Understanding By Design Unit Template

Title of Unit Curriculum Area Developed By

Bucket Fillers in our Classroom and Community Grade Level Writing, Time Frame Lauren Ramsower, April Ellis, Melanie Valadez, Ashleigh Anderson

First Grade 1-2 Weeks

Identify Desired Results (Stage 1) Content Standards

1st Grade ELA Common Core State Standards:
(1.RL.4) Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses. (1.W.4) With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. With guidance and support from adults, produce functional writing (e.g., classroom rules, experiments, notes/messages, friendly letters, labels, graphs/tables, directions, posters) in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (1.SL.1) Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion) b. Build on others talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges. c. Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion. (1.SL.4) Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly. 1.SL.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts and feelings.

AZ First Grade Social Studies Standards:

Concept 4: Rights, Responsibilities, and Roles of Citizenship PO 1. Identify examples of responsible citizenship in the school setting and in stories about the past and present. PO 2. Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizenship: (a) elements of fair play, good sportsmanship, and the idea of treating others the way you want to be treated. (b) importance of participation and cooperation in a classroom and community (c.) why are there rules and what are the consequences for violating them. (d) responsibility of voting. PO 3. Discuss the importance of students contributing to a community, (e.g. helping others, working together, cleaning up the playground.)

Understandings
Overarching Understanding Big Ideas: Friendship & Citizenship Students will understand why is it important to be a bucket filler- for both themselves and others Students will understand the function and necessity of community helpers, such as the government workers, policemen, firemen, teachers, health care workers, etc. Writing Friendly Letters is an effective way to communicate with various members of the community

Essential Questions
Overarching S1 Essential Question: What does it mean to treat people the way you want to be treated? S2 Essential Question: When do people use friendly letters and what do they use them for? Topical S1 Topical Questions: - What does it mean to be a bucket filler? - What does being a good friend look like? - What is a compliment and why are they important? S2 Topical Questions: - Why would we write friendly letters to bucket fillers in our community? - What would our friendly letters to our bucket fillers include? - What are the parts of a friendly letter? S3 Topical Questions: - What does being a good citizen look like? - Who are examples of bucket fillers in our community?

S3 Essential Question: What does it mean to treat people they way they want to be treated?

Related Misconceptions That being a bucket filler is only something you can do for someone else; that you cannot compliment yourself, only others. That all people fill their own or others buckets in the same way. That Friendly Letters are not an effective tool for communication, or are too simple to use as a way to fill others buckets

Knowledge
Students will know SW recognize and identify the characteristics of bucket fillers

Skills
Students will be able to

SWBAT understand the parts of a friendly letter. SWBAT compose a friendly letter to a community helper that they have identified as a bucket filler.
SWBAT compose a multi-draft Friendly Letter with complete sentences and all parts present

(respectful, responsible and caring) and also bucket dippers (people who use hurtful words or actions). SW identify who bucket fillers are within the community. SW recognize how they as bucket fillers act within both the school community as well as their role in society.

SWBAT articulate actions of bucket dippers within both the (people who use hurtful words or actions).

SW include picture or illustration to accompany their letter. SW use their best handwriting.

Assessment Evidence (Stage 2) Performance Task Description

S1/Humanistic: SWBAT recognize and compliment both themselves and their classmates as bucket fillers during Compliment Circle Activity Goal S2/Standards: SW compose a letter to a Community Helper that they have identified as a bucket filler S3/Society: SW practice Community Helper play to perform Role Audience Situation Students will be: Actors, Authors, Bucket Fillers, Citizens/Community Helpers (Police Officers, Firefighters, Mayors, etc), Field Trip Participants, Letter Writers Community Helpers in society, Peers/Classmates, Parents, & other School Administration S1- Classroom Compliment Circle S2- Letters delivered to Firefighters during Field Trip S3- Community Helper Play performed in Classroom S1 Compliment Circle -Students will give a classmate a compliment within the Compliment Circle Activity. Students will also write a brief letter to themselves about how they are a bucket filler and what they like about themselves. Letters will be graded according to Friendly Letter (S2) Rubric S2 Friendly Letters -Students will draft and write a Friendly Letter to a member of society that they have identified as a bucket filler -Letters will be graded according to the following rubric:

Product/Performance

S3 Community Helpers Play: -After exploring how Community Helpers are bucket fillers, students will choose Community Helper roles for Play -Students will practice (1-2) days and perform Community Helper Play for peers, parents, administration, etc. Standards See Above

Other Evidence
S1- Informal Assessment for understanding during Compliment Circle activity S2- Students will be informally assessed throughout the lesson with teacher observation during chant and letter writing model activity. Student understanding of the purpose and parts of a Friendly Letter will be assessed by collection of RAFT Organizer and during one-on-one Writing Center Draft time. S3- Understanding will be informally assessed during Community Helper Charades

SW complete a Venn-diagram to compare and contrast two community helpers. Scaffolding- Students can reference the Community Helper Card Wall as needed

SW choose which community helper they would like to be and write at least 4 reasons why. Scaffolding- Students who need extra time will be given extra time to complete work. Sentence stems will be provided as needed on an individual basis.

