UNIT Number: Unit Title
The Unit Topic is the centering topic of study.
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What topics do I teach at my grade level?
What topics lend themselves to an in-depth unit of study?
How can I sequence the topics so that they logically connect to each other in order to enhance understanding for my students?
Conceptual Lens:
The conceptual lens is a broad, integrating concept, or conceptual-level question, that acts as a conceptual filter for student to use in processing
factual information
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What concept will focus the study?
What concept will give the study a focus that will promote thinking beyond the factual level?
What concept do examples from the topic lend themselves to?
What concept will allow for integration of the curriculum?
Unit Overview:
A unit overview is necessary to inform others about the intent of the unit of study.
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How will you briefly describe the unit of study so as to capture the imagination of the teacher as well as invite the student to engage in
learning?
Standards/Concepts/Topics:
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What relevant content standards will this unit address?
What are the subconcepts and supporting subtopics addresses in this unit by strand?
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Culture
Geography
History
Economics
Government
Objectives Taught:
Objectives Taught:
Objectives Taught:
Objectives Taught:
Objectives Taught:
Subconcepts & Subtopics:
Subconcepts & Subtopics: Subconcepts & Subtopics:
Subconcepts & Subtopics:
Subconcepts & Subtopics:
Essential Understandings and Guiding Questions:
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What generalizations related to the topic do I want my students to form?
What generalizations can be formed from examples from the topic?
How can I put two or more concepts together to form a relationship that will help my students achieve genuine understanding?
What column headings from my chart will focus my students' thinking in order to form a generalization?
What are the big ideas or the specific understandings that students should gather from this unit of study?
Students will understand that …
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What questions will foster inquiry, understanding, and transfer of learning?
How can I turn the generalizations that I planned in step four into questions?
What questions will focus my students on the concepts that they will need in order to form generalizations?
*As you examine your generalizations, make sure that all of your concepts from the unit web are included here. Also, make sure that you
include mixture of factual and conceptual questions that will lead students to arrive at the generalization. Label each question as factual (f),
conceptual (c), or provocative (p). Provocative questions should be limited to about 2 per unit. Essential questions should be matched with its
generalization. Finally, make sure that you have enough questions to support this unit of study. Keep in mind that this will be a 4-5 week unit.
Generalizations:
Guiding Questions:
Culture
Geography
History
Economics
Government
Culture
Geography
History
Economics
Government
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Critical Content and Skills
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O = Observations
D = Dialogues
What are the critical content (knowledge) and skills that students will need to master in order to reach understandings in this unit of
study?
How can I help my students develop skills in acquiring, organizing and presenting information during the unit of study?
What skills lend themselves to instruction during this unit of study?
How can I incorporate instruction in reading, writing, listening, speaking, critical thinking, problem solving and mathematics skills?
How can technology skills be used to help students acquire, organize and present information?
What examples from the unit of study will build on each other toward the formation of a generalization as I record them on my chart?
Students Will Know…
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Q = Quizzes
T = Tests
P = Prompts
AC = Assessment Codes
SA = Student Self-Assessment
WS = Work Samples
AC
Key Skills…
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AC
Performance Tasks
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How can I develop a task that will require my students to demonstrate an understanding of concepts used in the study of the topic?
What task that my students will present will show that they have acquired and organized information about the topic?
What understandings and skills do I want to assess in the performance task?
What criteria should I include in a rubric to assess my students' performance task?
Performance Task #1
Performance Task #2
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Learning Experiences
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How can I sequence my lessons so that they build toward the formation of a generalization by my students?
What experiences/activities can I create to help my students learn how to acquire, organize and present information using skills
necessary to complete the performance tasks and show mastery of the intended outcomes?
Suggested Learning Experiences
Enduring
Understanding
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Critical Content
Key Skills
Unit Materials/Resources
Teacher Notes
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