Pre-assessment

In this unit plan I plan to teach my students about pilgrims and the first thanksgiving, as
well as ending the unit with persuasive writing. As pre-assessment I prepared KWL chart for my
students where they wrote down what they knew about the pilgrims under K column and what
they wanted to know under W column. Below are some of the questions I asked my students as
to prompt and guide them to write down the things they knew regarding the topic (if I simply
asked them to write down everything they knew about the topic they would not be able to write
much, so specific questions had to be asked):

Who were the pilgrims?

Where did they come from?
Why did they come to America?
What was the name of the ship that brought pilgrims to America?
What happened when they reached America?
How did they celebrate thanksgiving?
Anything else you know about pilgrims?

I heard that they learned a little bit about pilgrims in 1st grade but there was high chance that they
did not remember much about it, so after asking these questions and telling students to write their
answers under K column, I told them to write down the questions that they could not answer
under W column.
Formative assessments
Throughout the unit plan, after each lesson, students will get back their pre-assessment
KWL chart in which they will be required to write down what they have learned in each lesson
under L column. After collecting the charts I will have a look at them, see what they learned and
use that to build up on my following lessons. Along with that, students may also write down

further questions regarding the topic under W column if they have more questions, which I will
answer for them later on.
During lesson 2, in which students learn about what happened when pilgrims and Native
Americans met, students will read the scholastic article that talk about this issue. There is a
worksheet that goes along with this article so after reading the article together I will ask students
to fill it out as homework and bring it to the next class session. This worksheet will be graded on
whether they have answered all questions, and whether they have answered it right with the
evidence from the article.
Lastly, during lesson 3 students learn about differences between how pilgrims celebrated
thanksgiving and how we celebrate it now. After this lesson I will give them a worksheet titled
Oh, What a Thanksgiving! On this worksheet students are required to write down what they
noticed about the differences in each time, and at the end they are required to choose one side
that they thought celebrated thanksgiving better. Students will be assessed on how many
questions they are able to answer and whether they have chosen one side or not.

Assessments as learning
Before I begin each lesson I plan on asking students several questions based on what they
learned in the previous lesson. Some questions that will be asked repeatedly will include, Who
were the pilgrims? Why did they come to America? and Why did pilgrims have conflict with
Native Americans? By answering, or not being able to answer, such questions children will learn
for themselves what they know and what they still need to know.

During lesson 4 students will get to have a discussion with their elbow partners about
who they thought celebrated thanksgiving better based on what they wrote on Oh, What a
Thanksgiving! worksheet. Having this discussion with their partners and talking things out will
let them learn from each other as well.
Summative assessments
For the final assessment of this unit students will be required to write a persuasive writing
based on the worksheets they have completed so far. Before doing this students will be asked to
complete an OREO chart where O stands for opinion and RE stands for reasons. On OREO
chart students begin with an opinion (this will be what they wrote on Oh, What a Thanksgiving!
worksheet), give three reasons on why they support that side, and then end with a concluding
sentence, confirming their opinion. After doing this, students will be asked to write out their
persuasive writing piece in a paragraph form on separate piece of paper which will serve as final
assignment.

Grading rubric on final assignment:

Who celebrated Thanksgiving better?
Points
Criteria

1 point

2 points

3 points

Characteristics of
paragraph:
Indent (leave
space).
Made up of
sentences.
Has a topic.

No characteristics of
paragraph seen.

One or two
characteristics seen.

Has all three

characteristics of a
paragraph.

Followed OREO
structure

Did not begin with

opinion nor end with
opinion.

Either began with

opinion OR ended
with opinion.

Opinion stated at the

beginning AND at the
end.

Supporting reasons
for their opinion

1 reason given.

2 reasons given.

3 reasons given.

Total: ______/9 points