Education / Unit Plan Review the Goals

Education / Unit Plan Review

The goals for the unit incorporate students' understanding about states in the U.S. In terms of multiculturalism. They will demonstrate their knowledge through listening, speaking, reading and writing activities. Students will gain an understanding of different cultures and customs, how they relate to one another, and how the students themselves have a personal identity as members of particular communities. Students conduct research and complete assignments; they will also be encouraged to form their own opinions and empowered to take charge of their own learning with self-monitoring tools.

The teacher can consider the unit successful when students demonstrate engagement in the lessons and produce quality work that results from both interest and understanding. The rubrics and checklists provide students with clear expectations. They know exactly what they are supposed to do and how to do it. If there are many questions about procedures or expected outcomes of an assignment, the teacher must realize that further clarification is required. This is a process in which to engage the students, possibly through whole-class or peer group discussions. Assignments and projects must be meaningful and the directions must be clearly understood by everyone in the class.

Student engagement can be difficult to quantify, but the teacher has ample anecdotal evidence that demonstrates whether or not students participate actively. Students with bright eyes, raised hands, and lots to say show the teacher they are excited about learning. This is a powerful measure of success of the unit plan. Another measure is the degree to which students can successfully scaffold their learning in response to the four approaches to multicultural curriculum: contributions, additive, transformation, and social action.

With the contributions approach, the most basic level of understanding, students discuss historical figures and, for the lesson activity, choose a particular individual or group on which to focus. The activity is designed to make students aware of ethnic diversity among historical figures. The additive approach, as the name suggests, contributes to the content without asking students to form opinions yet. Students have an opportunity to see the work of other students in the class when they share graphic organizers (perhaps through a whole class display).

When the lessons integrate the transformation approach, students are asked to look at history from different points-of-view. The teacher asks students to put themselves in the place of people who lived in a particular part of the U.S. And tell what it meant to be able to vote. This approach is designed to help students learn to think outside themselves and their own world, which is understandably small at their age. Finally, the social action approach encourages students to apply what they have learned in order to participate in positive change. The persuasive letter to a friend of voting age enables students to reflect on what they have learned and discussed.