MYP unit planner
Unit title
Identity
Teacher(s)
Kristin Boszhardt & Rick Carey
Subject and grade level
English A—MYP 4 (Grade 9)
Time frame and duration
4 weeks
Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit
question
Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will be our focus?
Why have we chosen this?
What are the big ideas? What do we want our
students to retain for years into the future?
Environments
The environment and it’s surrounding
factors play an important role in shaping
individuals.
The purpose of using environments as an
area of interaction focus with this unit is to
make students aware of the importance of
the world around them, and how they are
shaped by all factors of their environment;
positive and/or negative.
MYP unit question
How are individuals affected and shaped by the people and
environments around them?
Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?
Students will create a vignette that will focus on the elements of their environment that shape them into the
people they are today while using a variety of appropriate literary devices to enhance their writing.
Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?
 Students should be able to use language to narrate, describe, analyse, explain, persuade, inform,
entertain and express feelings.
Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
C: Style and language mechanics
Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the learning
activities through inquiry
Content
What knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit
question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the
significant concept(s) for stage 1?
Language A MYP Aims:
 Use language as a vehicle for thought, creativity, reflection, learning, self-expression and social
interaction.
Illinois State Standards: English/ Language Arts
3.B.4a Produce documents that exhibit a range of writing techniques appropriate to purpose and audience,
with clarity of focus, logic of organization, appropriate elaboration and support and overall coherence.
1.B.4c Read age-appropriate material with fluency and accuracy.
1.C.4d Summarize and make generalizations from content and relate them to the purpose of the material.
Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?
Throughout this unit, students will use various skills to help them connect the story to their own lives.
These will include:
 Organization (Double Entry Journal, Cornell Notes, Venn Diagrams)
 Comprehension Skills
 Vocabulary Enhancement
 Writing Skills
 Social Skills
Learning experiences
How will students know what is expected of them? Will
they see examples, rubrics, templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise
the skills required? How will they practise applying
these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will
we know?
Students will work individually and
collaboratively to enhance vocabulary,
comprehension, writing and social skills
throughout this unit.
 Active Reading of various short stories.
(Initiation by Sylvia Plath, “The Struggle
to be an American Girl” by Elizabeth
Wong, “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan)
 Active Reading of various vignettes from
The House on Mango Street.
Teaching strategies
How will we use formative assessment to give students feedback
during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have
we made provision for those learning in a language other than their
mother tongue? How have we considered those with special
educational needs?
Formative Assessments will include:
 Guided Reading Questions (Students will work
individually and collaboratively to display their
overall comprehension of the story, while also
making personal connections. I will review and
discuss with students.)
 “All About Me Writing Activity” (Students will
practice their writing by composing a brief
personal narrative about their self-identity.
 Student Interviews (Students will formally and
 “All About Me” Writing Activity
 Guided Reading Questions
 Student Interviews
 Family Interviews
 “I am” Poems
 Personal Response Writing
 OEA Paragraph Writing (“Fish Cheeks”)
 Figurative Language
o
o
o
o
o
o
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Alliteration
Imagery
Repetition
informally interview other classmates to lean
new information about the student and how
their environment affects their daily life.)
 Family Interviews (Students will formally and/or
informally interview their family members in
order to better prepare for writing their final
vignettes. They will discuss the factors in their
lives which are significant to them.
 “I am” Poems (Students will use a template to write
a poem exploring themselves on various
levels.)
 Personal Response Writing (Student are asked to
write about personal situations throughout the
unit in order to prepare for their final vignettes.)

 OEA Paragraph Writing (Students will write an
organized analytical paragraph exploring “Fish
Cheeks” by Amy Tan.)
 Themes of focus include…
 Figurative Language Quiz
o Self-Definition & Identity
o Friendship, neighbourhood, and
home
o Freedom and entrapment
o Growth and Maturity
o Gender roles and expectations
o Fitting in
o Escape
o Finding one’s home
Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during
the unit?
 Classroom Supplies (chart paper, markers, etc.)
 Various short stories and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
 Classmates
 Family Members
 Computer Lab
 LCD Projector
Ongoing reflections and evaluation
In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are further
stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for teaching and learning” section of
MYP: From principles into practice.
Students and teachers
What did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated
action?
Possible connections
How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make
sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
Are we prepared for the next stage?
Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?
Students and teachers
I decided to use this unit as an opening unit for various reasons. I like to start the year out with allowing my
students to do some searching of who they are. The transition into high school can be difficult for some
students, so exploring their person and the environments around them can help them adjust. Students
need to be aware of all that affects the way they live their lives.
Possible connections
Collaboration with other MYP and IB teachers assisted me with the planning of various activities in this unit.
The focus on writing in this unit was a way to see how well students write when entering high school.
Assessment
Students were able to demonstrate their exploration of various environments as well as their own
environments and identity through a variety of assignments. In particular, their “Vignettes were a great way
to show creativity along with this exploration of their identity. The OEA paragraph that students wrote for
“Fish Cheeks” was their first attempt at analytical writing. The assignment was somewhat basic, so I was
able to gage who had a natural ability for analysis writing. I was also able to target those students that
struggle with this task.
Data collection
I decided to track student growth with OEA writing throughout the year. This was the very first attempt, so I
kept it basic. I plan to see how students grow over the course of the year while the assignments become
more focused and analytical. This is a great way to prepare students for the Diploma Program and college
level writing.
Figure 12
MYP unit planner