ED 3601

Critical Inquiry-Based Unit Plan

Unit Plan Assignment
Worth:
Due:

30% of course grade

by March 8, 2015

Purpose:
This assignment gives you the opportunity to draw together virtually everything you have
learned in this course about powerful teaching and learning in Social Studies. The
completion of a critical inquiry-based unit plan is the best authentic demonstration that
you have met the course outcomes. It requires that you become knowledgeable about the
Program of Studies and skilled in its use. It allows you to explore and critically assess
existing resources for the teaching of one unit in Social Studies. It allows you to
incorporate many of the strategies you have learned in the course into the teaching of a
specific Social Studies unit. It allows you to apply what you have learned about designing
powerful learning opportunities for students. It gives you an excellent opportunity to
apply your skills in a real-life professional context, ie. your PSII placement.
Task:
Complete a critical inquiry-based unit plan for your PSII placement. While this is a
culminating assignment for the course, it is acknowledged that the plan is completed in
consultation with your PSII mentor teacher and therefore must attend to the requirements
of your teaching assignment in PSII in addition to meeting the academic expectations of
ED 3601.
Format:
It must contain the following elements:
1. Unit Introduction (max. 5 pp, double-spaced)
Rationale for the unit
Why is this unit taught? (What is the purpose of the unit within the course?)
How does it address the core concepts of citizenship and identity?
How does it reflect attention to the experiences and perspectives of aboriginal,
francophone and/or other linguistic, cultural and ethnic groups?
How does your unit reflect powerful teaching and learning in social studies? (This
section may be completed in the form of a visual organizer)
Special Considerations
What knowledge/skills are you assuming are in place? What assumptions might
students be bringing to this inquiry?
Are there family/community issues you are going to have to be prepared to address?
How will you do this?
How might you address individual differences?

2. Unit Planning Organizer which lists: the critical inquiry question; general
learning outcome; related focusing questions for the unit; key concepts; and,
specific learning outcomes assessed in the summative task.
3. Lesson Overview
Create a series of lessons that facilitate students critical inquiry into a specific
question or issue. The lessons should follow a logical sequence: opening lessons that
determine students prior understandings and engage and motivate students;
developing lessons that facilitate information gathering and build students
conceptual framework; and a culminating lesson in which students demonstrate what
they have learned. There are many acceptable formats for unit plans. For the purpose
of this assignment, consider presenting your lesson sequence in a chart that includes
the following information: outcomes addressed; lesson objectives; approximate length
of lesson; description of lesson procedure; list of materials for students and teacher;
formative assessment.
Outcomes
Addressed

Instructional
Objectives

Length
of
Lesson

Lesson
Procedure

Identify the
outcomes
from the
Program of
Studies
addressed
in the lesson
(Note: the
same
outcomes
may be
relevant in a
series of
lessons)

Identify specific
objectives for
the lesson.
Remember that
they should not
be the outcomes
in the Program
of Studies. They
indicate what
students will
know and be
able to do by the
end of the
lesson.

Lesson
plans may
cover
more than
one class
period, so
please
indicate
how many
and how
long the
lessons
are.

This isnt a
detailed lesson
plan. It should
indicate what
students are
doing.

List of
Materials

Assessment

List the
resources that
students will
be using, such
as nonfiction
books,
websites,
videos etc.

How will you

know if students
met your lesson
objectives?
Identify a
specific
assessment tool
or strategy, eg.
Students will
complete the
following
sentence stem
in their
learning logs

Materials
students
would
typically use
(colouring
pencils etc) do
not need to be
listed.

4. Annotated List of Resources

The list should include books (nonfiction and fiction), websites, audio-visual material
and community resources. (The Program of Studies, dictionaries, maps of Canada and
the world are expected in all classrooms and are not to be listed as resources.) All
other resources used in the creation or teaching of the unit must be listed. There must
be a maximum of ten resources. The annotations should be about 50 words. They
should describe and evaluate the resource, and indicate its value to the unit. Items in
the Annotated List of Resources will be cited using APA style, except for guest
speakers or field trips.

5. Summative Assessment
Summative assessment gives your students the opportunity to demonstrate the
extent to which they have met the outcomes of your unit plan. It allows students
to demonstrate what they know in a motivating, authentic context. You must also
create an appropriate tool that you would use to evaluate student achievement of
outcomes: rubric, checklist, rating scale, portfolio, etc. The development of a
summative assessment and a clear understanding of the criteria by which it will be
evaluated is a critical initial step in planning your unit with the end in mind.
(This summative assessment will be designed and assessed as part of your ED
3604 course).
Evaluation:
Note: unit plans that are copied from publications and/or websites without reasonably
substantial revision or adaptation will not be accepted. While it is perfectly acceptable to
make use of published materials in your classroom, it is not acceptable academic practice
to submit these as original work. If you are unsure of the extent to which you may make
use of existing materials, please check with the instructor. You must provide appropriate
citations for lesson ideas or teaching strategies you have used (with the exception of those
adapted from course handouts). The unit plan outline will be assigned a mark based on
the attached evaluation guide.

UNIT PLAN
EVALUATION GUIDE
Poor

Satisfactory

Unit Introduction
1
Have all required questions been addressed?
Is the information thorough? Useful? Thoughtful?

Unit Organizer
1
Is all relevant information included?
Is there an appropriate critical inquiry question to guide the unit?
Do related questions help to focus lessons?
Are relevant key concepts identified?
Are relevant skill outcomes identified?

*Summative Assessment
Is the assessment authentic? Realistic?
Is it valid? Does it address outcomes listed?
Are expectations clear? Is it motivating?
Does it promote critical thinking?
Does it assess what matters? Is it efficient?

Excellent
4

x2

(This part of the unit plan is marked as

part of ED 3604)

Lesson Overview:
Meaningful
1
2
3
4 x2
Does the unit focus on a relevant, appropriate inquiry question?
Is there a clear focus on a big idea or essential understanding?
Is there an attempt to discover students prior understandings?
Would students know why the work matters to them, the discipline, the real world?
Do lessons meet relevant knowledge, value and skill objectives?
Is the content taught and organized within a conceptual framework?
Challenging
1
2
3
Is the work students are asked to do worth their time and attention?
Does the work students are asked to do foster deep understanding?
Is there an appropriate sequence of lessons to build understandings?
Are relevant skills are taught and practiced?
Is critical thinking encouraged and supported?

Active
1
2
3
4
x2
Would students be intellectually engaged and motivated by the learning activities?
Does the unit make use of a variety of instructional strategies to meet the needs of diverse
learners?

Does the unit make appropriate use of a range of teaching and learning resources?
Is the teacher clearly facilitating learning rather than transmitting information?
Are students using the information theyre learning for an authentic purpose?
Is there regular and appropriate formative assessment to provide feedback to the teacher
to improve students learning?

List of Resources
1
Does it include a range of quality resources?
Are the resources current? Appropriate? Creative?
Are the annotations useful for teachers? Thorough?

Presentation
1
Is the writing error-free and presentation of a professional standard?
Are references provided for source material?
Could I teach from these?

x2

TOTAL = ______
40

Comments: