UNIT TITLE: Swimming Together Makes us Better Name: Laura Miller, Rachel Jarvis

Big Idea: Every individual is important to the community.

Enduring Student and Overarching Assessment Instructional Resources/
Understandings / Family Knowledge Standards in Strategies/ Materials
Essential Literacy Practices
Questions
Related Standards
(Content Area)
What are the Enduring How will you draw on What important What is meaningful What instructional What resources will best
Understandings and students’& families’ Language and Literacy evidence that students methods, strategies & convey the big ideas &
Essential Questions to ideas, interests and Standards & Skills will have understood the big activities will you use to concepts and advance
be Addresses? students’ shared students learn, practice ideas in the Content support students to meet application of specific
experiences to connect and apply? Area and have reached the standards and grasp oral, reading and/or
students to the big proficiency on Oral, the big ideas? written text types and
ideas? Reading and /or Writing skills?
Standards & Skills?
Into: • Blue butcher
Enduring • Students share 2.1 Write brief Formative: • Fish Wall/ Art paper
Understanding: experience of school narratives describing an • Community activities • Construction
We can accomplish walk, write thoughts experience discussion -Teacher and class paper
more when we work in journal and (Explanation) problem solve how • Book materials
together. The whole is discuss • Journal after to work together to • (Binding,
greater than the sum of • Students 2.2 Write brief school walk. accomplish goals crayons, pens,
its parts. pair/share to discuss expository descriptions -Read story pencils)
of a real object, person,
each others’ Summative: -Organize fish • Interview Ditto
Essential Question: place, or event using
contributions to the • Students -Discuss importance for connections
How can we work classroom sensory details of communities and
complete one page activity.
together to accomplish community. in class book individuals. • “Swimmy”
our goals? describing how they -By Leo Lionni
contribute to the Through:
Why is it important to classroom • School walk
engage all of the talents community. (Self “swim”
in our community? Knowledge) -Teacher and
students visit key
Why is it important to What language demands members of school
work together? How will you build in will you need to address community.
family involvement in in order for students to - Journal about
What are the related this unit? meet the academic tasks importance of
Content (Subject of the lesson sequence? individuals to the

Starlight Professional Development School 99/2000 revised 2007

I. McGinty Influenced by G. Wiggins
UNIT TITLE: Swimming Together Makes us Better Name: Laura Miller, Rachel Jarvis
Matter) Standards? whole school.
-Demonstrate • Class Book
-Be aware of… “Swimming
Together Makes us
Better
- Students pair/
share and
discuss each
other’s
contributions.
- Make a page:
“What I bring
to the school”
Beyond:
• Connections
-Talk to a
family or
community
member about
what they
contribute to
their
community.

I. McGinty, Starlight Professional Development School, 1999, revised 2007, UCSC adapted from work by G. Wiggins, 1999

Starlight Professional Development School 99/2000 revised 2007

I. McGinty Influenced by G. Wiggins