Unit Plan Overview

Unit: Calendars
Stage 1- Desired Results
Connections to Context:
This unit will give students the
vocabulary necessary to talk about
schedules, calendars, holidays,
ordinal numbers, and weather.
Moreover, it will tie to the larger goal
of teaching students about planning
ahead and staying organized.
Established Goals
CASAS Life Skill Competencies
1: 0.1.2, 2.3.2, 6.0.2, 2.7.1
2: 0.1.4, 0.2.3, 2.6.3, 2.7.3
3: 6.0.1, 7.1.2
4: 0.1.2, 2.7.1, 2.7.2
5: 0.1.4, 2.1.8, 3.1.2
6: 2.3.2, 7.1.1, 7.1.4
7: 0.1.2, 7.1.4, 7.4.7, 7.4.8
WS: 2.7.1, 7.5.1
SCANS Competencies (Workplace)
Problem solving
Self-management
Acquire and evaluate
information
Organize and maintain
information
EFF Content Standards
Manage time and resources
Pass on values, ethics, and
cultural heritage
Organize, plan, and prioritize
work

Transfer
Students will be able to independently use their learning to
Know the date of several holidays
Discuss holidays and traditions
Schedule, cancel, or reschedule an appointment
Read and interpret a yearly calendar and an academic calendar
Discuss typical weather for each month of the year
Write the date in two different ways
Make a personal schedule using a calendar
Meaning
UNDERSTANDINGS
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Students will understand that
Students will keep considering
It is necessary to know how to make, cancel,
Students will consider how holidays are affected
or reschedule appointments
by culture and vice versa
They must be able to use a calendar to stay
Students will consider the importance of time
organized with assignments and
and timeliness in American culture (for
appointments
example, as a sign of respect)
Students will consider the importance of
community events
Acquisition of Knowledge, Skill and Values/Commitments/Dispositions
Students will know
Students will be skilled at
Students will exhibit
Important holidays
How to make, cancel, or
The commitment to keeping
reschedule and appointment
appointments
Vocabulary to describe the
How to create and keep a
The value of holidays within
weather
schedule
a society
The months of the year and
How to describe the weather The ability to interpret
their order
information about
How to write dates
Talking about events on a
appointments from a
calendar
Ordinal numbers
calendar
Talking about appointments
Reading appointment cards
(What values and commitments and
Writing appointments and
attitudes should students acquire or
events on a calendar
wrestle with?)

Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

Evaluative Criteria

(What criteria will be used in each

assessment to evaluate attainment of
the desired results?)

(Regardless of the format of the

assessment, what qualities are most
important?)

Stage 2- Evidence
Students will show their learning by
PERFORMANCE TASK(S):
Following along in class activities and discussions
Completing their packets during class
Actively participating by answering questions or by writing responses on the board, when asked
Contributing to discussions about holidays/traditions, birthdays, and personal schedules
Asking questions when s/he does not understand an answer
Making personal, societal, or academic connections
Applying the content to their own holidays/traditions and schedules
Taking a test at the end of the unit
Monitoring independent and group work
Make a note about consistent errors and make an effort to check up on that error later
Working toward completing activities without prompting
OTHER EVIDENCE:
Respecting each other and their teachers
Always making an effort in class to understand
Contributing to discussions
Answering questions, when asked

Engaging with the activities

Stage 3- Learning Plan
Pre-assessment

I will make a pre-assessment that is formatted similar to the practice test for this unit. The pre-assessment will ask the students
to fill out a calendar using events and dates that I will read aloud to them. After the students have completed this listening
portion, they will have multiple choice questions to answer, using the calendar that they have put together.
Learning Events

Progress Monitoring

1.

I will be monitoring the

students while they work on
tasks and activities during
the class and correct when
needed

Student success at transfer, meaning, and acquisition depends upon their

participation in these learning events
Day 1:
Students will be introduced to the months of the year and learn their
order
Students will learn weather vocabulary and associate weather words
with the months of the year and the typical weather
Students will use a calendar to determine how

2.

Students will monitor their own

progress by asking questions for
clarification whenever they get

Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

years/months/weeks/days/etc. are divided up and will use this

information to answer how many questions
Students will compare and contrast in writing the weather patterns in
Michigan with those of their home country

Day 2:
Students will learn ordinal numbers 1-15 and use them when talking
about dates
Students will learn new vocabulary about appointments and use
these words to have practice conversations about appointments
Students will practice using a calendar in order to arrange a meeting
or identify a potential scheduling conflict
Students will learn and apply the difference between day, date, and
time and questions using these three words
Day 3:
Students will use appointment cards to find information about
appointments
Students will learn ordinal numbers 16-28 and use them to talk
about dates
Students will learn context for using a counting number versus using
an ordinal number by deciding between the two
Students will write the date in two ways and be able to go between
the two
Day 4:
Students will read/watch videos about six or more holidays
celebrated nationally in the United States
Students will write about their favorite holiday and consider how
values and traditions are evident in holidays
Students will compare and contrast holidays
Students will learn rules about plural nouns and practice going
between a singular and a plural form
Day 5:
Students will be able to find and use information from three different
types of calendars
Students will write information from a schedule onto a calendar
Students will practice reading comprehension skills with a story, a
district calendar, and a newspaper
Students will make a personal calendar for the 2016-17 school year

an answer wrong.
They will pay attention and
correct their work when the
answers are being read or
written up on the board.

3.

Many of the students might get

tripped up about writing the date
differently than the standard,
international way.

It will be difficult for most of the

students to remember, pronounce,
and organize all of the months of the
year.

Ordinal Numbers might be hard for

some students

All of the other struggles for students

are specific to the student and not to
the content of the unit

4.

This is a pretty small class (6

students), so it will be much easier
for me to monitor all of them and
provide feedback as they work on
their activities.
Additionally, when I have students
submit something to me on Google
Drive, I will respond with comments
or things to look out for

Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum