Teaching English by Design: How to Create and Carry Out Instructional Units

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Teaching English by Design: How to Create and Carry Out Instructional Units

Peter Smagorinsky

3.97 · Rating details · 410 ratings · 35 reviews

The Teaching English by Design Instructor's Guide presents a flexible framework for an English Methods course. Its week-by-week suggestions for in- and out-of-class activities support students as they learn to design units for use in their first classrooms.

Peter Smagorinsky, the leading scholar and researcher of his generation in the field of English education, shows Engli The Teaching English by Design Instructor's Guide presents a flexible framework for an English Methods course. Its week-by-week suggestions for in- and out-of-class activities support students as they learn to design units for use in their first classrooms.

Peter Smagorinsky, the leading scholar and researcher of his generation in the field of English education, shows English teachers how to turn every hour of classroom instruction into an authentic and powerful learning experience in his inspiring new book, Teaching English by Design. It's a wonderful book and represents a challenge to all of us to teach better than we usually do.
Sheridan Blau
Author of The Literature Workshop

Peter Smagorinsky, a highly respected figure in English Education, here offers new teachers principled and practical ways of authoring curriculum, even in traditional settings.
Randy Bomer
Author of Time for Meaning

Many books on English/language arts instruction describe the teaching of units, but how many of them actually show how to create the units, make them meaningful to students, and use them to support your curriculum from September to June? Teaching English by Design does it all. It helps avoid a fragmentary curriculum by providing the rationale and the process for not only teaching well but also for producing integrated units that encourage students to deepen their thinking across the school year.

Teaching English by Design is two books in one: a primer for teaching secondary English and a comprehensive guide to creating and using four to six-week instructional units. Peter Smagorinsky shares important insight about students, how they learn, and what kinds of classrooms support their achievement in reading and writing. Then he uses those findings to open up the key ideas of unit design to every teacher. Smagorinsky's units are organized around key concepts in English, such as: reading strategies writing strategies genres periods, regions, and movements in literature themes the works of a significant author. From original idea to construction, to implementation and beyond, Smagorinsky's practical advice supports teachers in extending, connecting, and integrating their units to increase the cohesion and power of the curriculum.

Incorporating curricular theory, educational psychology, and fourteen years of high school teaching experience, Peter Smagorinsky's advice is both theoretically sound and grounded in the daily realities of today's teacher. Complemented by a wealth of web-based illustrations, Teaching English by Design is the ideal resource for preservice teachers as well as those in the classroom who want to take charge of their curriculum and find new energy in it. ...more

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Paperback, 244 pages

Published October 1st 2007 by Heinemann Educational Books

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Aug 19, 2020 Carla Sofia Sofia rated it really liked it

Helpful for backwards design (designing final assessments and building up towards them with formative assessments.) It's a solid book with plenty of helpful advice and examples on how to create a well-organized unit plan.

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Dec 04, 2016 Jim rated it it was amazing

Smagorinsky’s book is the “ne plus ultra” of methods texts for preservice English Language Arts teachers. He advocates a constructivist approach to teaching language arts, and he deftly employs numerous illustrative examples to support and illustrate his ideas. Most importantly, this text is well written and accessible to teacher candidates. Smagorinsky uses pedagogical discourse fluently, and his conversational—yet always professional—tone helps readers to understand his ideas clearly. A staunc ...more

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Dec 07, 2013 Rachel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: for-school

Smagorinsky preaches a "constructivist" approach to teaching, which fits nicely in with the current "Charlotte Danielsen" philosophy on trend. He offers a website with additional ideas which I am sure I will eventually have reason to reference.

I do have a problem with an author of a book for teaching English who regularly ignores formal grammar rules and concludes his sentences with participles. Then again, this book was for a class wherein the PhD Professor of Literacy routinely uses the non-w ...more

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Jul 22, 2020 Lauren Stephens rated it it was amazing

Such a fantastic explanation of developing solid instructional units. I wish I had read this in my undergrad!

