Instructional Unit Plan Template

Author
First and Last Name School/Organization
Jennie Little Nicholas Senn High School Chicago, IL

Step 1 - Unit Overview

Unit Title Subject/Class Name Learner Ages/Grades Unit Summary
Provide a brief summary of the unit. What is the topic and how does it fit into the rest of the learners education? This unit will focus on the four main causes of WWI - militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism. Learners will have discussions, watch video clips and read primary and secondary sources documents analyzing aspects of WWI. Learners will be expected to write a 5 paragraph essay at the end of the unit explaining the underlying causes of WWI using information learned in class and the primary and secondary sources. This unit takes place in the freshman World History class. After this class learners will take US History, Geography, and Law in American Society. Why Do People Hurt Other People? WWI World Studies 9th grade

Semester/Year

Semester 2/2013-2014

Pre-Requisite Skills
What should the learner know before beginning this unit? Include content knowledge, technology skills, and attitudes necessary to succeed with this unit. Learners should know that prior to WWI Europe had transformed from an agrarian society to an industrial power house. They must also know that imperialism or taking over of countries was very prevalent the 50 years before WWI especially be Great Britain and France who owned the most territories throughout the world. Learners must have a basic understanding of Moodle and Adobe Connect to access course materials and attend synchronous session. They must also have basic word processing, email, and presentation skills to complete class assignments. Learners must be motivated to attend synchronous sessions to gather background information on WWI. They must also be able to independently work on assignments and collaborate with classrooms as needed. Finally, must be open to class discussion using online forums.

Standards/Organization or Source
What standards govern this content? Identify the organizational, professional, or state/national standards that require this content be taught. Common Core State Standards Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6-12 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 - Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social studies. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they included and emphasize in their respective accounts.

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Learning Outcomes (Instructional Objectives)
What will learners be capable of after completing this unit? Remember to phrase objectives using active verbs and include the level of proficiency expected (refer to R.F.Magers Preparing Instructional Objectives). Learners will be able to Explain the 4 main causes of WWI. List important figures of WWI and explain the significance of one figure in detail. Describe at least 3 new technologies used in the war. Describe at least 4 characteristics of trench warfare. Identify the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and explain how the treaty affected countries in Europe. Analyze primary and secondary sources and use the information to explain the causes of WWI.

Unit Timeline
Provide a brief description of how the unit will be broken into lessons over time. What is the sequence of events? Lesson 1 Causes of WWI vocabulary using MAIN acronym (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism) DBQ (Document Based Questioning) Introduction o Background essay What Were the Underlying Cause of World War I? o Read and analyze Documents 1 and 2 each document is categorized as focusing on Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, or Nationalism. Map activity - Triple Alliance and Triple Entente Video clip Assassination of Franz Ferdinand DBQ o Read and analyze Documents, 3, 4, and 5 each document is categorized as focusing on Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, or Nationalism. Lesson 2 Note taking on the beginning of WWI DBQ o Read and analyze Documents 6, 7, and 8 each document is categorized as focusing on Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, or Nationalism. Reading and questions - Weapons of WWI Video clip Trench Warfare Reading Life in the Trenches Writing activity Life in the Trenches Letter DBQ o Read and analyze Documents 9, 10, and 11 each document is categorized as focusing on Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, or Nationalism. Lesson 3 Note taking United States Involvement in WWI Picture slideshow propaganda, total war, and women in the war Note taking - End of WWI and A Flawed Peace Document Analysis excerpts from the Treaty of Versailles Essay Using the primary and secondary documents write a 5 paragraph essay answering the question What were the underlying cause of WWI?

