Week-long Thematic Unit - Research Paper Example

? Week-Long Thematic Unit Number: Week-Long Thematic Unit Overview a Week Long Lesson Plan According to Max (1997), thematic instruction refers to the organization of a course around large-scale "themes". Thematic teaching integrates fundamental disciplines like math, reading, as well as science, with the study of a wide-ranging subject such as communities, river basins, rain forests and the use of energy among others. This unit is to enlighten English Language Learners on pumpkins through books, exploring pumpkins, as well as school field trips. The learners will begin by going through a manuscript on the life cycle of a pumpkin along with filling out a KWL chart on each and every thing they know concerning pumpkins (Harada, & Yoshina, 2003). Then, the class will discuss vocabulary, as well as what words they need to know when explaining and making maps. During the course, they will be informed that they are going to go on a field trip to Bonny Brook farmhouse. Prior to the trip, they need to sketch a map or plot of finding the best likely way to arrive at the pumpkin patch so as to find their pumpkins (Baker, Cooley & Pingel, 2002). Then, after they collect their pumpkins and the class gets back to school, they will inspect the pumpkins through estimating and measuring aspects of the pumpkin. After that the class will read an informational manuscript about pumpkins. To conclude the pumpkin course as a class, we will compose a picture book, which characterizes the pumpkins and each and every thing they learned about pumpkins. This "Pumpkin Science" plan will lesson gives students who learn English as a Second Language a background of how to grow plants. It also grants them a practice in predicting and estimating outcomes. Component Sections of this Thematic Unit 1. Subject. The paper will select an appropriate subject that reflects on text topics, student experiences, interests, problems or issues. 2. Grade Level Correctness 3. Focal Point. Here students will be asked to develop a one-sentence focus statement, which summarizes the intent and direction of the unit. 4. Objectives. This section will identify three or four aims the educator wishes the students would understand by the end of the unit (Max, 1997). These can be limited to county or state competencies and objectives. 5. Resources and Materials. It is beneficial to establish all the crucial resources and materials after the unit has been developed. The way, the educator will avoid limiting him/herself to a few recognizable items. a) Printed Resources. pamphlets, newspapers, notices, junk mail, travel guides, journals, letters, diaries, maps, brochures, advertisements, flyers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, magazines, professional journals, booklets. b) Computer along with CD-ROM Materials. Reference works, educational software, simulations and educational games associated with curriculum, and CD-ROM variations of writing. c) Internet Resources. d) Visual/Audio Resources. Videos, filmstrips, films, movies, overhead transparencies or slide programs. Audio tapes, records, tapes and books, and CD’s. e) Community Resources: 1. Motivational speakers 2. School field trips f) Instructional Television Resources: 1. Cable 2. ETV g) Literature Resources: 1. poetry 2. Non-fiction 3. Fiction 6. General Activities. This section will establish activities that the educator wishes to use all through the unit. For a majority of the unit, these activities will be mixed, incorporating the range of curricular fields, as well as reflecting elements of a literature-related program. 7. Discussion Questions. This section of the lesson will include an array of open-ended questions, which help students mull over the topic in a divergent and varied manner. 8. Literature Selections. See Resources and Materials above. This section will select books associated with the topic of each thematic unit. For literature selection, the lesson plan will develop a pre-reading activity, a range of cross-curricular education activities, and indefinite discussion questions. The lesson plan will also enable the educator to select books from an assortment of genres (Harada, & Yoshina, 2003). 9. Culminating Activity. The closing activity is an activity or project, which engages learners in significant summarization of their findings and leads to new-fangled understandings, ideas, as well as connections (Max, 1997). 10. Evaluation. Devise suitable means of evaluating learner progress all through the unit. The stage will enable the educator to avoid depending on formal paper and pencil tests; choose criteria to calculate growth. Use logs, student journal writing, and conferences, as well. 11. Finally, Related Works of Literature. This section of the lesson plan will select books that connect with the theme and make them available for independent reading along with reading aloud to the entire class (Max, 1997). Learning Objectives Learners will utilize literature, experiences and discussion to study about growing and cultivating a pumpkin (Baker, Cooley & Pingel, 2002). This includes language arts for grade one students. The reading process will incorporate comprehension strategies, concepts of print, as well as self-monitoring strategies. Learners will be capable of identifying text written in poetry form, as well as the elements, which are applicable (e.g., repetition, rhyme, onomatopoeia) of identifying and elucidating the essential characteristics of literary genres and forms. These elements comprise of drama, poetry, fantasies, fables, chapter books, fiction, as well as