Learning Plan (Stage 3)

Where are your students headed? Where have they been? How will you make sure the students know where they are going? Throughout this unit, students will be building their self-esteem while simultaneously cultivating positive relationships with their peers and various community helpers. At the beginning of the year, especially in first grade, it is important to teach and reinforce the concepts of kindness, friendship and citizenship. The first lesson in the unit gives students a chance to look critically at their behavior towards others, and also allows them to think about what they like about themselves. In the second lesson, students look towards the community, and consider how community helpers are valuable and important parts of society. In the third lesson, students further explore the idea of community helpers, and perform a play that identifies important helpers in our society. Each lesson builds upon the previous lesson to create a cohesive unit about the importance of filling our own buckets as well as filling the buckets of others. Students will watch a Brain-Pop Jr. video titled friends.

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

http://www.brainpopjr.com/health/relationships/friends/
This will be followed by the class reading the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by David Messing. A class discussion will then take place discussing: friendship, compliments, bucket filler and bucket dipper. Students will then decorates their own complement bucket & creates own confetti to hand out during a later portion of the lesson unit.

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?

Students will experience and explore the Bucket Filler idea in this unit, through the following group activities.

Compliment Circle, each child has a bucket & confetti, go around circle and pay
someone a compliment while filling their bucket with confetti.

After watching video about parts of a friendly letter

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83uFQyjms50) there will be a whole group discussion regarding parts of a friendly letter. Class will work together to popcorn out ideas for the different parts of a friendly letter. Additional exploration will happen as student play a game of charades. TW write names of different community helpers on index cards, SW act out helper. This will lead to class discussion regarding community bucket-fillers. How will you cause students to reflect and rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing, revising, and refining their work? Throughout the unit, students will have the opportunities to reflect and rethink their work through a number of additional activities such as R.A.F.T. (Role, Audience, Format, Topic), where they will fill out the graphic organizer as they prepare for their final draft. Students will also be filling out venn-diagrams as they compare and contrast two community members.

Students will revisit their work as they come together with their peers at writing center draft time. Teacher will remind and revisit the idea of being a good citizen by talking about how to compliment someone and talk about what makes a good bucket-filler. For those who choose to keep practice in refining their work, the choice to write to a pen pal will be given. How will you help students to exhibit and selfevaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and understanding throughout the unit? TW use the assessments planned out to double check the understanding of the children within the Big Idea of How to be a good Citizen. Through guided discussions and questions the teacher will be able to help students feel a sense for great citizenship. Students will self evaluate themselves also during Group Complement Discussion activity. Teacher will explore and elaborate by modeling how to write a friendly letter and practice their Community Member Play. This unit leaves a lot of room for personalization. The determination of what makes a good citizen is both universal and personal. Generally speaking, there are traits, such as honesty and hardworking, that almost all people would agree contribute to citizenship however, there are also some that could be debated. What traits are important to one student may not be as important to another. Students will have time to discuss their thoughts with their peers to share and learn from others. Students will also be encouraged to determine their own opinions about citizenship as opposed to being confined to a few pre-determined traits. As far as the letter writing activity, students will be able to write to whomever they choose. One student may write to a local firefighter, one to a police officer, and one to a parent. Students will be able to reflect upon who they consider to be a model citizen and have the ability to thank that person. The approach taken for maximum engagement and achievement is starting small and expanding. This unit is about bucket-fillers, which is essentially another word for good citizens. Lessons will begin with the self. Students will ask themselves, What traits do I have that make me a good citizen? They will discuss what a good citizen is and how they reflect such behavior. The focus is entirely on the self. This is easier for young students, as, during these formative years, their worlds primarily revolve around themselves. Next, knowledge will be expanded to the community. Students will look to others to identify and recognize good citizenship traits. Finally, by engaging in a writing assignment, students will expand their knowledge of writing in general, letter writing, and the importance of thankfulness. The lessons were designed to be simple, engaging tasks that young children can complete easily but also gain knowledge from. By dividing the unit into multiple lessons, students will have time to delve deeply into each lesson, which will result in better knowledge retention and deeper understanding of the material.

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?

How will you organize and sequence the learning activities to optimize the engagement and achievement of ALL students?

From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (ppk)