Teacher(s)
Murphy / Whitmarsh / Byrd
Subject
discipline
Unit title
Exploring Challenges Through Personal Narrative
MYP year
group
and
7th Grade English
2
Unit duration (hrs)
30+
Inquiry: Establishing the purpose of the unit
Key concept
Related concept(s)
Global context
Perspective
Character, Point of View
Fairness & Development
Statement of inquiry
One's perspective and character during challenges often determine fair or unfair outcomes.
Inquiry questions
Factual Questions:
Use level 1 text dependent questions for each story in unit.
What techniques do the authors use to develop characterization?
How are the stories organized?
Identify examples of dialogue; words that establish setting; transition words.
Who are the narrators in each story and how do you know?
Conceptual Questions:
How does one's character affect one's response to conflict?
How does one's perspective of conflict influence the outcome?
Debatable Questions:
Can personal survival trump that of friends and family or vice versa?
Are first person narrators credible?
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Objectives
Summative assessment
Analyzing, C. Producing
Text
Outline of summative assessment task(s) including
assessment criteria:
Relationship between summative assessment task(s)
and statement of inquiry:
Students will write a personal narrative
using narrative techniques (dialogue,
pacing, description)
Attach scoring rubric.
Approaches to learning (ATL)
1. Creative Skills: How can students be creative?
Students will create sentence frame tool for debates/class discussions (i.e. response wheel, color-coded cards, posters)
2. Communication Skills: How can students demonstrate communication through interaction?
Students will use sentence frames from their structure language response product (i.e. response wheel, color-coded cards, posters) during small
group and whole class debates and discussions.
3. Collaborative Skills: How can students collaborate?
Create and Use posters for group norms, delegating task for group work. Students will meet and establish guidelines for behavior during
presentations and debates.
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Action: Teaching and learning through inquiry
Content
Learning process
CCCS RL 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.6; W 7.1, 7.2,
7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.9; SL 7.1; L 7.1, 7.2, 7.6
Learning experiences and teaching strategies
Readers' Theatre, "Say-Mean-Matter", Plot diagrams, thinking maps, character
skeletons, dialogue exercises, figurative language, conventions of a business letter,
shared inquiry, small and large group discussion, writing strong leads, literature circles
Formative assessment
Common core text-dependent questions, smaller writing assignments, quick writes, journal, mini-projects,
academic vocabulary activities, annotation, use of cognitive signals, shared inquiry
Differentiation
Chunking, jigsaw, flexible deadlines, flexible grouping, small and large group discussion, varied product
Resources
"Three Skeleton Key", "Amigo Brothers", excerpt from "An American Childhood". news story on Jose Salvador Alvarenga
Reflection: Considering the planning, process and impact of the inquiry
Prior to teaching the unit
Middle Years Programme Unit planner
During teaching
After teaching the unit