Thematic Unit Description Paper Name Abbey Coleman

Course-Section TEAC 259

I. Unit Context

1. Write a description of the unit theme detailing what the students will be learning.
In this unit, students will interpret and think critically about essays and poems, improve
their research skills, write creatively about important historical figures, and discuss
current events and race relations.
They also should learn a great deal about the history of civil rights in the United States
and the literature and art of that time period.

2. What is the target subject area/class?

This thematic unit is designed for a ninth grade English class, but could be used just as
effectively for an American history class.

3. How does this unit fit into the whole learning experience of the students?
These lessons should help students to improve their research strategies, writing skills, and
ability to analyze difficult texts.

4. What is the setting or situation? Describe the classroom as you see it. Include information
on what computers and other equipment are available to the students.
Based on my vision for this unit, the class will take place in the media center for the first
day, where each student has access to a computer for most of the period and be given a
list of good databases and search engines to use in their research.
On the second day, we will be in the classroom, using a cart of books (mostly
biographies) pulled from the school library, and individual students will be allowed to
visit the computer lab if they need a little more information.
The third day will require a projector, a computer, and Internet access in the classroom.
Students will all need to access Internet later in the evening to participate in the
discussion on the class website.

II. Audience

1. General characteristics: Describe the learners, including the size of the group, their age,
interests, experiences, and aptitudes.

There are 27 students total, and all are 14 or 15 years old.

Their ethnic make-up of our classroom is as follows:
11 European-American students;
7 African-American students;
2 Asian-American students;
3 Navajo Indian students;
and 4 Latino students.

1 student is currently in the ESL program.

1 student suffers from dyslexia.
8 students are in the school’s academically gifted program.
Thematic Unit Description Paper Name Abbey Coleman
Course-Section TEAC 259

2. Entry competencies: What specific knowledge and assumptions can you make about
them? Remember to describe their computer competence.
These student have had much experience writing essays but have done little creative,
descriptive fiction.
All of my students have a good basic knowledge of computers, word-processing, and the
Internet. They have gathered information online for assignments, but, for the most part,
have not developed efficient researching skills.
For our diverse community, race is a difficult and uncomfortable subject. I’m guessing
these students have had limited experience discussing discrimination and race relations.

III. State Objectives

1. State Goal:
The goal of this set of lesson plans is to educate students about their history through
literature from the Civil Rights Movement and to give them opportunities to express their
reactions to the things we read. Hopefully their researching and writing skills will
improve.

2. State Objective 1:
(C) Researching online and in the school library, (A) students will (B) find pieces of
writing published during the American Civil Rights Movement and put them into a
scrapbook/ journal that should be (D) 100% accurate and turned in at the end of a week.

3. State Objective 2:
(C) Using books and online resources, (A) the students (B) will create a piece of original
writing (a poem, short story, or essay) about a famous author from the Civil Rights
Movement from a list I provide and (D) submit their work in class with an explanation of
the degree of historical accuracy.

4. State Objective 3:
(A) Students will watch a (C) YouTube video on a classroom projector, (B) participate in
a discussion of the state of racism/human rights in America today, and contribute (D) at
least three thoughtful statements to the dialogue on our class blog.

IV. State Methods

1. Instructional Strategy: Identify the instructional strategies you might use to deliver this
unit with. Explain how the methods and media will be used to create the learning
environment.

a. Method(s) for objective 1 will include presentation, demonstration, and discovery.

The class will begin with a presentation of music from the Civil Rights Era. Then
we will look at several poems, which will demonstrate different literary tools and
writing styles. Finally, at the library, the students will individually discover and
collect more writing for their scrapbooks.
Thematic Unit Description Paper Name Abbey Coleman
Course-Section TEAC 259

b. Method(s) for objective 2 are presentation and discovery. First, I will read an
excerpt from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail, and then
we will read passages from the autobiographies of a few Freedom Riders as a
class. Finally, the students will get to peruse biographies of influential authors to
discover anything that grabs their attention or sparks their imagination – anything
they can use in their own writing.

c. Method(s) for objective 3 will be presentation, discussion, and problem-solving.

There will be a opening presentation (using YouTube) about the state of human
rights in America today followed by a class discussion about whether racism is
still a problem, what issues still exist for minorities in America, and what should
be done about them (the problem-solving bit).
Thematic Unit Description Paper Name Abbey Coleman
Course-Section TEAC 259