Education Commons^™

We'll Be There For You: A 3rd-5th Grade Unit On Understanding And Respecting Each Other, Elle V. Norman

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

In this unit incorporating third-fifth grade social studies, writing and health TEKS, students closely examine their own characteristics to first build an understanding of who they are. Students also learn that everyone is unique and that is what makes us as individuals powerful. After discovering who they are and creating the story of their lives, students then examine scenarios related to people their own age where others are not treated fairly based on who they are. Through stories that relate to what I have witnessed in school, students learn what it is like to be discriminated against and what they …

Energy Forms (5th Grade), Javier Melendez

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

No abstract provided.

Rules Rule! (1st Grade), Lauren Turley

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This is a beginning of the year social studies unit for 1^st grade. It is intended to take place over 9 half-hour sessions. This unit is meant to scaffold students so they will be well positioned to create rules to solve their own problems throughout the year. It is also intended to teach students that rules are not meant to be punitive but are for their own benefit in order to maintain fairness and safety at home, school, and in the greater community. This is a literacy rich unit, anchoring relevant texts to students lived experience. Some skills addressed …

Poetry Unit (2-4th Grade), Samara Sance, Lisa Schmidt

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This unit covers a range of poetry topics covered throughout grades 2nd-4th. The focus of the unit is on the structure and elements of poetry such as rhyme, imagery, and playful language. Topics include, limericks, cinquain, haiku, and free verse.

Confianza En Mis Habilidades (9th-11th Grade), Haley Hansen

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This unit, “Confianza en mis habilidades” or “Confidence in my abilities,” is designed for the beginning of the school year in a Spanish 3 classroom for non-native speakers. The unit focuses on reviewing previously learned vocabulary including descriptions, activities, and places and previously learned grammar including the present tense and reflexive verbs. This unit is intended to remind students what they have already learned in Spanish 1 and in Spanish 2 and to help connect them to what they will be learning in Spanish 3. It will serve as the foundation for which we build upon throughout the year. Students …

Characteristics Of The Universe (8th Grade), Veronica Mansfield, Meggan Partain

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

No abstract provided.

Intro To Geography Concepts And Skills, Angela Juarez

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This unit is designed to introduce concepts and skills to AP Human Geography or World Geography students. The performance task is centered in Houston, Texas but could be adjusted to any city. The goal is that students will take spatial concepts and patterns, specifically those of region, cultural landscape, and map types, and apply them to a real world situation.

The attached Performance task includes a rubric for a presentation.

The map exercise is from an APSI training and was created by S. Kotkin and P. Gray. It could be modified to fit your textbook and resources.

A New America: The Gilded Age And Westward Expansion (11th Grade), Kelsey Toms

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This unit is designed for an on level, eleventh grade class of United States History Since 1877. It is based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). This would be the first unit of the year and covers Westward Expansion and the Gilded Age. The three major themes are assimilation, nativism, and "gilded" society.

The Kite Runner (11th Grade), Alice Bilbrey

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This three week unit for 11th grade English (American Literature) is for the assigned summer reading novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The first goal of the unit is to introduce the students to the concept that the established American literary canon has evolved to include diverse authors with myriad experiences and from different backgrounds. Furthermore, the lessons in this unit will introduce the concept that all language functions as rhetoric and is, essentially, an argument. Students will continue to revisit this concept throughout the year. Finally, students will explore three major themes of The Kite Runner: power/privilege, injustice, …

Ib Language And Literature Introduction: The Foundations Of Western Culture (11th Grade), Savannah Mcdonough

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IB Language and Literature Introduction: The Foundations of Western Culture is an introductory International Baccalaureate unit focused on building a strong foundation of knowledge and understanding through the origins of the western cannon. Many students face difficulty making complex connections across various text forms and miss a wealth of deeper meaning due to their limited exposure to literature. This unit aims to bridge the gap in understanding and knowledge so that students begin to see that all literature in the west is rooted in these ancient texts in one way or another, whether it is through the use of biblical …

¿Cómo Eres Y Qué Te Gusta Hacer? (Who Are You And What Do You Like To Do?) 1a-7th Grade, Jaclyn K. Metcalf

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This unit is designed to be taught early in Spanish I. In this unit, students will explore what it means to be made uniquely and how their preferences reflect who they are. This unit focuses on language learning through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It covers activities vocab, personality characteristics vocab, infintive verbs, cognates, negatives, agreement, adjectives, and articles. By the end of the unit, students will be able to talk about what they like and dislike doing, to describe their personality and how that reflects their activity preferences and to describe other people's preferences and personalities.

