Power Up Plus! Unit Template
for 21st Century Teaching and Learning
Unit Plan Title: Sentence Writing Conventions: Capitalization and Phonetic Spelling
Developed By: Linda Norman
Grade Level: K
Length of Unit: Weekly throughout
the year
Standard: What standards will provide the focus for this unit? Choose one core content and one educational technology.
K.W.2.1 Students can write a simple sentence using a capital letter and phonetic spelling.
K.CT.3.1 Recognize technology as a tool to help complete a task.
Essential Questions: What essential questions will focus this unit?
How can I write so that others understand what I am trying to say? What if I don’t know the right way to spell
a word?
Academic Vocabulary: List the key terms students will need to know in order to understand the content.
Upper-case letter, lower-case letter, sentence, letter sound, “stretch the word”
Learning Targets: What are the knowledge, reasoning, skill, and product targets unpacked from the standard or benchmark?
Create
Evaluate
Content (nouns)
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
Analyze
Apply
Skill
Understand
Remember
Assessments
(verbs)
There are 2 types of letters—
upper-case letters and lower-case
letters.
Words can be “spelled” by writing
the sounds that are heard in the
word.
A sentence begins with a capital
letter.
The other letters in the sentence
are lower-case letters (unless they
are the beginning letters of a
name).
Students will participate in an
interactive writing activity.
Students will write simple
sentences in their daily journals.
Students will write a simple
sentence about a given topic.
Students will write sentences to
describe a picture.
Students will identify the upper
and lower-case letters in a
sentence.
Students will use the SmartBoard
to identify upper/lower case
letters.
Students will “create” words
through the use of phonetic
spelling.
Students will use the SmartBoard
to create and/or write words with
phonetic spelling.
Some words are “sight” words
that they will need to learn to
spell.
Page 1
Planning the Learning Experiences: What learning experiences will equip students to demonstrate the targeted learnings?
In other words, what instructional strategies can be used to facilitate students’ ability to successfully complete the assessments?
Learning Cycle
Tech Integration
Where: The SmartBoard will be used to illustrate
the components of sentence writing. A writing
chart is used in the room as a Target reinforcing
expected components of a sentence.
The SmartBoard will be used
to create an interactive
writing sentence.
Hook: Interactive writing about a shared
experience will serve as the springboard for
accompanying lessons.
Highlighting pen and creative
pen will be used for
identification of the
upper/lower case letters.
Explore: The interactive writing sentence is the
anchor for identification of upper/lower case
letters. Letter vests give ownership in the creation
of words.
Infinitely cloned letters on the
SmartBoard paired with
pictures of objects that can be
spelled phonetically.
Reflect: Writing conferences accompanied by a
writing rubric gives students the opportunity to
self-assess followed by feedback from the
classroom teacher.
Exhibit: Daily journals give students the
opportunity to view their progress with the writing
of sentences. Students will complete a “riddle”
about a given picture that will be put on display for
others to view.
Reading Strategies
Before
__Classroom routines chart
____Story discussion with key points written
on a chart
___Students write their name as the
beginning of a sentence that is finished by
the teacher.
During
__Shared pen for interactive writing
____Text-to-self connections
_____Sound analysis of words
_____”Stretch” the word to hear the sounds
After
_Revisiting the text
_____Rewriting from a draft
Google.doc presentation of
the scanned riddle pages to
be placed on the class website.
Page 2
21st Century Skills:
Digital Age Literacy
X Inventive Thinking
X Effective Communication
X High Productivity
Lessons/Activities:
Materials: SmartBoard notebook activity with pictures of objects and infinitely cloned letters; letter vests for students to wear;
writing paper with a picture and lines for writing; word wall for sight words
Setting the stage: Create a chart of Classroom Routines to give students an example of writing for a purpose. Reread the chart and
discuss any familiar letters that they hear in the words on the chart. Have students participate in a writing activity by having them
write their name on a chart followed by having the teacher write the remainder of a sentence that they dictate. Discuss shared
reading stories and write key parts of the story on a chart to illustrate the importance of writing for meaning.
Incorporating the Skill: Have students spell words based upon the sounds of the letters in the word. Use letter vests on students to
“spell” names of objects. A picture of the object is shown and the students must spell the word by standing in the correct order.
This is followed by using the SmartBoard Notebook activity of pictures of objects and infinitely cloned letters. They must spell the
word using phonetic spelling—moving the letters to spell the words. Students will participate in an Interactive writing activity on the
SmartBoard incorporating the use of the shared pen strategy. The highlighting pen can be used to revisit the sentence and identify
upper and lower-case letters. The creative pen—daisies, stars, smiley faces, etc. can be used to stamp—upper case letter, lower
case letter, space between words, punctuation.
Demonstrating Understanding: Students write in their journals on a daily basis. Writing conferences about their writing gives the
students and the teacher the opportunity to discuss the incorporation of the skills in their sentences. A simple writing rubric gives
the students the opportunity for self-assessment before the conference with the teacher. A classroom book (presentation) of
riddles showcases the sentences that have been written by the students. Students write sentences about the picture on the page to
describe the picture.
Modifications: In what ways will the learning experiences be differentiated to meet student needs?
Far Below Standard
Approaching Standard
Students will identify
upper and lower case
letters by categorizing
them on the SmartBoard.
Students will find a
picture on a Picture/Word
chart and copy the word
for their sentence. The
correct use of upper and
lower case letters is
sporadic.
Meeting Standard
Students will write a
sentence using phonetic
spelling. They use upper
and lower case letters
correctly.
Page 3
Exceeding Standard
Students will write multiple
sentences about a topic using
correct upper and lower case
letters. Sentences will include
ending punctuation.