non-fiction. The students should be able to make predictions while studying and support predictions with facts from the book provided or prior experience (McCarthy, 2011). Thirdly, students, by the end of the unit, should have learnt the life cycle of the pumpkin through coming up with a book on the computer (Yamada, 2004). The text that will be used is Science: 1st Grade Life Standard. Students will be required to analyze oral expressions (e.g., accent, pause and rhythm), which are used in poetry to pass meaning. A textbook that could adapted is the Grade level 1English Language Arts. Students should read with ease the changes in tone, expression and timing to show that they have understood the content. The students should be able to discover that there are living organisms, nonliving things and imaginary things, and explain the fundamental needs of living organisms. They should be able to understand that organisms, including humans, have fundamental needs, which include air, food, water, shelter or living space (McCarthy, 2011). Students will establish efficient techniques for reading fall related poetry out loud. The text that could be used is Grade 1 English Language Arts Reading Applications (Baker, Cooley & Pingel, 2002). This is assist them establish an objective for reading (e.g., to follow directions, to be informed and to be entertained). Learners will develop an oral performance of a self-selected piece of poetry using expression and fluency to pass meaning. A text book that could be adapted for this is Grade-Level 1 English Language Arts Indicators. They should identify, as well as explain, the significant characteristics of literary genres and forms including folk tales, fairy tales, fiction and non-fiction. Finally, the final aim of this unit is to enable students to work collectively and cooperatively. I have selected these objectives to assist my students to better comprehend the life cycle of pumpkins and utilize their skills to generate a book. Also, I have selected these objectives to assist my learners in becoming assured readers. Student Grouping The entire class will seat as a whole and the later divided into small groups of three to four students (Harada, & Yoshina, 2003). I have selected this form of grouping so that the teacher can clarify what is expected of the students and small groups to permit them to use the computers together, as well as discuss what they are inscribing in their books. Teaching Method I selected a teacher directed method of teaching this thematic unit. The teacher direct method will assist students to understand the assignments given to them (Baker, Cooley & Pingel, 2002). Materials or Essential Items The instructional material that I will use is the Kid Pix studio deluxe. It incorporates computers, pencil, paper, pumpkin and the pumpkin book. Activities a) The students will be required to talk about the story and construct a class chart on the life cycle of a pumpkin. (seed, sprout, flourish, green pumpkin and orange pumpkin) b) The teacher will type, as well as print out the diagram, on the computer. c) Split the learners into groups of not more than four. Allocate the sections of a pumpkin’s life to each group. d) Every learner draws on paper with crayons what they will sketch when they are allowed to work with the computer. e) Learners go to the PC in a timetable the educator is comfortable with for the class. f) Every learner, or pair of learners, makes their image and a sentence to complement the diagram. g) Have the learners read and note down their sentence or sentences. h) The educator should save the images. They can publish them to make a tangible copy of the learners work for a book. i) Create a slide show of every group of five sections of the life cycle. j) Finally, have the video book or slide show ready for other students to view and understand. The lesson plan will require students to read several texts on growing pumpkins, which are appropriate for students' age, as well as English language ability. When going through a pumpkin book, emphasize the words you want your students to know (Baker, Cooley & Pingel, 2002). Teachers could download significant pumpkin vocabulary to educate students the words they should know. Some of the vocabularies needed include soil, cover, seeds, water, roots, sunlight, shoots, ground, vines, sprout, leaves, buds, green, flowers, yellow, pick, orange, seeds, pulp and estimate. These vocabulary definitions and words are ready to cut out and after that glue to flashcards (Yamada, 2004). The students should place all cards in a heap with the meaning facing up. The educator, on the other hand, should have learners pick a card from the top and give the vocabulary word. The educator will be required to present a word bank when learners are first learning the fresh vocabulary. Students can sketch how pumpkins mature by putting sentence strips or pictures in order relying on their ability and grade level (Harada, & Yoshina, 2003). Every learner should orally repeat the cycle. Correct use of plant language should be emphasized. Students are provided nametags for basic parts of the pumpkin plant and requested to place them appropriately on a large sketch of a pumpkin plant (McCarthy, 2011). The students can also make a book through drawing images to match sentences about every stage of pumpkin growth. The educator should give the students manuals of how to plant a pumpkin. If they have not by now done so, they should have students complete the test with floating and sinking to establish whether the whole process was a success (Simmons, 2010). Students can calculate the