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Amy Aalberts
December 12, 2011
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Final Unit Plan
Unit Plan
Utopia
I am not sure you have been in the course I thought I had taught. I see little that
resembles what was taught by me or by Probst and I am most disturbed by the real lack of good
planning sense here, the kind of sense that would allow you to look at the goals of English, as
established in documents such as the standards, and extract from them essential objectives to be
achieved which would advance students toward achievement of disciplinary goals. I see
absolutely no value in the unit as it is described. Students read a single work and work to read
that single work and write a paper that does not necessarily have to reflect any competence
because nothing has been done toward helping students achieve competencies. Maybe you see
things differently, but do look at your objectives and the standards you cite and see if the
objectives are evenly slightly related to those standards. There is not study here of character,
plot, setting, theme, or any other element of literature that might lead to deeper reading of texts
and to better writing. I need to know what the point of it all is and I see none. How could that
be?
Utopia- /yo͞oˈtōpēə /Noun: An imagined place or state of things in which everything is
perfect. The word was first used in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More. The term has
been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt to create an ideal society, and
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fictional societies portrayed in literature. The definition of utopia or a utopian society can be
clearly defined and understood by all. But what makes the concept of a utopia so unique is that it
is different for everyone. For my unit project I want to allow my students full creative freedom to
design and articulate their idea of utopia. With different pieces of literature, pictures and other
forms of media, students will get to really understand the concept of a utopian society and what
that entails for a lot of people and understand the different wants and needs of every individual.
At the end of the unit I will have my students present to me as well as their fellow classmates
their very own personal utopia. This can be presented through a poster, personal essay,
homemade movie, or any other approved idea that the students wants to attempt. No idea can be
too extreme, I want every student to really think about what their ideal society would look like if
they ruled the world. With the many different examples and ideas I will present to my students
throughout the unit project, they will be able to fully understand what a utopia entails and the
amount of detail that they will need to incorporate when designing their own personal utopias.
Overall Objective: Students will be able to understand and explain the idea of a utopian society
and then alter and build their own idea of utopia through a creative outlet. Students will
accomplish this by reading the novel “The Giver,” as well as relying on other media outlets to
fully grasp the concepts behind a utopian society and have the capacity to determine if utopia is
even really something that can exist.
Lesson 1
Lesson Title: Imagining your Utopia
Unit Plan: Utopia/Dystopia
Class/Grade: English Language Arts/9th grade
Teacher Name: Amy Aalberts
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Length: 60 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens
Description: This lesson is a springboard into a unit focused on one’s idea of an idyllic world or
a “utopia”. This unit is intended to help students understand that utopia is in the eye of the
beholder. The idea of utopia varies from person to person and it allows authors, poets and
musicians a way to present great works of art. Because everyone has a different idea of what
makes a perfect society, this opens up a lot of new ideas between students, as well as creates a
rich dialogue full of different views, which should trigger an interest in this genre of literature as
well as spark an interest in students to imagine their own ideal society. As an introduction into
this unit, I am combining several different outlets involving utopia in hopes to get students
excited about the unit and reading the novel “The Giver.”I will do this by using music, pictures,
and literature, which should appeal to most students. This lesson’s purpose is predominantly to
introduce the students to the concept of utopia.
Rationale: It is crucial that students have a deep understanding of the concept of Utopia, this
will ensure their understanding and success in the reading of “The Giver.” By presenting them
with the different types of works that focus on that concept will only expand their understanding
of utopia. This book although sometimes overlooked, is an important piece of writing that
students should be aware of. This novel has the potential to be truly life changing. I want to
give my students as many resources as possible that then allow them to understand and
appreciate the novel on an individual basis. With the different activities and exercises that will
accompany the novel, they should be able to appreciate the writing as well as the message behind
the novel.
Objective: Students will be able to articulate and explain what a utopia is, as well as write their
own ideas of a “perfect” day in a short writing piece depicting personal events.
