Unit Plan
Week 1
Day 1
Song analysis "I am / I want to be" Activity Introduction to novel Book predictions |
Day 2
15 mins. reading Overcoming adversity article Think/pair/share |
Day 3
15 mins. reading Book discussion Class reading Discussion questions Think/pair/share |
Day 4
15 mins. reading Book discussion "Inside-vs-outside" activity for book |
Day 5
15 mins. reading Overcoming adversity video activity Bubblr activity Pair/share |
Week 2
Day 6
15 mins reading. Intro. to assignment (essay and gallery walk) Intro. to interviewing |
Day 7
Class reading Book discussion Intro. to interview Formulating interview questions Pair/share |
Day 8
15 mins. reading Review interview questions Review book worksheet Class reading Discussion questions |
Day 9
15 mins. reading "I fear / I wish" activity Interview |
Day 10
15 mins. reading Class reading Wrap-up interview Discussion of interview process "Outside-vs-inside" activity for interview |
Week 3
Day 11
15 mins. reading Intro. to film Film worksheets Begin film |
Day 12
15 mins. reading Film Film wrap-up Pair worksheets |
Day 13
15 mins. reading Class reading Book discussion "Outside-vs-inside" activity for film |
Day 14
15 mins. reading 3-on-3 activity "Inside-vs-outside" activity for self |
Day 15
15 mins reading. Class reading Discussion Wrap-up reading Overall book discussion Mini-lesson: The Essay Format Essay outline overview |
Week 4
Day 16
Mini-lesson: citation Essay work - finish outline/begin to type up Teacher check-in |
Day 17
Mini lesson: grammar and punctuation Essay work - type up Students print off 2 copies |
Day 18
Mini-lesson: peer editing Essay work - peer edit Metacognition questions |
Day 19
Mini-lesson: Gallery Walk Essay work - good copy Students must hand in their essay at the end of the period |
Day 20
GALLERY WALK! Viewing of each other's work and a "party" after being finished the essay and the unit |
Monday - Day 1
Tuesday - Day 2
Wednesday - Day 3
Thursday - Day 4
Friday - Day 5
Monday - Day 6
Tuesday - Day 7
Wednesday - Day 8
Thursday - Day 9
Friday - Day 10
Monday - Day 11
Tuesday - Day 12
Wednesday - Day 13
Thursday - Day 14
Friday - Day 15
Monday - Day 16
Tuesday - Day 17
Wednesday - Day 18
Thursday - Day 19
Friday - Day 20
- Start the class by playing the song “I am a Rock” by Simon and Garfunkel. Provide the lyrics.
- Full class: discussion questions on song
- What does this song make you think about?
- What do you think this song is about?
- Look specifically at: I have my books / And my poetry to protect me; / I am shielded in my armor, / Hiding in my room, safe within my womb. / I touch no one and no one touches me"
- Is there any way you relate to this song?
- Can you think of any similar songs? How do you relate to them?
- “I am / I want to be” Activity
- Students will each get 2 index cards. Anonymously, on one card they will finish the sentence “I am...” and on the second “I want to be...” The cards will then be shuffled and read aloud to the class. Ask the students why they think we did this activity. Sample answers: community, overcoming obstacles, etc.
- Introduction to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
- Who is Mark Haddon?
- Looking at the cover, what do you see? What do you think you will happen in this book?
- Brief overview of any example interviews where Mark Haddon has talked about the book
- What is Asperger's Syndrome?
- Begin reading the book with the students (pages 1-6)
- Encourage students to take notes during reading and discussion. If need be, prompt them when an idea may be important.
- Be sure to emphasize the 3 main ideas:
- Being faced with obstacles and overcoming them despite difficulty
- Adaptability
- Everyone is human/everyone is normal
- Students may be given the “TCI Essay Evidence Worksheet” now and regularly reminded to think about the 3 different areas. Students may also be given this sheet on Day 14 as a way to think about specific instances.
- Sample discussion questions:
- Who is the main character?
- What can you tell me about him?
- Other characters?
- What is the plot so far?
- Can you make predictions about the rest of the book?
Tuesday - Day 2
- For the first 15 minutes, students are asked to silently read the book (6-16)
- Students are asked to do this as a sort of “bell work”. It gives them a chance to sit down, get settled, get their books out, any late-comers to enter, and those who may have less time to read outside of school to get part of the reading done.
- Overcoming adversity article/video
- “Fashion editor (and her wheelchair) star in new Diesel ads” (see Materials)
- Sample discussion questions (think/pair/share):
- Briefly describe the article/video.
