Unit Plan Overview

Unit: Good Citizenship

Teacher: Taylor Cupery

Stage 1- Desired Results

Connections to Context:
Good citizenship will always be
relevant to the students lives and
experiences. With the lessons I plan
on teaching, students will need to be
able to apply traits such as respect,
responsibility, eco-friendliness, and
active participation in everyday life.
As noted in their website, the
mission of Grand Rapids Christian
Schools is to prepare students to be
effective servants of Christ in
contemporary society. By
exemplifying the aforementioned
traits, students would be living out
the many traits of Jesus Christ.
Within society, citizenship is always
prevalent. It is talked about at a
much higher level, but the core
values are still there. In order to be
active participants in todays society,
it is necessary to be informed,
respectful, and cooperative. If these
traits were non-existent, society
would not be able to function. What
precedes this unit is the unit on
values and principles of American
democracy. Good citizenship relates
to this unit because in knowing those
values and principles, that
knowledge can be used in
connection with the traits of a good
citizen. The unit following good
citizenship is about the market
economy and its activity and how it
functions. It fits with good citizenship
because the way things are done
and run in a market economy started

Transfer
Students will be able to independently use their learning to
Be active participants in society, and to use the traits they have learned to be better citizens and
better people overall.
Apply their newly acquired knowledge in everyday life.
Decide whether how they are acting or what they are doing is considered to be right or wrong.
(What kinds of long-term independent accomplishments are desired?)

Meaning
UNDERSTANDINGS
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Students will understand that
Students will keep considering
What I teach them should not be solely for
How can I be a good citizen outside of the
the purpose of school.
classroom?
The traits of good citizenship can be used in
What can I do to make my learning and living
all aspects of life
environment a safer and more comfortable
place?
Good citizenship can involve being a good

What does it mean to be a good citizen?

person in addition to being a good citizen
(What specifically do you want students to
understand?
What inferences should they make?)

(What thought-provoking questions will foster inquiry,

meaning- making and transfer?)

Acquisition of Knowledge, Skill and Values/Commitments/Dispositions

Cognitive Objectives
Physical Development
Socio-emotional Objectives
The students will be able to
Objectives
The students will be able to
The
students
will
be
able
to
Apply the character traits to
Differentiate between right
Follow instructions on how to
their everyday lives (Apply)
and wrong (Valuing)
make a character trait paper Discuss why these character
Distinguish between a good
crown (Guided Response)
and bad example of being a
traits are related to good
Describe what each
good citizen (Understand)
citizenship (Responding to
character trait means
Phenomena)
Compare and contrast
(Perception)
Participate in class
character traits of a good
Trace the words on their
citizen and character traits
discussions about the
considered to be less likely of
character trait paper crowns
character traits of a good
a good citizen (Analyze)
(Guided Response)
citizen (Responding to
Phenomena)
Give examples of the good
(What
discrete
skills
and
processes
Identify the character traits
citizenship character traits
should students be able to use?)
(Understand)
of a good citizen (Receiving

Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

with people making decisions about

what they want, and how those
decisions were made were based on
who had respect for whom, how
willing people were to collaborate,
etc.

(What facts and basic concepts

should students know and be able to
recall?)

Phenomena)
(What values and commitments and
attitudes should students acquire or
wrestle with?)

(How does this fit with students

experiences, the school goals, and the
larger societal issues? How does this fit
with the broader curriculum- what has
come before and what will come after?)

Established Goals
The content in this unit will address
the standard for civic ideals and
practices from the National Council
for the Social Studies (NCSS). The
standard states that an
understanding of civic ideals and
practices is critical to full
participation in society and is an
essential component of education for
citizenship. This theme enables
students to learn about the rights
and responsibilities of citizens of a
democracy, and to appreciate the
importance of active citizenship. In
schools, the theme typically appears
in units or courses dealing with
civics, history, political science,
cultural anthropology, and fields
such as global studies, law-related
education, and the humanities. The
character traits of a good citizenship
are aligned with the 21st century skill
of being sociable.
(What content standards and programor mission-related goal(s) will the unit
address?
What habits of mind and crossdisciplinary goal(s)- for example 21st
Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

century skills, core competencies- will

this unit address?
Include source and identifying number)

Evaluative Criteria
**Criteria in teacher rubric
(What criteria will be used in each
assessment to evaluate attainment of
the desired results?)(rubric required)

Stage 2- Evidence
Students will show their learning by (summative assessment)
PERFORMANCE TASK(S):
Group skits: students demonstrate the character traits of a good citizen (both good and bad)
through skits. The rest of the class has to decide which one (good or bad) is aligned with good
citizenship.
Written responses: after learning about a character trait, students will write about an experience
where they demonstrated that character trait
(How will students demonstrate their understanding- meaning-making and transfer- through complex
performance?)

I want my students to be able to

understand why such character traits are
important and not just in regards to
citizenship. I want for them to put those
traits into practice; I want to see them
live out (at least in the classroom) what
they have learned about good
citizenship.