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Step 2 - Unit Implementation
Learner Interview
Interview at least 2 students (not in this course) to learn more about them as learners. You will want to ask questions about their motivation to be online, their study habits, etc. Consider your unit and the learners you will be including as you complete these interviews. What are your conclusions as they relate to your unit and your identified learners? I interviewed two current 10th grade students in my technology class who are taking on an online class for credit recovery. Going into the interview I made the following assumptions; 1) the students have already failed the course so their level of motivation may be a factor, 2) the online course is completely independently with minimal support coming from a counselor who checks periodically to see the amount of the class the student has completed, and 3) The counselor managing the online course has no experience as a student or teacher of online learning. I asked the students the following questions: 1. Why did you choose to take an online course instead of traditional credit recovery? Student #1 thought that online class was more convenient since she lives about an hour away from the school and the traditional credit recovery class runs until 5:30 p.m. every night. Student #2 was chosen to take the online class by the counselor. She was selected because overall he had good grades in other courses and has shown to have a strong work ethic. 2. What assumptions did you have before you started the class? Both students have never taken or known anyone who had taken an online class. The only thing they knew was that they needed a computer and that the class had to be completed by a certain date. (Note: This is the first time my school has offered online classes. Our principal is not a sold on the idea of online learning.) Did you meet all of the deadlines? Why or why not? Student #1 fell behind on the assignments. At the midway point she was only at 30% complete. She said the challenge was that she had a lot of day school homework and didnt have time to work on the online course. She also said that her computer was broken during part of the course. Finally, she said that nobody was checking up on her and making her do the assignments that she kept putting it off. Student #2 stayed on track with the course. She said the class had a lot of reading and independent book work that wasnt very difficult. This was mostly because she was enrolled in an AP course in day school but was taking a regular level course for credit recovery. My learners will be 9th grade freshman. Based on the interviews it is will be important to have a support person that is available at multiple times throughout the day. Part of this support could be giving students a period of time where they can prove that they are completing the required tasks. If they do not meet the minimum requirement then they will be required to attend the class at school with the support person. It will also be important for students to understand what is involved in an online class. Students will be given a class to try out before they signed up for the online course.

3.

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Distance Education Setting/Rationale
Describe the distance education delivery system you will be using and why it is appropriate for this content. Why have you selected that particular delivery system? The distance education delivery system will include traditional materials such as textbooks, videos, and worksheets. Students will login to a system that walks them through the requirements for the day. Once they have completed and submitted the activities they will take a quiz to determine mastery. This is appropriate for the content because its uses existing materials that schools and students have at the school. It also does not require an extensive investment or knowledge of technology to improvement. I selected this particular delivery system because it is very easy for my students and their parents to follow. It is also directly aligned with curricular that is being taught in a face-to-face classroom.

Technology Hardware (Click boxes of all equipment needed.)

Computer(s) Printer Digital Camera Television Other: VCR Video Camera Scanner DVD Player Projection System 35mm Camera Video Conferencing Microphone

Technology Software (Click boxes of all software needed.)

Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Publisher Other: Google Account Microsoft Front Page Microsoft Internet Explorer Worldbook Online LiveText KidPix Inspiration E-Library Blackboard/WebCT

Accommodation Options (addressing special needs or issues)

What population does this accommodation apply to? Students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP) or different learning styles Describe the accommodation(s) that will assist this population. How are they helped by the accommodation(s)? Beyond the accommodations explicitly stated in the IEP, students will be provided: Important course information will be written and displayed in a video with audio narration. Materials will be offered in a variety of formats. Flexibility will be provided in the assignments to demonstrate knowledge.

Online Instructor Interview

Interview 2 instructors who have taught online. Your interview will address design and implementation issues related to your unit plan. What are your conclusions as they relate to your design of your IUP? Below are the questions we asked 2 instructional technology professors at NIU. Dr. Abbie Brown was asked questions 1-5 and Dr. Cindy York was asked questions 6-10. (Note: We brainstormed these questions as a group of 4 and sent them to the professors.)
1. 2. What types of formative/summative assessments do you use? Portfolios? Timed tests? I typically use papers, group projects, presentations, etc. I don't use tests. The material I teach isn't conducive to exams. Besides using a computer to take the course, what other kinds of media/hardware/software do you use? Headset (mic/headphones), Adobe Connect, scanner/printer.