- What about Mercado allows her to overcome the challenges she faces in the fashion industry?
- Choose one sentence you can relate to in the article. Explain.
Wednesday - Day 3
- 15 minutes of reading (6-16).
- Sample discussion of reading students did independently (think/pair/share):
- What have you learnt about Christopher so far? How does that differ from your initial thoughts?
- Are there any new characters?
- How do you view Christopher? How does Christopher view himself? How do others in the book view Christopher?
- Begin reading pages 16-20 with students.
- Sample discussion questions on book (think/pair/share):
- What do you think about Christopher’s father?
- How did he handle the situation (the dog being found killed and Christopher at the scene) versus how do you think he should have handled the situation?
- How do you think Christopher feels affected by that event?
Thursday - Day 4
- 15 minutes of reading (16-65)
- Sample discussion questions for book:
- What do you think was Christopher's motivation on his reaction to the dog's death?
- What do you think was Christopher's father's motivation?
- What is Chris's idea of "Good days" and "black days"?
- Do you have certain criteria for what makes your day good and bad?
- What did Christopher make a list for? What do you think the rest of the book is going to be about?
- “Outside and inside” Activity for book
- See: Evaluation Plans
Friday - Day 5
- 15 minutes of reading (16-65)
- Overcoming adversity video
- Can be viewed here: TED Talk
- Questions are similar to that of the diversity article
- Bubblr Activity
- What has happened so far and what do you think will happen next (3 and 3)?
- See Activities for more information.
- Students can submit this activity to the course website.
- When students are done their activity (depending on how much time it takes), students may share with 1-2 peers.
Monday - Day 6
- 15 minutes of reading - (16-65).
- To help students begin to think about interview questions (which they will begin to create tomorrow), students will focus today on interviewing each other.
- Students are first asked to put their heads down and close their eyes. They are then asked to think about an obstacle they overcame in their life.
- Remind them that they will be sharing this obstacle with other students so if they feel uncomfortable with this one, to think of another.
- Pause here to give them time.
- Ask them to think about what events in their life lead up to this obstacle. Was it one or many?
- How did the student handle the obstacle?
- What strengths does the student have to overcome that obstacle?
- Was there a way they wish they handled it differently?
- What happened after they overcame the obstacle? Does it still affect them today?
- Is there something about you now that is different because of this obstacle?
- How did this obstacle affect others?
- Students are asked to then put their heads up and get into groups of 3. Students will take the time to each be the “interviewee”. The other two will ask the interviewee about their experience with overcoming the obstacle. Students may take notes if they wish if they think of some new questions that were not earlier proposed.
- The remainder of the class will be dedicated to introducing to major assignment including going over the instructions in detail as well as the rubric.
Tuesday - Day 7
- Begin reading pages 65-69 with students.
- Sample discussion questions:
- How was Christopher's interaction with the repair man?
- How could have Christopher handled it differently? How could have Rhodri?
- Introduction to interview including proper procedures and behaviour.
- Creation of interview questions.
- Students must relate the questions back to themselves. This is more of a getting to know each other than just learning about the interviewee.
- Students must start their question by introducing themselves, saying something about themselves, then asking the question.
- Students are to create 3 questions. These questions will be reviewed to check for any duplicates and appropriateness.
- After (most) students have written down 3, they can discuss their questions and ideas with another student quietly.
Wednesday - Day 8
- 15 minutes of reading (69-88)
- Review of interview questions.
- Students will receive their questions back.
- Discussion of reading so far. This may be done as pairs, groups of 3, or as a whole class. Students can also spend this time helping each other out with the 3 core question areas (adaptability, being faced with obstacles and overcoming them despite difficulties, and the idea that everyone is human and everyone is normal)
- Begin reading pages 88-90 with students.
- Sample discussion questions:
- Why did Christopher call Harold Snelling stupid? (p. 89)
- Was Christopher correct? How else could you describe Harold Snelling?
- Students will spend the remainder of the day creating a thank-you card for the interview tomorrow.
Thursday - Day 9
- 15 minutes of reading (90-119). This may be shortened for the interview.
- Ice breaker: “I fear / I wish” activity
- This is similar to day 1’s activity called “I am / I want to be” with index cards.
- Interview
- Be sure to thank the interviewee and have one student bring up the card and a small gift.
Friday - Day 10
- 15 minutes of reading (102-119).
- Begin reading pages 119-126 with students.
