Unit Template

*Based on the Keys to Planning

Language and Level/Grade:

Theme/Topic:

Approximate
Length:
Approximate
number of minutes
weekly:
Number of lessons
in the unit:
Personal Identity

4 weeks

Enduring
Understanding(s):

-Children play different roles in various

different cultures.

210 minutes
18

-The ways we are raised have a significant

effect on our perceptions and experiences of
childhood.
Essential Question(s):

-What is the role of the child in a given

culture?
-How have childhood experiences changed
over time?
-What factors determine how we experience
childhood? For example, people
environment, material goods or a
combination?

Unit Goals: Language

and Content

-SWBAT ask for and exchange information

about childhood experiences
-SWBAT compare their childhood with those
of other students both here and from another
time period and culture
- SWBAT communicate with each other
effectively through a technology-based
discussion board

Summative
Performance
Assessments:

Interpretive Mode:
The teacher will read a day in the life of

children from different parts of the world.

Although the teacher is reading (and possibly
translating) the text, the depictions will be a
collection of real stories collected from
children around the world (hopefully Costa
Rica, Spain, Kazakhstan, South Korea and the
US). The students will listen to these texts
and guess what part of the world they are
from and defend their answer in a few
sentences based on the knowledge theyve
gathered throughout the unit.
Interpersonal Mode:
On a discussion board in Schoology, students
will write about their fondest memory from
childhood. Then they will be asked to
comment on other students posts to
compare and contrast those favorite
memories from their own. The assessment
will be graded on their initial post,
commenting on other posts, and
thoughtfulness/insightfulness of comments.

Presentational Mode:
The students will make an albm with
Google slides. First, the students will
interview an older relative (parent, aunt,
uncle or grandparent) about what their
childhood was like. They will ask questions
such as
- What was school like when you were a
child?
- What chores did you have to do?
- What was the newest piece of
technology at the time?
- What was your biggest struggle as a
child?
- Etc.
After collecting this data (most likely in
English since most relatives dont speak
Spanish), the students will create an album,
which will include pictures of themselves and

the person they interviewed as well as the

main similarities and differences between the
interviewer and interviewees childhood. The
students will present their findings to the
class in a five-minute presentation.
Standards/Benchmarks to be addressed:
ACTFL World-Readiness Standards
Communication: Interpersonal:
Interpretive:
Presentational:
All three areas
will be met
throughout the
summative
assessments in
addition to
formative
assessments
and other
learning
activities.
Culture:
Products: Important milestones of childhood
Practices: How do these milestones affect the person
we become?
Perspectives: Milestones at different times in
different countries (example: first time driving, first
sip of alcohol, bedtime, etc.)
Products: Personal Identity
Practices: The things that shape our identities
(friends, family, environment, experiences)
Perspectives: How do we view ourselves? How do our
classmates view us? How do other cultures view us?
Products: Long-term Memories
Practices: Holding on to our memories
Perspectives: Why do we retain these memories and
not others? Whats the significance?
Connections:

Making Connections:
Making the
connections between
people from diverse
cultures and time
periods, material

Acquiring Information and

Diverse Perspectives:
Making connections
between the childhoods of
those older than us and
from different cultures and

Comparisons:

goods, and
environment that has
surrounded us during
our lives and how
theyve shaped our
personal identity. It is
interdisciplinary
because the students
are coming at it from a
psychological,
sociological
perspective in addition
to the descriptive
language they will be
required to write.

how similarities do exist!

They will do this by
teaming up with the ESL
classroom in our middle
school and interviewing
them about their childhood
experiences.

Language
Comparisons:

Cultural Comparisons:

How do we address
family members in
Spanish? For example,
they say cuado/a
(brother/sister-in-law)
before their even
married into the family.
As soon as someone is
dating your sibling, you
can address them this
way.
Communities:

School and Global

Communities:
Students will be
challenged to answer
the following
questions:
- Do we have
different
identities at
school vs. at
home vs. with
our friends?
- Or is our identity
constant?