Activity 1:
1. The lesson will start off with a quick write
 Think of a time and place where they were the most happy, and why do you believe
that time or place makes you happy.
2. After the quick write, I will ask the class if they know what the word Utopia means.
We will then brainstorm different words they associate with the word utopia. I will
then ask if any students believe that their quick write resembled any personal utopias
for any of them. I will then ask the class to turn to the person sitting next to them and
read them their quick write.
3. The brainstorming and quick writing activity will be followed by listening to the song
“Utopia” by Alanis Morisette. While the students are listening to this song, and
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hearing it describe a time and place the musician felt peace and happiness, I will
display different pictures of beautiful and mystical places, some real and some not.
The images depict different ideas of utopia.
4. After we listen to the song, I will ask the students who have now seen pictures and
listened to other people’s ideas of a perfect world, to go back and add whatever they
want to their original writing in order to make it “perfect”. They will be instructed to
be as creative as possible, they can add people they would want to be there, the
location, the activity, whatever they want to add to their original writing is acceptable.
5. Lastly, I want them to turn to the same person they shared with early, and share what
they changed, and then explain to their partner why they made those specific changes.
Rationale: The rationale for this lesson is for students to begin to generate ideas regarding the
concept of Utopia. With the song, pictures and the quick write all together, it is inevitable for
students to start to recall times and places when they themselves felt like they lived in the perfect
world. When I have the students turn to the person sitting next to them, I want them to be able to
read their ideas out loud without feeling pressured, as well as see that what might be utopia for
someone might not be for everyone. This should be a realization that there is really no such thing
as a perfect world, because everyone has different ideas of what is perfect. Then, by having the
students go back and alter their original idea, will allow for critical as well as creative thinking to
take place. When the students listen to the song and look at pictures, my goal is to have them
completely immersed in the activity. The students are not required to write anything down while
they are listening so their full attention should be on the pictures being shown. This exposure to
their partner’s ideas, pictures, and music should have students interested in the upcoming unit.
Lesson 2 (Full Lesson)
Lesson Title: Introduction and the beginning of the novel “The Giver”
Unit Plan: Utopia/Dystopia
Class/Grade: English Language Arts/9th
Teacher Name: Amy Aalberts
Length: 70 minutes
Materials: The novel “The Giver”, pens, paper
Nevada English Language Arts Standards
Content Standard 3.0 Students read literary text to comprehend, interpret, and evaluate authors,
cultures, and times.
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3.12.2 Evaluate methods of characterization used by the author.
Describe the motivation for a character’s actions.
Analyze author’s development of characters.
Make inferences and draw conclusions about a character(s) based on evidence.
Objective: Students will be able to understand the characters, and setting by reading aloud
chapter 1 of “The Giver” and then answering thought provoking and analytical questions
regarding what they just read as well as debate whether diversity makes for a good or bad world,
in a short debate.
Rationale: It is crucial for students to really understand what they are reading, so they can be
successful in the activities that accompany the novel. By having the objective require students to
think critically after reading will only confirm if the book is being understood. By adding the
debate, this gives students to articulate rather than write, showing their understanding of the
problems in the society. My objective can be met with the assessment. The writings will be a
reflection if students understand the material and can transcribe it on paper and then as well as
orally.
Description: The short novel “The Giver” by Lois Lowry is a great example of a utopia with
many flaws, and a place that sounds too good to be true. Students will begin reading this in class
and how the book is read (i.e. in groups, partners, as a class) will vary from day to day. This
novel is relatively short, but is none the less packed with rich vocabulary, a riveting plot as well
as the constant question of whether this alternate society should even be considered a utopia.
Activity 1: On this particular day, we will be reading chapter 1 together as a class, in the classic
“popcorn” style. When reading chapter 1, we as an audience will be introduced to the main
character Jonas, as well as a new and strange society where pain, disease violence, and all around
feelings don’t exist. We are also introduced to the customs and social norms that would make
anyone think that this society is strange.
