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.
- Creating a Unit PlanEight steps to help you develop a creative, cohesive unit plan.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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!
- ERIC: Education Resources Information Center This link opens in a new window
Contains journal articles, conference proceedings, government documents, theses, dissertations, books, in the area of education. Maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. - PsycArticles This link opens in a new window
Provides access to full-text journal articles in subject areas such as applied psychology, health, theory, research, social/personality, and more. - Summon This link opens in a new window
A research tool that searches all DelVal databases simultaneously. Contains books, ebooks, dvds, online videos, journals, magazines, newspapers, conference proceedings, and more.
Getting Help
Meet with a Librarian
The Writing Center
The Writing Center is staffed by DelVal undergraduate peer tutors who help with writing assignments in all your courses. We view writing as a process that involves planning, reading, drafting, revising, and editing—writing with substance involves discovering your meaning through brainstorming, sharing, and getting lots of feedback.
Tutors help you gain a fresh perspective on the writing process, and can assist with any stage of the process: choosing a topic or working through writer's block, generating ideas, creating an outline, sharpening a thesis, arranging and organizing paragraphs, citing correctly and fluently, editing grammar and mechanics, and more.
Instructors receive a copy of the tutor report completed during the session, to illustrate your engagement with the writing process and meeting the demands of writing across disciplines.
Services are on a walk-in basis, so no appointment is necessary. Schedules are posted in the Writing Center, on Inside DelVal, and on professors' Blackboard course pages.
Tutors look forward to working with you!
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The Writing CenterWe offer in-person writing tutoring AND remote writing tutoring through Zoom. To receive in-person tutoring, simply stop by Miller Hall, room 103 during our open hours. You will be seen on a first-come, first-serve basis.