UbD Lesson Plan

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Main Contact:
Michael A. DePolis Grand Canyon University: TSL 540
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Date: April 17, 2013

VITAL INFORMATION
Author
*Subject(s)
Topic or Unit of
Study
*Grade/Level
*Summary

Michael A. DePolis
Language Arts
Expository Writing/Traits of Good Writing
Grade 5
The students will write an expository piece on the topic of, The Importance of Friends.

STANDARDS
*Standards

LA.5.5.4 Writing: Using rhetorical devices in writing

AZ-ESL Stage III: Writing Standard 1: The student will express his or her
thinking and ideas in a variety of writing genres.
AZ-ESL Stage III: Listening/Speaking Standard I: The student will listen
actively to the ideas of others in order to acquire new knowledge.

UBD (UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN) LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS

REQUIRED:

Established Goals

Understandings
Overarching
Understanding
Related
Misconceptions

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Students will be able to establish ideas for writing using varied vocabulary.
Students will demonstrate organization of writing.
Voice will be clearly evident in students writing.
Students will make use of good word choices.
Students writing will demonstrate fluency.
Students will demonstrate correct conventions in their writing.

1) Good writers use ideas from their lives and the lives of others to make their topic
truly memorable.
2) Good writers organize their writing in a way that makes it easy to read.
3) Good writers write in a voice that is unique to the writer.
4) Good writers use a variety of interesting words.
5) Good writers make interesting sentences which flow smoothly.
6) Good writers avoid distracting mistakes.
Related Misconception: Good writers do not have to think a lot about what they write, or
plan out their writing.

Overarching:
Where do good writers get their ideas?

Essential
Questions

Knowledge

Skills

How is good writing organized?

How do good writers sound unique?
How do good writers use a variety of
Interesting words?
How do good writers make their
Sentences flow smoothly?
How do good writers avoid all mistakes
with grammar and conventions?

Topical:
What ideas can I think of from my own
experiences?
How can I organize my writing?
How can I add my voice to my writing?
How can I choose good words for my writing?
How can I make my writing fluent?
How can I avoid mistakes in my writing?

Students will be able to use scaffolding support of modeling, webbing, and graphic
organizers.
Students will receive teacher and peer support of conventions of writing, along with
paragraphing.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of expository versus other genres of writing.
With scaffolding support, students will create paragraphs with topic sentences, supporting
detail sentences, and conclusion sentences.

UBD (UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN) LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS

REQUIRED:

Performance Task Description:

What authentic performance tasks will students demonstrate the desired understandings?
By what criteria will performances be judged?
Through what evidence (e.g. quizzes, tests, academic prompts, observations, homework, journals) will

students demonstrate achievement of the desired results?

How will students reflect upon and self assess their learning:
Goal Students will publish final expository papers on the topic of, The Importance of Friends.
Role Authors
Audience Peers, Teacher, and Parents
Situation Classroom Display
Product/Performance Final Writing with illustrations
Standards English Language Arts and ESL Standards noted above.

UBD (UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN) LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS

REQUIRED:
What learning experiences and instruction will enable students to
achieve the desired results? How will the design:
Where are your students headed?
Where have they been?
How will you make sure the students know where they are
going?

My students are headed toward expository writing

proficiency, using a simple, motivating, and relatable
topic.
My students have been practicing the writing process in
English to create narrative writing pieces.
My students will begin this unit on expository writing by
reviewing with the teacher the specific objectives and
key vocabulary.
The students will continually monitor their own progress
and the progress of their partners (of similar English
proficiency). Revisions, rewrites, and edits will be
ongoing.

How will you hook students at the beginning of the unit?

I will create a model writing piece of my own, The

Importance of Friends. My modeling will include
personal experiences of my feelings and actual
friendships. I will be sure to provide an excellent model of
expository writing, including ideas, organization, voice,
word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions.
Students love to hear their teachers personal
experiences, and students will easily be hooked on the
idea of writing about their own friendships.
Authentic authors writings on the friendship theme will
be provided.

What events will help students experience and explore the big
idea and questions in the unit?
How will you equip them with needed skills and knowledge?

The big idea is The Importance of Friends and the Traits

of Good Writing. The qualities of good writing will allow
students to express their deepest feelings on the topic in
an understandable way.
The students will be supported with skills and knowledge
through positive modeling, graphic organizers, and
specific rubrics of skills.

How will you cause students to reflect and rethink? How will
you guide them in rehearsing, revising, and refining their
work?

Students will be provided with models of works in

progress. (webs, first drafts, revisions, edits, all
modeled.)

How will you help students to exhibit and self-evaluate their

growing skills, knowledge, and understanding throughout the
unit?

The students will record themselves reading their own

writing, as a work in progress. They will listen to their
own writing and the writing of peers.

How will you tailor and otherwise personalize the learning

plan to optimize the engagement and effectiveness of ALL
students, without compromising the goals of the unit?

Students will self-evaluate ideas, organization, voice,

word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions
according to rubrics. Students will evaluate partners of
similar English proficiency according to same rubrics.