Rationale: I think at the 9th grade level, it is a lot to ask students to read an entire novel outside
of class. If you want students to participate and actually read, I find it important to read both
inside as well as assign outside readings. This should give students the opportunity to read at
their own pace at home, but still have some timeline of what should be read by the next class
session. I chose to do “popcorn” reading for chapter 1 because it forces students to take
responsibility of their own participation together with the choice of when to do so. In addition,
attention to the readings is enhanced when students are prompted to listen to peers for the
opportunity to link their contributions to what has come before.
Activity 2: A Great Debate.
I will have the students debate the question "Is it better for all people to be alike or for people to
be different?" I will first assign students to one of two groups: Pro-Sameness or Pro-Diversity.
To prepare for the debate, I will have each group brainstorm ideas to support their side and
organize their best defense. I will allow time for students to find facts that support their position
from the chapter as well as their smart phones to look up information for other sources.
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Rationale: To break up the monotony of reading aloud, I wanted to give the students an
opportunity to work with their classmates, and have a discussion. Because this book brings up
many different controversial topics, it is good to have the students debate some of them. I am
placing students on different sides by random, even if they don’t agree with what they are
defending, the still have to. This will force students to critically think and have to see things from
another person’s perspective. This will also make students refer back to the chapter we just read
and make references from the book. By allowing them to use their smart phones, I believe
students will really try to get information to back up their position and strengthen their side.
Assessment
Informal: I will be able to see who is participating in the popcorn reading as well as who isn’t.
This will be a good predictor if who is going to do well on the quiz at the end of the class.
Formal: I will assign an exit ticket about 15 minutes before class is over with several questions
that should be easy to answer if the student was paying attention to the readings in class. The
students will turn in their exit tickets, in order for me to see if they understand the plot thus far
and if they are simply paying attention to the material.
Exit Ticket
Chapter 1 Questions
1. Describe Jonas’ community and would you want to live there? Why?
2. Describe Jonas’ family. What do his parents do?
3. How does Jonas feel about his community? Do you agree with him?
4. What is being “released”?
5. What do they discuss in their ritual of feeling sharing?
6. What are your overall feelings towards Jonas? Do you think you can sympathize with his life
or do you think you would like to grow up the way he did?
Rationale: Assessment is obviously very important; we assess to ensure that our objective is
being reached. With this simple exit ticket, it gives students the allusion that it is an informal
assessment because of how casually it is presented. Despite the relatively simple questions, it is a
good way to measure your student’s understanding of the chapter just read. If I see that the
questions are being answered in a roundabout way or they are simply not getting the answers
right, I would not move onto the next chapter, I would have to go back and discuss the chapter in
further detail.
Lesson 3 (Full Lesson)
Lesson Title: Predetermined Destiny
Unit Plan: Utopia/Dystopia
Class/Grade: English Language Arts/9th
Teacher Name: Amy Aalberts
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Length: 60 minutes
Materials: The novel “The Giver”, pens, paper
Nevada English Language Arts Standards
Content Standard 3.0 Students read literary text to comprehend, interpret, and evaluate authors,
cultures, and times.
3.12.2 Evaluate methods of characterization used by the author.
Describe the motivation for a character’s actions.
Analyze author’s development of characters.
Make inferences and draw conclusions about a character(s) based on evidence.
Objective: For students to understand the society norms in the book “The Giver” by
experiencing them first hand in the classroom, and then show understanding by writing about
their experiences.
Rationale: Writing about literature is a good skill to have; to cultivate this at a young age can
only allow students to progress in this ability. With the exercise with the accompanied writing,
this will enhance their writing skills as well as critically think about the situations the characters
find themselves in within the novel.
Students will have been reading “The Giver” outside of class for homework and should be
up to chapter 10.
