MYP unit planner

Unit title
Teacher(s) Subject and grade level Time frame and duration

Romeo & Juliet

Mrs. Desjardins and Mrs. Panagakos Grade 8 Language Arts 5 weeks

Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit question

Area of interaction focus
Which area of interaction will be our focus? Why have we chosen this?

Significant concept(s)
What are the big ideas? What do we want our students to retain for years into the future?

Human Ingenuity Explore how human minds have influenced our lives Become aware of the nature of ingenuity Reflect on the impact of innovations and creations, ideologies, and ways of thinking

Shakespeares language, although written hundreds of years ago, is still relevant today

MYP unit question

Wherefore Art Thou Reading This?

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?

Prior to reading - Students will rate Shakespeares significance to modern language on a scale of one through ten, and post it under the big question. Students will research William Shakespeare and his influence on modern day language. Students will brainstorm some possible themes of Romeo & Juliet, using whatever prior knowledge they may have of the play. Post reading - Students will re-assess the initial thoughts on Shakespeares significance and if their opinions are different, we will discuss for reasons for the changes. Students will show their understanding of Shakespeares writing through their own writing of a sonnet. Students will use Shakespearean format; fourteen ten-syllable lines with a specific rhyming scheme.

Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit? 1. Understand and apply Language A terminology in context.

2.

Appreciate and comment on the language, content, structure, meaning and significance of both familiar and previously unseen age-appropriate oral, written and visual texts. Compose pieces that apply age- appropriate literary and/or non-literary features to serve the context and intention. Create work that employs organizational structures and language-specific conventions throughout a variety of text types. Use language to narrate, describe, explain, argue, persuade, inform, entertain, express feelings and begin to analyze. Use appropriate and varied register, vocabulary and idiom. Use appropriate and varied sentence structure. Use appropriate and correct spelling.

3.

4.

5.

6. 7. 8.

Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?

Criterion B and C will be used to assess the final product.

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?

Students will need research skills to find appropriate resources about William Shakespeares life. Students will need prior knowledge and/or awareness of personal, cultural, and societal issues that todays world revolves around. Students will use their critical thinking skills to compare issues in Romeo & Juliet to todays issues and how they are similar and different. Common Core standards: Reading: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Writing: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Language:
1. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate. Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

2.

3.

Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?

Students will learn to stay positive even in the face of difficult and ambiguous text. Students will further develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills by reading Romeo & Juliet through analyzing unknown words and using the context of the word to comprehend.

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?

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?

Students will be provided with an overview of the unit, with the assessment tasks and what they should know, understand, and be able to do following the unit. They will be provided with examples of sonnets (both student examples and an example of Shakespeares sonnet). Students all have prior knowledge of syllables and rhyming. A brief reminder of these things will be gone over on an as-needed basis. All students will be given the basic Shakespearean language as vocabulary.

Formative assessment Frequent discussions Weekly jeopardy Teaching methodologies Reading aloud to students Showing films to reiterate events that take place in the text Providing examples of final assessment Utilizing games to increase comprehension Differentiation The final assessment (test) is modified with word banks for some students. Different modalities of learning reading vs. watching movies vs. acting out scenes

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?

Individual laptops make research effective and easy. Students are provided with examples of sonnets and a study guide for their exam. Classroom is set up in a horseshoe shape to facilitate acting. Sonnets are hung up in the classroom for reference. Multiple copies of Romeo and Juliet are available.

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 reflectboth 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?

Figure 12 MYP unit planner