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Unit Title & Big Idea: Discovering what makes us unique. There are things about each one of us that no one else can
have and through this unit we are going to discover what those are. Through our discovery of being unique we will create
alien portraits, edible DNA and a narrative writing about what makes them unique.
Unit Overview/Summary: Why is this important to teach? What do you hope to accomplish?
It is important for students to learn at a young age to be comfortable in the body that they have.
We are all made differently and being their own person is the best person they can be. This unit
will allow students to discover what makes them unique by engaging in many different activities
that explore what being unique means. Through this lesson, I hope to accomplish understanding
in the definition of unique, development of self-confidence, basic understanding of DNA and
building on our existing narrative writing skills and artistic skills. This unit goes beyond
conceptual knowledge, it is teaching character building skills that are needed to be successful in
any classroom along with the concepts of art, reading, writing and health education.
(3-4)
(http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/GLE/)
(3-
4)
(http://www.corestandards.org/)
Art:
VA: Cr1.1.4a
VA: Cr1.2.4a
VA: Cr2.1.4a
Content Areas Integrated:
1. Visual Art
2. Reading
3. Health Education
4. Writing
because they are creating a picture based on a vague characteristic on a slip a paper that they drew from a hat. This also
allows them to problem solve because they will only be able to choose one characteristic at a time and they have to figure out
how they are going to incorporate that characteristic. The 3-D DNA model, gives students the opportunity to solve problems
divergently when take the knowledge they know about DNA and create a model with non-science related supplies (twizzlers,
marshmallows). The drawing that represents the writing prompt, is also another opportunity for students to solve problems in
divergent ways. They have to think of ways to create their drawing based on the words they wrote in their narrative piece.
How will you engage students in routinely reflecting on their learning/learning processes?
After creating their Alien Portrait, students will be introduced to what a gallery walk is. They will put their portraits around the
room and students will be able to reflect on their work as well as their peers. The teacher will guide their thinking by telling
students to look at how their peers portraits are similar/different. Also to think about why their peers may have chose the
method they did for drawing their portrait. After the Brain Pop video, there is a short quiz at the end that will allow for
discussion and understanding of the topic of DNA. After we create our 3-D DNA model, we will have a discussion about how
each of us built our DNA and how it is the same/different than peers next to them. We will be constantly conducting class
discussions after each activity to ensure understanding and to cover key objectives throughout this unit. They will then be
complete a full reflection on their understanding of being unique through their narrative writing piece, that will then be shared
(if they want) with the class and displayed in our classroom or hallway. The constant reflection will allow for students to grasp
on to the main ideas and key points about DNA and being unique.
How will this unit engage students in assessing their own work?
Students have many opportunities to assess their own work through out this lesson. They will be assessing their own work
when completing their alien portraits, DNA models and narrative writing pieces. These are all forms of summative assessments
that they can assess themselves on through display and describing. They will also be given many opportunities to assess their
understanding during discussions as well as the Brain Pop DNA Video Quiz that we will complete as a class. These formative
assessments will allow them to check their understanding of the concepts presented and ask questions that they may have.
Student success is suppose will be measured based on their understanding of topics, conversation within discussion, quality
work on art pieces, and overall understanding of unique and what makes them unique.
What opportunities/activities will students be given to revise and improve their understandings and their work?
When students are writing their narrative pieces to the prompt of I am unique because they will go through the writing
process with this piece. They will draft, revise, edit and then publish it. This gives them many opportunities to revise and
improve their work. During the other activities of this lesson students wont be given chances to revise or improve their work.
They will be allow to improve their work for the next time by engaging in discussion to better comprehend the subject.
What happens when revision is needed? How will you handle that in this situation?
If a revision is needed, I would allow the student to revise only for extreme cases. If I felt that they didnt understand the
concept or the overall goal of the activity I think it is fair to explain it again and allow them to redo it. This would be on a case
by case basis and would be handled in a way that would allow for the student to have the most success.
What opportunities/activities will you provide for students to share their learning/understanding/work in this unit?
I will provide students with a chance to share their alien portraits during the gallery walk in our classroom. This gives them the
opportunity to look at their peers work and to share their work with their classmates. They will also be given opportunities to
share their I am unique because writing pieces with the class if they would like to share.
Presenting the work in a meaningful way. How will this be accomplished?
They are presenting their work of the alien portrait via a gallery walk. This gives them a chance to walk around and really see
what their peers have created and take note on similarities and differences between their work and their peers. When they
present their writing pieces to the class, we will have a publishing party and bring snacks, and listen to people read their
stories. This will allow students to have fun celebrating what is unique about them while sharing their work with their peers.
How will you adapt the various aspects of this lesson to differently-abled students?
For students who need differentiation or modifications, I would adapt my lesson to their needs, by having them complete the
activities with partners. This would allow them to stay on task and get extra support from peers. I would also would modify the
criteria of the I am unique because prompt to ensure that they will be successful.
How will you differentiate for your diverse classroom population? How will you keep students engaged? What will you do to challenge students who are
highly talented? What have you planned for those who finish early?
I plan to keep students engaged by integrating many subject areas (art, science, writing, reading), we wont be doing the
same thing during this unit discussion on being unique. This allows for a change in pace and allows for students to remain
engaged. For students that are highly talented, I would adapt the activities to challenge them a little more. For example, the
alien portrait, give them more detailed slips to choose from such as (body scents, talents) these characteristic cards give the
talented students something to make them think a little more about how to incorporate that into their portrait. For the writing
piece, I would encourage the highly talented students to discuss what maybe be lacking from their past writing pieces and
encourage them to really focus on that for this piece of writing. Also to give them more of a challenge have them create a
poem, or a different genre than a narrative. For students who get done early for the alien portrait, I would have them create a
portrait of what they think their mom and dad looked like. This task would get students thinking about genetics. For the DNA
model, I would have students write down what they think is similar or different about the DNA that they see at their table
groups. For the writing piece, I would have students critique their writing based on the rubric given to them to ensure that they
were doing the best work possible.
TEACHER REFLECTION: How will you know that this lesson is successful and meaningful? List indicators.
Student engagement
Student led discussions with great questions
Quality work to represent their understanding
Overall understanding of the concept of being unique
References
Silverstein, L. B. & Layne, S. (n.d.). Defining arts integration. Retrieved from
http://www.americansforthearts.org/networks/arts_education/publications/special_publications/Defining%20Arts
%20Integration.pdf