Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: Things Fall Apart Name: Katrina Shimasaki

Content Area: English Language Arts Grade Level: 10th Grade
CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it
emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text,
interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States,
drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage
of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Big Ideas/Unit Goals:

What can we learn about traditions and change from Things Fall Apart?
Are traditions worth protecting or is change inevitable?
What makes some characters survive change while others find it impossible to let go of their traditions?

1. Students will understand narrative perspective as culturally-positioned (Afrocentric versus Eurocentric perspectives) by understanding Chinua
Achebe, his background, and his cultural significance.
2. Students will analyze characters from the novel and be able to explain their perspectives and motivations.
3. Students will be able to explain a major theme from the novel.
4. Students will be capable of writing a 5 paragraph analytical essay with intro and closing paragraphs and cite quotes for evidence.

Unit Summary:
This unit plan on Things Fall Apart focuses on a culture that most students are unfamiliar with. The novel has challenging themes and interesting and
complicated characters. Because the novel is so rich in cultural and historical background, it easily lends itself to outside work. Additionally, it is very
different from most Western-written books and will allow students an opportunity to experience and value a new culture. Throughout this plan, students
will explore the culture of pre-colonial Nigeria, participate in class discussions about identity and character, identify themes in the novel, and write an essay
analyzing those themes.
Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level: Formative: Summative:
Presentation – Webercise activity and video Quiz – Survey Monkey quizzes for each chapter of the Essay – Analysis essay focusing on the novel's theme(s).
presentation on Chinua Achebe. novel. Test – Cumulative multiple choice and short answer
Character Profiles – Make Facebook profiles for the test.
main characters of the novel.
Graphic Organizer – Make a Mind Map on one of the
main characters from the novel.
Compare and Contrast – Write a paragraph comparing
and contrasting the novel to Yeat's poem The Second
Coming.

Lesson 1 (Teacher Lecture)

Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence Lesson Activities:
Students will understand the (Assessments): Guided notes which include critical thinking questions, graphic organizers for comparing and contrasting,
novel's characters, their Verbal check for and graphic organizer for characterization. Small group activities/discussions (think-pair-share, Venn
backgrounds, and their understanding via checkpoint diagram) and table group informal discussions.
motivations for their choices.
questions. Written check for Checkpoint questions during teacher lecture to check for understanding of learning objective.
understanding through Venn
diagram and think-pair-share
question. Drop in on group
discussions.
Lesson 2 (Webercise/ iPad Lesson)
Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence: Lesson Activities:
Students will understand Google Slides presentation on Webercise activity and group visual presentation.
narrative perspective as Chinua Achebe that shows
culturally-positioned understanding of Achebe's
cultural background.
(Afrocentric versus
Eurocentric perspectives)
by understanding Chinua
Achebe, his background,
and his cultural
significance.
Lesson 3 (Graphic Organizer)
Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence: Lesson Activities:
Students will analyze Completed graphic organizer Digital graphic organizer – mind map.
characters from the novel with clear evidence and
and be able to explain explanations.
their perspectives and
motivations.
Unit Resources:
https://www.biography.com/people/chinua-achebe-20617665
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nigerian_Civil_War
https://vimeo.com/4027136
http://www.brown.edu/Research/AAAH/map.htm
https://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4503
https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0812/achebe.html
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/visit/floor-plan/africa/igbo-compound.aspx
http://www.ajsih.org/index.php/ajsih/article/viewFile/58/58
https://quizlet.com/197878354/things-fall-apart-flash-cards/
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming
https://www.shmoop.com/things-fall-apart/epigraph.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Kw94qjdQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyvDYZ6hJNA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_xtOMiW0ys

Useful Websites:
https://coggle.it/
https://docs.google.com/presentation/u/0/?tgif=d