Description: In the novel, the main character Jonas, as well as everyone else in his community,
has their lives predetermined at the young age of 12. They are told their profession and how they
are going to live their lives, from then on out. We currently live in a society that encourages
individual thought as well as the “American Dream” that you as an individual can do anything
you put your mind to. In this lesson, I want my students to see what it might be like to have your
job assigned to you as opposed to choosing it. Students will then have several writing prompts
that will really make them question what they felt during the exercise, that also tie in with the
chapters that the students recently read.
Rationale: Discussing and talking can only spark so much interest, but when I bring it into the
classroom, students might have their eyes opened to a world that doesn’t encourage
individualism. With a reflected piece accompanied by the exercise, we should being to see
understanding and empathy for the main character Jonas, as well as begin to see how difficult it
might be to live in a society like the one Jonas lives in.
Activity 1: As students come into the classroom I will hand each of them an envelope. I will tell
them not to open the envelope. At an opportune moment, after building this up, I will explain
that we are having a ceremony to announce what each student will be doing with the rest of their
lives. Just like in the novel, the students have no say as to their future roles in society. With their
new found role in society, there will be a rule or privilege listed on the bottom of the card. These
stipulations can range from requiring certain students to pass out papers, having to address
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everyone else as ma’am or sir while other students don't even have to take notes for the rest of
the period. At the end of the class period we can have a class discussion on how that made each
student feel, and discuss why or why not this is a good system of determining one’s entire life
path. It will be clear who is more valued and who is not, and I will treat the students accordingly.
The students will have to display their card on their chest, so everyone in the class knows their
role.
Rationale: This exercise will force students to see the unfair treatment people in this society are
subjected to. This exercise should be a way of really getting inside the novel and seeing what
kind of ridiculous rules these people are supposed to follow. Having some students be “better”
than others for no reason at all, will allow some students to really think about the structure of the
society, which then can result in a great writing piece full of passion. Student range in whether or
not they have experienced prejudice or unfair treatment, so everyone can relate, or sympathize
with the characters in the book. Students now having experienced these themselves, can really
take a step back and compare themselves to the characters, and write their opinions of this
society that much better.
Activity 2: With the roles of the students being enforced throughout the class period, we will
popcorn read chapter 7 together. I will purposely call and not call on people, make people sit on
the floor etc. to really have the idea of the exercise take effect.
Rationale: I think the popcorn reading exercise is a good activity to do when the student have
these new found roles placed upon them. This gives me the chance to really exploit the ones that
are not considered important in society. As mean as this may sound, I really want students to
understand how the selection of what people have to do for the rest of their lives in the novel is
completely random and unfair, and it shouldn’t be something a society should want.
Activity 3/Formal assessment (Last 20 minutes of class): Now that the students have been
subjected to cruelty and unfairness all day, they now have their chance to vent and write about
their experience and compare it to Jonas and his depiction of his society in the novel.

After today’s class please answer the following questions in complete sentences and
with as much detail as possible.
1. How did you feel about your role in class today?
2. Was it fair? Why or why not?
3. If you could change your role would you and why?
4. Do you feel badly for the people in the novel and how their lives are
predetermined? Why or why not?
5. Have you ever been treated unfairly in your life?
Once the students have answered the questions, I will have them turn them in for a grade for the
day. I will be able to tell by reading these testimonies if the exercise was a success or not.
Rationale: As the teachers, it is crucial to stay in character and treat the students appropriately
according to their new roles. This will give you a better outcome when the students write at the
end of the class. My goal is to get really thought provoking pieces of reflection as well as
comparisons from the book.
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Lesson 4
Lesson Title: My Utopia
Unit Plan: Utopia/Dystopia
Class/Grade: English Language Arts/9th grade
Teacher Name: Amy Aalberts
Length: 60 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens
Students should have more than half the novel read by now.
Objective: Students will begin to brainstorm their ideas of a perfect world, by listing laws,
regulations and all around society norms alone, and then share them with others in small groups
and then continue reading to chapter 20 (which will have been pre assigned).
