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PLANNING GUIDE FOR INQUIRY-BASED UNIT OF FOCUS
Name(s) _____________________________________________________________
Unit of Focus ________________________________ Grade Level _______________
Time Frame ________________________________ Start Date _________________
Final Product/Project ____________________________________________________
This planning guide is designed to help teachers prepare for a unit of focus. It is organized in a way to help them collect all the resources they will need before the unit of focus begins.
CORE CONCEPTS, SUPPORTING CONCEPTS AND STANDARDS
Core Concept: ___________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Supporting Concepts: What supporting concepts/big ideas will students learn? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Content Standards: What content standards address your supporting concepts?
Supporting Concept # 1_____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Content Standards _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Supporting Concept # 2_____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Content Standards _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Supporting Concept # 3_____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Content Standards _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Supporting Concept # 4 _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Content Standards _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Supporting Concept # 5 _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Content Standards _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Other Standards: What other standards (English/Language Arts, Technology) will be addressed? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT TO SUPPORT LEARNING
What resources will you make available to students to conduct their research? (be sure you have a wealth of resources available to students in all of the following categories; also be sure to include appropriate citations so you can find these resources later)
o Technology Related Resources (web sites, CD's, online encyclopedias, videos) ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
o Print Related Resources (books, magazines, pamphlets, encyclopedias) ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
o People Related Resources (experts, librarians, parents, older students) ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
o Place Resources (field trips, museums, laboratories, gardens, community) ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
o Observation (touch, smell, see, hear, taste)
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
o Artifacts (models, realia, diagrams)
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
o Other
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Environment: What needs to be done to your classroom environment to spark student's interest?
Space:__________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Display:_________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Materials:________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
What initial learning experiences (activities) will you provide before the unit of study begins to develop common background knowledge and spark curiosity?
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
What content specific experiences will you provide (through direct instruction) to ensure that all students acquire the core and supporting concepts?
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
What essential skills, requiring direct instruction, will you provide to ensure that all students successfully engage in the inquiry process?
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
SENSEMAKING
How will you assess that students truly understand the information they are going to use? Meaning Constructing Assessments: (concept map, T chart, venn diagram, flow chart) Have students, individually or in cooperative groups, use some type of graphic representation to show what they know. Have students explain their graphic representation to the class with the intent that questions asked by the class will help clarify what is known and what needs further research for those presenting. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
REFLECTING AND REFINING
Do students have enough information to answer their question(s)? Conference with students to ensure they have enough information to create new knowledge. Having students create a concept map of what they know often reveals gaps in information that needs to be addressed to fully answer the research question(s). If students do not have enough information then they need to go back and get more. If students have too much information they must decide what is relevant to answering the research question.
USING INFORMATION
How will students communicate what they have learned as a result of their research? Possible ways that students can communicate information include multimedia presentation, diorama, written report, play, oral report, model, poster, pamphlet, etc.)
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Guidelines for Success
What criteria will students use to assess how well they have communicated their findings. Have students use a rubric to assess progress during the creation process. This may be teacher generated but is best if students and teacher generate together. Presenting the finished product - When and how will students present what they have learned? In other words, who will be their audience? This should be known by students well in advance of planning how they will communicate their findings. Who the audience is has a great deal to do with how you choose to present findings. Note: Ongoing assessment should occur during the entire process. Students should be asked to reflect on the process used, and the results they have achieved two to three times a week. This provides feedback to both the student and teacher about what worked well and what needs more instruction.
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This page was last updated March 5, 2002 This teacher resource was created to support the AT&T/UCLA Initiative for 21st Century Literacies. This Planning Guide was created by Sharon Sutton Links for this page are maintained by Mary Schrader Lasica, AT&T. |