How does the role of a child

in a family and society vary
from country to country?
(They will gain perspective
through engaging reading
and videos and hopefully a
view skype/email
interviews I conduct with
kids I know around the
world).

Lifelong Learning:

Students will explore

these questions after a
reading called Borges
y Yo written by a
famous Argentinian
author who describes
the different identities
he has on the street vs
at home.
Common Core:
N/A
Content-Area Standards (CBI):
N/A
ISTE Technology Standards:
1.b. Students create original works (Google Slides)
2.a. Interact, collaborate and publish with peers (Discussion board on
Schoology)
2 c. Students develop cultural understanding and global awareness by
engaging with learners of other cultures (hopefully via skype/email
interview)
4 b. Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a
project (Album via Google Slides)
Other State Language Standards or Benchmarks:
Toolbox
Language Functions:
Related
Content Compatible and Structures/Patterns
Content Obligatory

Vocabulary Expansion
Tier 1:
Tier 2:

Key Learning Activities/Formative

Assessments
Key Learning
How does this
Activity/Formative
activity support
Assessment
the unit objectives
(language and
content)?

Mode of
Communication:

Students will read an article

about the roles of children
in another country
(hopefully we will use
multiple articles from
different cultures so we can
compare and contrast).
They will fill out a graphic
organizer that will help
them organize the ideas of
the childs role in their
family, the school, society,
etc. They will then
compare these experiences
to their own.

Learning about the

roles and identities
in other cultures
Interpretive
will help my
students define
and find their own
personal identity.
They will do this
through comparing
and contrasting
their identities to
others to find what
makes them
unique.

Students will read (and

listen to the voice recording
of the reading) Borges y
Yo a short story written by
an Argentine author who
describes how his identity
on the street differs from
his identity at home.
Students will discuss in
small groups (and
eventually a large class
discussion to conclude the
lesson) about what they
think the text means and
whether they have different
identities according to
where they are and who
theyre with.

Students will be
challenged with
the question of
whether (like
Borges) their
identity changes
or is constant. Are
identity and
personality
different?

Students will watch a video

about a true story (just
happened a few months
ago) about two identical
twins in Colombia who were
accidentally switched at
birth and raised separately
thinking they were fraternal
twins. They only
discovered this secret at
age 25. One set of twins

Students will be
prompted to ask
themselves what
shapes our
personal identity.
(Nature vs.
Nurturer debate
toned down for 6th
graders)

Interpretive/
Interpersonal

Interpretive

was raised in the city, the

other in a small town in the
country. After the video, the
students will be asked to
brainstorm which character
traits or identity traits they
think might be the same, or
different. Then the teacher
will present the answers
and will lead a discussion
about what makes us who
we are. Students will be
asked to do a journal entry
on a Google form on their
iPads as homework, which
will be used as a formative
assessment.

Students will do a class

walk and talk or
buscapersonas to
compare childhood
experiences that shape our
identities.
Students will interview
students from the ESL class
at the middle school and
interview them about their
childhood experiences.
Although the interview will
not be conducted in the
target language, the
students will translate the
interview and write a
reflection on it. (They will
videotape/record the
conversation so they can
look back on it). Then they
will be asked to write a
reflection on what they
found and compare their
experiences with other

Comparing
Interpersonal
ourselves to others
help us discover
our own identities.

Comparing our
perceptions of
childhood with
students of similar
age but from other
countries/
cultures.

Interpersonal/
Interpretive

interviews their classmates

conducted. Then, the
teacher will lead a class
discussion about how
culture affects our
childhoods/identity.
Resources

Technology Integration

Schoology.com (only available to

Minnetonka students and faculty)

youtube.com

Students will interact on a

discussion board rather than in
class. This will help me monitor
conversations to make sure
theyre truly happening and
insightful.

cnn.com/espaol

To see the news report about the

Colombian twins switched at birth.

Google Slides

The article that will provide the

information about the Colombian
twins
Instead of making a paper album,
students will make a virtual album
with Google Slides and present it
to the class