The Chemistry Of Making Soap: Chemical And Physical Changes In 6th Grade Science, Samantha Bos

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This unit is designed primarily for 6th grade students, but it can be paired to work with 10th grade curriculum as well. In the unit, students will be introduced to elements and compounds before moving into identifying chemical changes. As part of the final lab, students will create soap.

Please note that this unit has multiple hands-on activities that require many household products or items to be brought and used in classroom experiments. This unit also uses Stemscopes, a purchased curriculum. When possible free alternative assignments are provided to the Stemscopes activities.

How Can I Be A Good Reader? Lessons In Understanding Books (1st-2nd Grade), Tara Vaughan

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This is a first/second grade unit titled How Can I Be a Good Reader? Lessons in Understanding Books. We want our students and children to be great readers, but we only teach them how to read words, not to think about what they're reading. This unit explicitly teaches children how to think while reading, just like good readers need to do. Good readers do specific things to monitor their comprehension before they read, while they read and after they read. Reading is fun! There are specific steps good readers take to unlock meaning and comprehend a text. Your student or …

The English Civil War And The Glorious Revolution (10th-12th Grade), Blake R. Keeling

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A 6 day unit (adjustable) on the causes of the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution and how it affected English politics. Unit focuses on the involvement of religion in politics, absolutism, and the emergence of Parliament gaining more power and the consent of the governed.

Communities Change: How Outside Factors Impact Communities [3rd Grade], Shayna Rosenthal

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This is a social studies until for 3rd grade. The suggested length is 15 days. In this unit students will learn about what it means to inquire and what an explorer is. Students will investigate how people, ideas, and events can have an impact on communities. Throughout the unit, students will have an opportunity to create their own community as well as take on a role to create change.

Shark Tank Economics, Waynne Warren

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

For this unit, students will be creating their own business. After they create their business, they will create and market a product their business will sell. They will then research the market and potential demand for their product, and conduct focus group tests. Next, the students calculate costs of production and projected supply, demand, and price of their product. The whole project culminates into a group essay and a final presentation. In the final presentation, students are required to bring in a prototype, advertisements or presentation material that will be used to pitch their product to the Shark Tank and …

Una Celebración Con La Familia (A Family Celebration) (7th-9th Grade), Merida Elizondo, Kara Hargrove

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In this unit students will understand that language, customs, and celebrations shape the identity of a family. Students will also explore how using another language can give them an appreciation of different cultures which will improve social and professional interactions. The unit introduces family and celebration vocabulary for a novice mid level student. Students will also conjugate the verb tener in the present tense and use it in some common expressions and will use possessive adjectives to describe familial relationships. At the end of the unit, students will integrate learning by planning a culturally relevant celebration. They will also create …

Exploring Statistics Concepts With Student Driven Data And Polls, Matthew Patty

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This unit, designed around the newly adopted Statistics TEKS, will provide a strong framework for any introductory stats course, whether offered at the HS or collegiate level. The unit begins with a strong foundation in the study of statistics, and chellenges the students to design a series of surveys. The results from these surveys will actually drive the student through several of the next concepts in the course. Upon learning about sampling techniques, the students will actaully design a sampling method, carry out that method, analyze that sample data, and eventually make predictions on a population using thier sample …

Macbeth By Shakespeare, Amy R. Thomson, Heather M. Patillo

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This is a five-week unit that explores Shakespearean tragedy using Macbeth. The unit focuses on the literary elements of character motivation, foil, paradox, and the motifs of making decisions and good/moral vs. evil/immoral.

The writing focus of the unit is creative and narrative, emphasizing the idea of motives, decision-making, and morality. Students will rewrite the ending of Macbeth by changing the decisions and path of one character. By the end of the unit, students will use their understandings from the unit to apply the lessons learned from the fictional characters to their own lives, and evaluate and recognize the …

La Tecnología Ha Evolucionado (12th Grade), Josie Hammons

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This unit is designed so that students will be able to explain the purpose of varying types of technology in Spanish. Additionally, students will recognize that “technology” does not have to mean something electronic, but even the wheel, writing, and medicine are also forms of technology -- tools that humans use on a regular basis. Because they use technology in their everyday life, students will most certainly learn vocabulary relevant to their everyday lives. They will read articles about the power (literal and figurative) that comes with access to technology, as well as articles that express what it means to …