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Dec 16, 2018 · If your novel units are getting stale, make engagement your goal for 2019. Commit to changing up at least one old lesson a month, and by the end of the year, you’ll have yourself a small but mighty toolbox of engaging lesson ideas.
- Choose a Book. What Book Will You Teach? Why? Some districts will outline what text to teach in their curriculum or pacing guide. Some districts will allow teachers the freedom to choose their novels.
- Decide on Skills to Teach. What Skills Will You Teach? What is the book’s purpose?
- Add Resources. I love this part! It is like adding the seasoning during cooking. I am constantly on the lookout for mentor texts to talk about with my students, books that I can book talk, and other writing in a variety of genres that can provide meaningful connections.
- Formative Assessments. How Will I Assess Knowledge While Reading? In my post, “Ways to Conquer Three Types of Assessments (So, I'm Not Taking Papers Home)” I talk about many different ways I assess students during instruction (formative) and after instruction is over (summative).
- Set Your Purpose for Your Novel Unit. Everything we do in our curriculum has to be planned with intention. Even before finding that perfect novel, you need to set your purpose for the unit.
- Choose Your Novel. Now that you have your focus, you can choose a novel that fits well into your unit purpose. When choosing a novel there are several factors to consider.
- Design Your Final Assessment. Once you know your purpose for the unit, you are ready to start at the end of the unit. It’s so critical to plan with the end in mind so you know where you want your students to finish.
- Map Out Your Novel Unit Plan Timeline. The next step in this novel unit plan process is to map out the unit length. Grab your calendar and take a look at home much time you want to dedicate to this unit.
- Read the novel. I know this sounds obvious, but really having a chance to get through the novel from start to finish before the kids do is critical. I have tried to muddle through a new book by just staying ahead of the kids, but let me tell you, the stress of that life is unbearable.
- Consult Your Team. Accumulating resources is different from constructing a unit.
- Create a Curriculum Map Vision Board. This is a new idea that I just started using for my unit on To Kill a Mockingbird. After reading the book and pouring through recommended resources, this is the place to visualize the patterns, issues, skills, themes, and questions that you’d like to address somewhere in the unit.
- Draft Your Essential Question* THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PROCESS!! I wish it could go higher on the list, but it’s hard to write a high quality essential question without having processed through the steps above.
- Text Selection. Perhaps the most important part of planning a novel study involves text selection. Choosing the right book for your learners can make all the difference.
- Introduction Activity. After you have carefully chosen your novel, it is time to start planning a way to introduce it to you learners. This helps to build anticipation and get kids excited about the book.
- Comprehension Questions. Comprehension questions are an important part of any novel study. They allow students to show that they understand what they are reading and provide excellent classroom discussion opportunities.
- Word work. Novels are great ways to introduce students to new vocabulary. Providing opportunities for students to learn and use there new words is an important piece of any novel study.
These 5 ways to begin a novel unit aren’t the only ways, but they are ones that I’ve had success with. I pick and choose and double up depending on what my goals are and how much time I have. Most all of my literature guides include multiples ways to begin the novel unit.
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Nov 11, 2018 · You have a couple of choices to create your novel unit plan. Regardless of how you decide to design your novel unit plan, your main goal should be to engage students and help them practice essential reading skills.
