a warrant that explains the ways in which the evidence I present supports my
claim?
- What counterarguments against my rationale can I anticipate, and how can I provide a rebuttal
for them?
- How can I provide a rationale for each of the texts that my students will read in conjunction with
the unit focus?
Alignment with common core standards provides justification for teaching the topic
Smag Ch. 10 Your Unit Rationale:
- Psychology or Human Development
- Cultural Significance
National
Local
Distant
- Literary Significance
- Civic Awareness
- Focus on a Current Social Problem
- Preparation for Future Needs
College
Social Needs
- Relevance
- Alignment with Standards
- Writing a Rationale
- Summary
Angle: Focus on a Current Social Problem
- Societys obsession with death, darkness, the antihero, making villains not really villains,
dismission of evil, black and white as grey, hopeless rather than hopeful, forever wounded,
never healed, darkness as good
Points to use from Philosophy of Teaching:

Because of this I believe that values such as integrity, honesty, and responsibility should
be taught in the schools and that these values can be found in works of literature that have
lasted long in the education system.
we can begin solving the problems of the future by what we teach children today, and
that the job of schools is to produce citizens who can improve our society and solve the
problems it faces.

LESSONS
Week of lessons on music start at beginning of music section (DO NOT INCLUDE 15 & 30min.
LESSONS!)
30 minute lesson on music and language (moonlight sonata/grenade; text rendering activity,
opinionnaire) homework from lesson was to paint a scene from listening to an instrumental
piece.
Lessons have to be 45-55 minutes in length and divided accordingly
Pick a common core goal(s) and make the lessons about that/them
For the songs 49 Bye-Byes and Something Beautiful the following standard works:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course
of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an
objective summary of the text
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative
and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning
and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or
informal tone).
OR
I can do the weeks worth of lessons on the extended definition essay
That makes SO much more sense; plus I can do one (at least) standard per lesson
Lesson one:
Introduction on extended definition essay
Extended definition = Compare/Contrast students are answering the question: what makes a text
beautiful? What qualities make a song/poem beautiful (word choice/arrangement, melody,
rhythm, artist, instrument, form, type (ballad, haiku, etc.)
Smag example: Beatles-Rolling Stones Comparison
- Songwriting ability

Singing ability
Virtuosity on their instruments
Influence on other musicians
Longevity in the music business

Categories are songs, poems and literary works (maybe two short stories) comparison
essay/extended definition in one category? Comparing three different things (song, poem, lit
work) seems really tough.
For this week of lessons, it will be all about songs and music; one must be from the Romantic
period, the other is an instrumental of students choice
Categories to use:
- Instrument variety
- Longevity/popularity in genre (classical, soundtrack)
- Mood, tone
- Product of its time (is/is not?)
- Length/time difference
Parts of compare/contrast essay:
- Intro
- Criteria/rules
- Examples
- Counterexamples
- warrant
- counterargument
- rebuttal
- Conventional grammar, etc.
- evidence of at least 1 rough draft
nine categories if I did one category a day, covering each component would take a week and
two days (not counting grammar and rough draft evidence)
compare/contrast essay helps students learn how to conduct an inquiry (which is a standard)
Day 1 would be introduction of assignment and information gathering
Day 2 would be continuation of information gathering
Webquest works for info gathering (in this case on the era of Romanticism and the music
produced during that time; famous composers; superficial beauty, inner beauty, etc.) (one group
does Romanticism in general, another does Romantic music, another does famous composers (is
that the same thing as music though?), another does aspects of Romanticism (that can be divided
so each group covers an aspect)
Smag Week One of Unit (50 minute lessons):
Day 1: Webquest
Day 2: Webquest
Day 3: Jigsaw (student-led small group discussion)
Day 4: whole class discussion

Day 5: Game day (Friday)

Day 1 Example: Webquest
3min attendance/housekeeping
5min walk to computer lab and get settled
10min hard copy and review of assignment with students (explanation)
32min students work on webquest until bell
What student led discussions did I like?
Whole Class Discussions:
- fishbowl
- author on trial
- talk show format
- text rendering
Small Group Discussions:
(single session)
- jigsaw
- ranking activity
- discussion web (I like this)
(long-term discussion)
- book clubs
- literature circles
housekeeping (maintenance, upkeep)
red tape (formalities, procedure, rules and regulations)
I like saying review of last week (reminder? Overview) I like up-and-coming for whats
happening next (the plan for the future)
Webquest is on romanticism in general and the specific aspects that make it up (individuality,
idealism, reverence for natural world, physical and emotional passion, mystic and supernatural)
Can easily find songs that emulate these traits (does that make them Romantic? great
discussion question!), do these make songs/poems/lit texts beautiful? I can use these questions
for the discussion web activity on Day 3 Day 4 can be fish bowl discussion
There are five aspects to Romanticism, so that would be five groups (if 25 students in class, 5
groups of 5)
Day 5 needs to be a fun activity/game day. Smag example is vocabulary game
http://www.teachhub.com/engaging-classroom-games-all-grades
http://www.teachhub.com/top-12-classic-games-teach
http://www.greatgroupgames.com/adult-group-games.htm
http://www.greatgroupgames.com/song-title-game.htm

http://www.greatgroupgames.com/fishbowl.htm
could do Romanticism jeopardy, scrabble, scattergories, bananagrams, song title game, speed
scrabble, dictionary game
class game for day 5 is the song game