UNIT CONCEPTS Enduring Understandings (McTighe & Wiggins)

Unit Concepts: A Summary Based on standards that typically require 2-4 weeks to accomplish Each is the basis for a Unit Goal that articulates the level of critical thinking students will engage with the Unit Concept “Chunk” information in useful ways Identify the core concepts for a subject/course that will lead to “enduring understandings” Sequenced in order to form a “story” or course narrative Opening Unit ought to be engaging

Unit Concepts: “Enduring Understanding”

Unit Concepts: The Big Picture Standards that can be accomplished in a lesson plan Standards that take 2-4 weeks to accomplish Standards that take more than 1 unit to accomplish Standards that take more than 1 year to accomplish Team/Dept. Outcomes Course Outcomes Unit Goal LP

Unit Concepts: Components 8-10 Unit Concepts for each course/subject Elementary subjects with less academic time (e.g. science, social studies) or electives may only have 4-6 for the year Not in SWBAT form Wind, Water, and Shape of the Land NGSS 2-ESS1-1, 2-ESS2-1 River Valley Societies: Harnessing Nature (6 th Grade Soc. Stud.) Systems of Linear Equations (HS Algebra) May be phrased in terms of an essential question The American Revolution: What were the reasons for and against the colonists’ revolt from England? (7 th Grade Soc. Stud.) Sequenced in order to form a course narrative

Unit Concepts: Examples 3 rd Grade U.S. Geography 1. Arizona: Our Foundation 2. Arizona: Our People 3. Arizona: Our Land 4. Fun in the West: Landforms, Climate, and Natural Resources 5. The Midwest: The Heartland 6. Historical Northeast: Our Founding Father’s Documents 7. Southeast Y’all: Different Map to Different Solutions 8. Sizzlin’ Southwest: Conserving Resources

8 th Grade Social Studies Unit ConceptEssential Question Mesopotamia and Early Civilization What is “civilization” and Why does it begin? Ancient Egypt & IsraelWhy do some civilizations endure? Ancient GreeceWhy do some people develop enduring ideas? China & IndiaWhat are the contributions of Asian civilizations? The Roman EmpireWhat is the role of Law in a civilization? Islam & ChristianityHow does religion create a civilization? The Middle AgesWhy do civilizations establish universities? Renaissance & Reformation How do new ideas change a civilization?

Unit Concepts: Examples 11 th Grade U.S. History 1. “We Shall be a City Upon a Hill”: Colonial America 2. “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”: Revolution to Constitution 3. “Trail of Tears”: Jacksonian Democracy and Early Reform Movements 4. “The Peculiar Institution”: Antebellum America 5. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”: Civil War and Reconstruction 6. “Survival of the Fittest”: The Guilded Age 7. “Take Up the White Man’s Burden”: Imperialism to Progressivism 8. “A Chicken in Every Pot”: 1920s, Depression, and the New Deal 9. “An Iron Curtain has Descended”: WWII, 1950s, and 1960s 10. “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down this Wall”: 1970s to Present

Unit Concepts: Your Turn Critique the following 4 th Grade Social Studies (Florida History) Unit Concepts 1. People & Their Environment 2. Florida’s Government 3. Public vs. Private Goods 4. Early Florida History 5. The Settlement of Florida 6. Florida’s Growth & Development 7. Physical Features of Florida 8. The Contributions of Floridians

Unit Concept: Examples 2 nd Grade Math 1. Place value through Addition and subtraction within Two-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping 4. Determining the value of money 5. Measuring time and temperature 6. Dimensional shapes and their attributes 7. Modeling fractions 8. Geometry and spatial reasoning 9. Modeling multiplication and division 10. Measuring length and area

Unit Concept: Examples Pre-Algebra (8 th Grade) 1. Variables, Expressions, and Integers in the Rational Number System 2. One-Step Equations and Inequalities 3. Multi-Step Equations and Inequalities 4. Comparisons and Uses of Fractions as Coefficients 5. Decimals and Percents in Equations 6. Ratios and Proportions in Equations 7. Factors, Exponents, and Roots 8. Linear Functions and Graphing 9. Basics of 2-D Geometry 10. Measurement, Area, and Volume 11. Bi-variable Data Analysis and Probability

Unit Concepts: Examples HS Geometry (10 th Grade) 1. Construction of Geometric Figures 2. Parallel lines and their Properties 3. Triangles and Congruence 4. Right Triangle Trigonometry and its Applications 5. Quadrilaterals 6. Geometric Transformations 7. Similarity 8. Measurement and Tesselations 9. Geometric Properties and Algebraic Equations

