What strengths, capacities, and interests, in terms of their content understanding (prior knowledge), academic and literacy development, personal and cultural abilities, and development as a learning community, are you taking into account in planning this unit?

This is later in the year so students have practiced using higher order thinking skills like inferring and analyzing all year. They are also more used to group projects and can handle the materials and freedom. While they are a new class to me, I know they have the foundational skills to handle these experiments.

What particular needs of your students—academic, social, personal, language (ELLs)—have you taken into account in planning the unit? What will they need to be able to do in order to meet the learning goals?

This is my first unit with these students and I do not know their specific needs yet. This unit will need to be flexible until I learn about all of the needs of the students in my classroom. However, all of the lessons are very hands-on and accessible, so I am confident that my students will be able to grasp the lesson. I have accounted for English language learners by modeling all of my expectations through an “I do, we do, you do” strategy. Students will also be working in pairs and small groups so they will have their peers to discuss and bounce ideas off of. This unit will work well with students of all learning styles because of all the various activities.

Explain how research and best practice ideas have informed your plan.

It is important to me that my students are guided through self-discovery, as this creates a more authentic style of learning. Especially for my ELLs, I want them to experience the lessons visually and by doing, instead of by teaching. These ways of learning will create a stronger interest in the children, and allow them to better remember what I am teaching. I am excited that students will have the opportunities to discover and make meaningful connections between lessons. I hope this guides our unit.

It is also important to me to give my ELL students opportunities to speak about their thinking, before writing it. This is crucial because it serves as extra planning time and allows them to form opinions and put them into words before writing. This will help them think about the vocabulary they need before they have to write it down, which eliminates a barrier to the writing process.