Description: As a class, we will be getting close to the end of the novel. The final project will be
the next lesson, so students need to start brainstorming what they would want their “Utopia” to
consist of. Students will be brainstorming by themselves and then get into groups of 4 to share
with other students. After the groups are done sharing with one another, they will be required to
finish reading chapter 20 in their groups. They can read the chapter in any form they would like,
whether that be silently or out loud.
Rationale: I want to give students the entire class period for the final project, so for this class, I
will give them time to brainstorm and share with their peers their ideas of Utopia. I want them to
really have an idea of they want in their utopia and not have any outside influence, which is why
they students will start off brainstorming individually. When they get into groups with 3 other
classmates, it is to be able to hear other ideas, in hopes of maybe sparking new ideas within their
own. I want them in small groups, so students stay focused but still be able to hear several
different concepts. Students will then begin reading chapter 20 in their small groups. I am giving
the groups the option of how they want to read the chapter, because it gives students a sense of
freedom, but as an informal assessment I will be walking around the classroom and making sure
students are doing what they are supposed to be doing and staying on task.
Assessment: Before students leave for the day, I will have them answer an exit ticket.



In your groups, what was something someone shared with you that you would have
never thought to put in your own Utopia?
What is your favorite part of your Utopia?
How did you read din your small groups? Why did you pick that way?
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Rationale: I asked these questions to ensure that the students were listening to one another when
they were in their small groups. The last question is for me, I want to see how my students prefer
to read, and then apply that to the next novel we read together. This also will force students to
narrow down their favorite part of their Utopia, and focus on what they find to be most
important.
Lesson 5
Lesson Title: Final Project
Unit Plan: Utopia/Dystopia
Class/Grade: English Language Arts/9th grade
Teacher Name: Amy Aalberts
Length: 60 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens, colored pencils, markers, poster paper, magazine clippings, assorted
craft supplies (all provided)
Objective: Students will be able to apply their knowledge of the novel “The Giver” as well as
the concept of utopia, accumulated throughout this unit and create a creative
poster/pamphlet/map/etc. that reflects their own personal Utopia’s.
Student will have finished the novel in entirety.
Description: To finish off this unit I want the accumulative assessment to be something creative,
not only to give the students something fun to do, but something fun for me to grade. They will
have an entire class period as well as a week to finish an approved creative idea to present as
their final project. I will give them a rubric as well as explicate instructions that can be applied in
many different creative outlets. These guidelines will have to be addressed in a writing piece that
accompanies the creative piece but can also be displayed on the brochure, poster, painting, etc.

For your final project, you will be required to formulate and present your own personal
“Utopia”. You can display this in any manner you find suitable for you. Please just get
this approved by me before you begin, and make sure you answer all of the questions
listed below. I am requiring you write a short 2 page writing piece to accompany your
creative project.
1. What is the name of your Utopia? Why did you choose this name?
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2. What was the idea behind your Utopia? What did you think of when you were creating
this world?
3. What are some of the laws in your utopia? If none, why? Who enforces these laws?
4. What do the families look like?
5. What do people do for work? How do people get jobs?
6. What kind of government is present? If none why?
7. Is anything banned in your Utopia?
8. What are the humans like in your Utopia?
9. What is the weather like in your Utopia?
10. Anything else you want to add is encouraged.
Rationale: I think it is crucial to give alternative assessment especially when it is something as
grand as a novel. By giving the students a choice of doing a poster, brochure, map, painting etc.
really gives them creative freedom, but still allows you as a teacher to affectively assess if the
objective of the unit was reached. They saw the consequences of different laws and rules in the
novel, and now have to formulate and defend their own in their own Utopia’s. You could have a
more formative assessment accompany the creative final, but I would personally only do this if
the projects I received where not well thought out and planned pieces. Each class is different and
you have to use your judgment if you don’t think your objective was met, and you need to assess
further.