Unit Concepts: Your Turn 4 th Grade Math 1.Adding and Multiplying Fractions 2.Multi-digit Arithmetic 3.Addition and Subtraction of 3-digit numbers with Regrouping 4.Geometric Shapes and Properties 5.Measurement: Data Interpretation 6.Fractions to Decimals 7.Comparison of Fractions

Unit Concept: Examples 5 th Grade Language Arts 1. Lessons from the Past (Mythology) 2. Our American Ambition (Tall Tales) 3. Characters and Their Words (Drama) 4. Themes of our Lives (Short Stories) 5. Distinguishing between Fact & Fiction (Historical Fiction) 6. The World Today Matters (Nonfiction) 7. The People Who Have Shaped Us (Autobiographies)

Unit Concept: Examples 7 th Grade Language Arts 1. Finding our Place in the World (Poetry) 2. The Journey and its Struggles (Short Stories) 3. Characters on the Journey 4. Pushing the Boundaries of Youth (The Outsiders) 5. Learning from our Peers in the Past (Diary of Anne Frank) 6. Our Place in the Modern World 7. Completing the Narrative: Coming of Age (Annie Between the State)

Unit Concepts: Examples 11 th Grade American Literature 1. The Child’s Voice: How can poetry condense the American experience into so few words? (Poetry) 2. The Ambitious Young Writer: What role does short fiction play in a country historically dominated by novels? (Short Stories) 3. The Adolescent Entering a Diverse World: Why are stories about race so essential to the American Experience? (Huck Finn) 4. The Working Woman: How have Americans transformed gender roles in narrative? (O Pioneers!) 5. The Modern American Dreamer: How does the American Dream influence America today? (The Great Gatsby) 6. The Angsty Teenager: What happens to an American who doesn’t want to live the American Dream? (The Catcher in the Rye) 7. The Soldier Returning Home, Searching for Meaning: What can war teach us about the meaning of life? (Slaughterhouse Five) 8. The Father Lighting the Way for his Son: How can we make America better for future generations? (The Road)

Unit Concepts: Your Turn 6 th Grade Reading 1.Biographies 2.The Short Story 3.Novel (Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi) 4.Novel (Holes by Louis Sachar) 5.Reading Strategies 6.Drama (The Miracle Worker by William Gibson) 7.Informational Media

Unit Concepts: Examples Good Living Organisms Organism Traits Weather Forces Magnets Better Organisms and Habitats NGSS 3-LS4-3,3-LS2-1 Origin and Influences on Traits NGSS 3-LS3-1,2 Weather Seasons and Minimizing Hazards NGSS 3- ESS2-1, 3-ESS3-1 Effect of Forces on Motion NGSS 3-PS2-2 Effect of Electric and Magnetic Forces NGSS 3-PS2-3, 3-PS2-4 3 rd Grade Science

Unit Concepts: Examples 7 th Grade Science 1. Needs, Processes and Interactions of Ecosystems 2. Ecosystem Viability 3. Structure and Function of Cells 4. Factors that Influence Successful Reproduction 5. Energy, Matter, Photosynthesis and Food 6. Genetics, Heredity and Variation 7. Comparing Life Forms from the Fossil Record and Today 8. Effects of Variation and Environment on Growth 9. Effects of Natural Selection and Technologies on Traits

Unit Concepts: Examples 10 th Grade Biology 1. Cells: Specialty of Function and Control 2. Brain: Control Center of Life 3. Plants: The Role of Energy and Chemical Conversion Modeling Life Processes 4. Ecology: Interactions with Systems and Organisms 5. Evolution and Natural Selection 6. Role of Genetics in Life

Unit Concepts: Your Turn Critique the following 5 th Grade Science Unit Concepts 1. Classifying Living Things 2. Interaction of Living Things 3. Weather and Climate 4. Plants 5. Animals 6. Earth’s Resources (Land & Water) 7. Properties of Matter 8. Motion and Energy

Unit Rationale: Components Describes the Course Narrative in segments Explains why each Unit Concept (Enduring Understanding) occurs at this point in the Course Narrative Typically 2-3 sentences in length Example: Unit Concept: Mesopotamia: Birthplace of Civilization Unit Rationale: Following a unit on basic geographic skills, students will study the birth of civilization – Mesopotamia – through its geographic features and cultural characteristics. Focusing on the development of civilization and reasons for it sustainability, students will connect those same factors to other early civilizations and modern day societal growth and sustainability.