- Wrap-up interview. Students can work in pairs to help complete the worksheet.
- Give students the time to talk about what they thought about the interviewee and the interview process.
- “Outside and Inside” Activity for interview.
- See: Evaluation Plans
Monday - Day 11
- 15 minutes of reading (119-166).
- Introduction to film, “Slumdog Millionaire”
- Give students a short power-point presentation with some important information about India, the film, and the filmmaker.
- Hand out worksheets.
- Go over worksheets on the document camera.
- Begin film.
Tuesday - Day 12
- 15 minutes of reading (may be shortened; 119-166).
- Finish watching film.
- Wrap up film.
- Discuss film worksheet in pairs to help with completion.
Wednesday - Day 13
- 15 minutes of reading (119-166).
- Begin reading pages 166-177 with students.
- Why did Christopher struggle on the train?
- How do you deal with uncomfortable situations?
- How did Christopher deal with being uncomfortable with the signs in London?
- Discussion of "a wrong thought" (p. 176)
- “Outside and Inside” activity for film.
- See: Evaluation Plans
Thursday - Day 14
- 15 minutes of reading (177-200).
- Five card flickr story.
- As a way to give students a chance to think about images (like their inside-vs-outside drawings) and how to talk about them.
- See Activities for more information.
- "Inside-vs-outside" activity for self
Friday - Day 15
- 15 minutes of reading (177-200).
- Read pages 200-218 with students.
- Wrap up reading.
- How did Christopher feel at the end of the book?
- What did Chris not overcome in this book?
- What do you think will happen for Chris next?
- Allow students to have some time to discuss what they thought about the book overall.
- “Mini-lesson”: The essay format
- Students will be provided with a short lesson (10-15 minutes) on what an essay format looks like (this should be review from previous years).
- Essay outline.
- Students will be given the outline and we will go over it as a class on the document camera.
- Students will have the rest of the period to work on the outline.
Monday - Day 16
- “Mini-lesson”: Citation
- This is a 10-15 minute short lesson on how to make proper citations.
- Working on essay - Students should begin to type up their essays.
- During this work period, I will be calling students over to discuss their thesis, outline, and ideas for their essays
Tuesday - Day 17
- “Mini-lesson”: Grammar and punctuation
- This is a short 10-15 minute lesson on common grammar and punctuation mistakes students in previous years have made or that the teacher has seen so far.
- Students are working on essays - type up.
- During this period, I will be circulating to see how students are doing with their essays. Students should continue to be typing up their essays.
- At the end of this period, students are asked to print off 2 copies of what they have so far for their essays.
Wednesday - Day 18
- “Mini-lesson”: Peer editing
- Students are given a short 10-15 minute lesson on how to edit your paper, how to peer edit (including being given 2 copies of a checklist), and how to make decisions on wether or not to make those edits.
- Students are working on essay - peer edit.
- During this period, students are asked to form groups of 3 to edit each other’s papers.
- I will be circulating during this period to check up on the students.
- Essential questions: Do you have any questions? Is there anywhere you are struggling?
- Students at the end of this period will be given 5 minutes to work on a self-reflection. Anyone who does not finish the self-reflection at this time is asked to take it home and complete it for tomorrow.
- An extra copy of the rubric is given out. Students are asked to mark themselves.
- Metacognition questions:
- How do you think you used your time during this week?
- How did you use the worksheets from the book, interview, and film toward your essay?
- How did you use the outline given to you on Monday to help you craft your essay?
- What is one area that you think you did well in?
- What is one area that you need to improve on for next time?
Thursday - Day 19
- “Mini-lesson”: Gallery Walk
- Students are given a short 10-15 minute lesson on the gallery walk. They are reminded about the expectations and how it is going to work.
- Students work on essay - make any edits and hand in good copy.
Friday - Day 20
- GALLERY WALK! A fun day to enjoy finishing the essay and enjoy each other’s work.
- Myself and students will bring in drinks and snacks.
- Classical music will be played during the period.
- The class will be split into two. For 20 minutes, students are asked to go over and look at the other group’s work. Students are asked to make one positive comment for each student’s work.
- At the end of class, all of the drawings and comments will be collected. When students get their drawings and grades back, they will also be given a sheet with all of the positive comments they were given.
“I think I would make a very good astronaut. To be a good astronaut you have to be intelligent and I’m intelligent. You also have to understand how machines work and I’m good at understanding how machines work. You also have to be someone who would like being on their own in a tiny space-craft thousands and thousands of miles away…”