Welcome back! Let’s dive right in.
You’ve finished reading and annotating the book. It’s time to begin planning for student success.
First things first. Pull out the school calendar and a blank calendar. Why pull out the calendar? Everything that we do needs to be purposeful. Purpose is more than just identifying standards and creating a rigorous course of study, it is about being good stewards of time.
There is a delicate balance that needs to be struck between the right amount of time to spend on a unit of study and the amount of time available to teach all standards during the school year.
So, get out a calendar and chart your course. Here are some guiding questions:
- How many weeks are in the current quarter or semester?
- How long is the book?
- Will your students be reading this book in class and at home?
- How long do you want this book study to last?
- How many chapters need to be read in order to finish in the allotted time?
- How many major concepts will be covered? Minor concepts?
- How many new concepts will be introduced? How many concepts will be reviewed?
- Will your students be engaging in discussion of a movie adaptation of the novel? After which chapters will movie clips be shown?
- How many days will be needed for any final presentations, paper revisions, teacher and peer conferences, or tests?
- When will you pass out rubrics for assignments related to the novel?
A nicely plotted novel unit of study is a beautiful thing. Now, the real fun can begin!
Cheers to vision inspired growth and development!
CTS