OTHER EVIDENCE:
I will collect the students reflections sheets that say: Podemos ser buenos ciudadanos al These
worksheets allow the students to reflect on who they can be as good citizens or what they can do to
show that they are good citizens.
(What other evidence will you collect to determine whether Stage 1 goals were achieved?

(Regardless of the format of the

assessment, what qualities are most
important?)

Stage 3- Learning Plan

I will ask the students if they know what citizenship is or what a citizen is. If they know what they are, I would ask them if they know what it
means to be a good citizen. I would ask them if they know what character traits are and if they know any character traits that a good citizen
exemplifies. I will ask them to write down their answers, and I will write the questions on the whiteboard so that they dont have to remember
all of the questions. I will also have them fill out the know and want to know sections of a KWL chart.
(What pre-assessments will you use to check students prior knowledge, skill levels, and potential misconceptions?)
(Toward which goal does
Learning Events
each learning event build?)

Student success at transfer, meaning, and acquisition depends upon their

participation in these learning events

Progress Monitoring

(How will you monitor students

progress toward acquisition,
meaning, and transfer during
ciudadano elesson events?) (Formative
1. Reading ser buen ciudadano e-book as a class
book as a class
Assessment)
2. Students fill out the K (know) and W (want to know) sections of the KWL
Give the students whiteboards and

Students fill out

chart
give them a prompt that they have
the K (know) and
3. Asking the students questions and having them respond (demonstrating
to
respond to. They can either draw
W (want to know)
participation)
(and describe out loud) or write
sections of the
4. Student small group discussion about favorite book (demonstrating
how they would respond to the
Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum
Acquisition

Reading ser buen

KWL chart
Students coloring
the activo coloring
page
Reading the book
La Pequea
Locomotora que
S Pudo
Reading the Bible
story of Noahs
Ark
Umbrella activity:
students deciding
whether or not a
trait is considered
to be part of good
citizenship
Students fill out
the L (learned)
column of the
KWL chart

participation)
5. Students writing a response to the podemos ser buenos ciudadanos al
prompt
6. Students coloring the activo coloring page
7. Asking the students to give character traits of responsibility along with
good and bad examples of responsibility
8. Students responding to responsibility prompts: deciding what the
responsible decision is
9. Reading the book La Pequea Locomotora que S Pudo
10. Students writing responses to how they are able to do the things they
can do and how hard work plays a role
11. Reading the Bible story of Noahs Ark
12. Umbrella activity: students deciding whether or not a trait is considered
to be part of good citizenship
13. Groups of students performing skits demonstrating preparedness and
having the rest of the class figure out what it is the students are doing in
their skits
14. Balloon Bop activity (demonstrating cooperation)
15. Groups of students performing skits demonstrating one of the character
traits they have learned
16. Students fill out the L (learned) column of the KWL chart

(How will students monitor

their own progress toward
acquisition, meaning, and
transfer?)(Assessment as
learning)(rubric?)
Depending on the activity, students
will be able to understand if they
understand what they are learning,
and they will be able to understand
how to apply that knowledge.

(What are potential rough spots

and student misunderstandings?)
I might have the tendency to teach
the content too quickly, so I am
concerned my students will not be
able to understand what I am
teaching.
I am also concerned that my lessons
might be too simple or not as
in depth as my teacher would
like them to be.

Meaning

Asking the

students
questions and
having them
respond
(demonstrating
participation)
Student small
group discussion
about favorite
book
(demonstrating
participation)
Asking the
students to give
character traits of
responsibility
along with good
and bad examples
of responsibility

prompt.
After a couple of the lessons, I will
have a sheet that has the prompt:
I can be a good citizen by (in
Spanish) and it gives lines that
allow for eight answers to that
prompt. I will give each table group
the sheet, and they can fill it out as
a group. There answers will show
me whether or not Im teaching the
content in a way that they can
understand it.

(Have you included multiple means of representation, multiple means of

action and expression, and multiple means of engagement?)
(Are all three types of goals (acquisition, meaning, and transfer) addressed in
the learning plan?)
(Does the learning plan reflect principles of learning and best practices?)
(Is there tight alignment with Stages 1 and 2?)

(How will students get the

feedback they need?)
After each written response I give the
students, I will write them a response
telling them how they did and if they
could improve on anything. The
response will be given before the next
response is due.

Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

Students
responding to
responsibility
prompts: deciding
what the
responsible
decision is
Balloon Bop
activity
(demonstrating
cooperation)

Transfer

Students writing a

response to the
podemos ser
buenos
ciudadanos al
prompt
Students writing
responses to how
they are able to
do the things they
can do and how
hard work plays a
role
Groups of
students
performing skits
demonstrating
preparedness and
having the rest of
the class figure
out what it is the
students are
doing in their skits
Groups of
students
performing skits
demonstrating
one of the
character traits
they have learned

Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum