Where to Start?
What is a Unit Plan?
We begin with national and Pennsylvania standards of content areas, breaking them down to behavioral terms.
These are then transfered into a unit and daily instructional objectives.
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Creating a Unit PlanEight steps to help you develop a creative, cohesive unit plan.
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Elements for a Unit PlanBroken down into 3 main categories (organization, lesson plan, and assessment) to help identify needed elements.
Quality > Quantity
Other higher education institutions and professional organizations can be great places to begin your research for resources.
However, when resources have not been vetted for you, look for these characteristics:
Relevance to Your Topic
assess timeliness and subject coverage
- Does the resource apply to the issue you are discussing?
- Can its conclusions be applied to your subject?
Validity of the Research
determine the quality of the research
- Are all sources cited?
- Does the author's evidence support the claim?
- Is the evidence objective research instead of personal narrative?
- Does it come from a peer-reviewed publication (which means the research was evaluated by experts before it was published)?
Author
evaluate credentials, education, experience, etc.
- Is the author formally educated in the subject?
- Does the author work for a university or research center?
Writing Objectives
Pennsylvania Standards
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Pennsylvania Academic StandardsSource: PA Department of Education
Covers pre-K through 12. Includes PA Core. -
PA Core Standards ImplementationSource: PA Department of Education
Academic expectations in English Language Arts and Mathematics by grade level. Resources for teachers, students, and parents.
National Standards
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Common Core State Standards InitiativeSource: CCSSO and NGA Center
Standards voluntarily adopted in 42 states. -
National Education Standards: Getting Beneath the SurfaceSource: Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Report on history and development of national standards. -
MCREL Directory of National Subject Benchmark StandardsSource: Mid-Continent Regional Education Laboratory
Directory of benchmark standards for a variety of subjects.
Identifying Resources
Statistics
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Kids Count Data CenterSource: Casey Foundation
State-level data from the Kids Count Data Book. Generates custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-stat -
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)Source: NCES
Federal data related to education in the U.S. -
National Institute for Early Education ResearchSource: NIEER
News, data, research reports, policy briefs, etc. on early childhood education for all young children -
What Works ClearninghouseSource: Institute of Education Sciences
Central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education.
Find Articles Here!
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EBSCO eBook Education Collection
Large collection of recently published education books -
Education Source
Full-text access to more than 2,000 education journals. Content spans all levels of education. -
ERIC: Education Resources Information Center
Contains journal articles, conference proceedings, government documents, theses, dissertations, books, in the area of education. Maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. -
PsycArticles
Provides access to full-text journal articles in subject areas such as applied psychology, health, theory, research, social/personality, and more.