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3. What are the most important things to consider when planning for online learning? The key strategies I plan for are: A. Communication between my students and myself. I strive to answer these questions: How will my students and I communicate? Is everyone experienced and comfortable with the communication methods we use? B. Communication among students. How will students communicate with each other? Are there protocols in place that facilitate both public communication and "backchannel" communication? (E-mail can be a form of backchannel communication: students can send messages privately to each other or small groups). C. Presentation of the instructional content. How will I present my course content? (Text, video, audio, etc.). Does bandwidth limit my options? (In my case I often have rural students who use a limited-bandwidth connection such as dial-up). D. Scheduling and time considerations for the course. Are my students all located in the same time zone? Are they working professionals who are completing school work in their "off" hours? How can I segment the course activities and assignments so that no one becomes overwhelmed with work at the beginning, middle or end of the term? 4. How does the type of learner affect your design decisions? The type of learner for which a course is designed ALWAYS affects design decisions. For example, if the audience is underclassmen (college freshmen and sophomores) then the course will have a very different design than a graduate course for an audience of working professionals. 5. What are the best teaching strategies to use in online learning? Snarky answer: the strategies that work best for the audience, of course. Less snarky answer: This is such a broad question that I really cant provide an equally broad answer without devoting a year or so to my reply; teaching strategy effectiveness is directly linked to the instruction's audience and circumstances. I can tell you what works particularly well for me and my students (all of whom are graduate students in Instructional Technology programs); Since my students are working professionals I use entirely asynchronous activities. Some of my activities are designed to promote social presence and facilitate networking among the students; I do this through regularly assigned discussion forums and group-work. 6. What do you see as being the biggest benefits from online learning? The most obvious benefit is the ability for students who might not have easy access to face-to-face courses to participate in programs of study. 7. What, in your opinion, are the biggest shortcomings of online learning? Perhaps the single biggest problem with asynchronous online learning is the limited control the instructor/institution has over creating what I call "sacred time and space" for instruction. In a traditional brick-and-mortar setting, a class has a clear beginning and end, which provides everyone an opportunity to focus entirely on the course content for a specific period of time. Asynchronous online courses do not provide this structure; it's very easy to become distracted by other things or, worse yet, assume one is able to "multi-task" while engaged in course work (psychologists and neurologists have repeatedly demonstrated humans are really bad at multi-tasking but really good at believing they are good at it). 8. If given the choice between online, distance learning and a traditional, face-to-face learning environment, which would you choose? Why? I prefer a blended approach. I like to get to know my students f2f, but some content can easily be taught online. I think teaching presence and social presence can be lost in a totally online course. Note I said, "can". Some instructors can keep up teaching presence very well through immediacy of feedback. 9. What kind of content have you taught in your distance education courses? I've taught online/distance education content, foundational Instructional design, student teachers' who are implementing technology - ETT401b. I don't like to teach production or hands-on content via online. It is too difficult to troubleshoot. 10. What methods do you use to protect the integrity of your course content? Integrity? Do you mean, do I hold the copyright to the materials I use? I try to share everything I use with everyone. I believe it should all be open content. I don't think it is very collegial to "hog" your materials. 4. I typically use papers, group projects, presentations, etc. I don't use tests. The material I teach isn't conducive to exams.

A conclusion I can make from this interview is that you must know you learners during the design stages and during instruction. During the planning stages you must know the characteristics of your students beyond just grade level and consider things such as motivation, technology experience, etc. Knowing the learners is also important when determining instructional strategies. In our NIU classes we usually do independent reading, group work, discussion forums and or synchronous sessions. All of these techniques may not work with high school students. This interview also confirmed my assumptions that distraction can be the biggest challenge of online learning. That is why when planning my IUP I decided to not incorporate synchronous sessions for classroom instruction because it is not an appropriate technique for high school freshman. High school courses should have more structure so students know what is expected each week. Finally, this interview was valuable but I would like to know how online learning is implemented at the high school level.