circumference of their pumpkins. The educator should also have the students use a piece of thread to accurately calculate the pumpkin. Lay the thread on a yardstick to observe the circumference. The same thing should also be with the pumpkin height. The educator should tell learners to record their findings on the Pumpkin Activity Sheet (Baker, Cooley & Pingel, 2002). Chop off the apex of the pumpkin and scrape out the soft tissue. The educator should have students feel the soft tissue and illustrate what it feels like. Support the use of words like "slimy, mushy, and squishy". Use the words for the sections of the pumpkin: skin, stem, pulp, meat, ribs and seeds. The educator should have students approximate the amount of seeds in the pumpkin. They should write down their estimations and make a rough count by separating the seeds into groups of 25. The students should then complete the Pumpkin Activity Sheet in order to maintain their information. Older students can devise the relationship between the amount of seeds a pumpkin has, as well as the color. Pumpkins that are much darker (orange) are more mature and furthermore have more seeds (Baker, Cooley & Pingel, 2002). Lesson Closure Contingency Plans The lesson will end early in the day. The students will share their manuscripts in small groups and the after that the entire class will look at the books together (Harada, & Yoshina, 2003). Because the unit runs for a week, the students will be allowed to interact after that in order for them to be familiar with another. Accommodation through Ability In case of unique needs, ADHD children will be accommodated through having them interact with their classmates, as well as assisting them to use the computers. The lesson plan will accommodate students who have IEPs by pairing them up with students who do not have IEP. The students who do not have IEPs will assist the other students to learn how to grow a pumpkin. The lesson plan will also require the teacher to assist students with IEP almost all times through making them keep more attention these kinds of students (Harada, & Yoshina, 2003). Accommodation through Diverse Experiences In order to incorporate students with diverse background experiences while addressing the issues of race/ethnicity, gender, English language proficiency, physical challenges and/or economic status of students in the classroom, the lesson plan will have an assistant come in and assist diverse learners get on the computer. The assistant will also assist students with composing their stories (Simmons, 2010). The lesson can also accommodate students who come from the lower class families of the society. The lesson plan will ensure that the educator pairs them with other students who are familiar with how to use the computer (Harada, & Yoshina, 2003). They can work together to learn how to grow a pumpkin. Also, the educator can assist the deprived student to get started and answer any question the student has along the unit (McCarthy, 2011). Assessment Information The lesson plan will assess the learners in literature debates over the pumpkin, the book and inform them how to formulate their pumpkin books appropriately (Baker, Cooley & Pingel, 2002). The lesson plan will also assess the learners on the computer by letting the teacher go around and see if any student needs assistant creating the manuscript using the software provided. The lesson plan will also assess if the students know the growth cycle of the pumpkin through allow the teacher to listen to the students as they read out loud their books. Finally, the lesson plan will assess the students through allowing the teacher to observe the learners in groups to confirm that they are working with their classmates on the books. The lesson plan will allow the educator to critique each student as they listen to them reading aloud their manuscripts using an assessment sheet marking if the student is well acquainted with how to grow a pumpkin, as well as its life cycle. By doing this, students will understand the growing cycle of a pumpkin and be able to read their content with emotion. The student will also be able to create the meaning of the unit and be nature into a fluent reader (Baker, Cooley & Pingel, 2002). Post-Lesson Reflection As a way of reflecting on the entire course, it is vital for the educator to ask him/herself how well the unit went, the reason why they the unit was a success or not, what will be done differently next time and how it will be done. After this is done, the educator will be ready to mull over the next steps derived from their evaluation and reflections of data (Harada, & Yoshina, 2003). This will enable the educator to plan ahead for learners, who attained the learning goals, establish how they will re-teach the unit for students failed to attain the learning goals. References Baker, A., Cooley, D., & Pingel, K. (2002). Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins: A thematic unit. Retrieved from http://www2.ku.edu/~topeka/THEMATIC_UNITS/Pumpkins.pdf Harada, H., & Yoshina, J. (2003). Inquiry learning through librarian-teacher partnerships. Oklahoma: Linworth Publishing. Max, E. (1997). Development and evaluation of a week-long integrated thematic unit at West Elementary School. Antigo, WI: Dorrance Publishing. McCarthy, C. (2011). Developing a thematic lesson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Simmons, B. (2010). How to integrate a week-long thematic unit. American Journal of Environmental Studies, 5(7): 67-74. Yamada, H. (2004). A Chinese integrated thematic unit. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Read More