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Jul 19, 2015 Jess rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: education

Smagorinksy gave me a better vocabulary for explaining my stance on education and my teaching philosophy. (Constructivist teaching vs. authoritative teaching). What I was really excited about was seeing Smagorinsky's unit plan. I wanted to know how he conducted lessons and put his ideas into practice. While I got a lot out of his book, the unit plan wasn't detailed enough for me. It's funny because he actually says his day to day planning may be too detailed for some. At one point, he says the c Smagorinksy gave me a better vocabulary for explaining my stance on education and my teaching philosophy. (Constructivist teaching vs. authoritative teaching). What I was really excited about was seeing Smagorinsky's unit plan. I wanted to know how he conducted lessons and put his ideas into practice. While I got a lot out of his book, the unit plan wasn't detailed enough for me. It's funny because he actually says his day to day planning may be too detailed for some. At one point, he says the class read Black Boy. I wondered, is there a schedule? Is there assigned reading every night? There's hardly any homework listed. He mentioned a reading log, but I didn't see that in any of the lessons. I did read this book over the course of a few months, so it's possible I forgot some of this in the previous chapter. I just felt the lessons were overviews and could be more specific.

I can understand he wants us to take his principles and put our own spin on them. While I feel I identify more with the constructivist approach, I still don't think it has to be so black and white. There are opportunities in which direct instruction is necessary. Similarly, I still think giving context and lessons directly linked to the major text in a unit is a good idea. As much as I want students to be doing the thinking, I worry about dedicating a whole week to student led discussions. I say this only because it doesn't look like he dedicated time to contextualizing Black Boy. I wonder how productive those discussions will be toward the unit goals if students are 100% in charge. I like the idea, and I want to use it. But I think I would feel the need to include student discussions with teacher-led activities.

One other thing about the book, it got really repetitive. Sometimes I would ask myself, "Did I read this section already?" Some of the same projects were discussed at length several times.

Overall, I did really enjoy the book. I highlighted the crap out of it! I found so many great quips and words of wisdom. I had a few questions along the way, but I don't think any one book is "the solution." I think good teaching is about honoring your own view and vision, while taking the time to research and read about other perspectives. It really helps to see how others approach teaching. Sometimes, I can get overwhelmed by the different approaches and ways of working. There are so many good things to be doing in the classroom! Smagorinsky's text is a really great refresher or guide for any teacher no matter how much experience they have. Even if you don't agree 100% with everything in the book, it will definitely get you thinking.

My biggest lesson here is that everything in the unit needs to lead to the final project. It seems obvious, but the activities and assignments need to be scaffolding that assessment. Thank you, Smagorinsky! ...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Jason rated it really liked it

Teaching English by Design is a good book about designing units from back to front with the end results, i.e. the instructional goals for the students in mind. In this book, Smagorinsky advocates taking this type of planning even farther, extending it through the semesters and the whole school year, advocating the use of overarcing themes and concepts that will guide the curriculum. He strongly advocates a constructivist learning approach, one in which learning is social and collaborative. The l ...more

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Apr 12, 2014 Priscilla Riggle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: teaching

My background is in higher ed instruction, so like most of my English-teaching colleagues, I never had any formal training in literature pedagogy per se. Having been teaching lit for twenty years, I like to think I've learned some things in the saddle. One thing I did NOT know how to do, however, is design an actual lesson plan. When I started working with students planning to go into secondary-level English teaching, I thought I should get a better feel for how they might approach syllabus desi ...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Carlie Hamilton rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011, teaching

A really good book that had concrete examples of creating a curriculum. So this is great for people who like everything broken down for them. It did feel repetitious however I read the book cover to cover. The effect is you can read just a chapter and have all the information you may need.
I'll be reading this one again for sure.

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Aug 26, 2011 Johanna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: professional-development, favorites

This is by far the most important and awesome professional development book that I have read. It is easy to follow and pretty much answers all questions that I have had about teaching language arts. Smagorinsky has a voice, and in my head sounds like Yoda (but with proper diction and sentence structure). I know that I am going to wear out my copy as it will no doubt become an invaluable resource.

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Sep 18, 2011 Ronni rated it it was amazing

Shelves: textbooks, professional-development

We were talking about whether we should have been started on this book in English Ed instead of wrapping up with it. This is because we agree that it's the best book we've been assigned. My last standing point was that the foundations are what allowed us to recognize its brilliance. So while starting with it sounds nice now, I don't know if we would have appreciated it nearly as much.

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Mar 17, 2010 Michael Wolf rated it really liked it

This has fundamentally shifted my thinking about teaching through a more multidimensional lens. There is something laid back and yet tried and true about his approach. Currently reading this for the third time.

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Aug 28, 2012 Robert Hultman rated it really liked it

Shelves: teacher-books

The book is very good overall. The text is easy to read and is organized well. Some of the background and anecdotal material is a bit lomger than need be and some of the chapters are written for more novice unit-planners - but the ideas and the tools are solid.

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Aug 05, 2017 Rikki rated it really liked it

I think this will really help me plan my units...thanks

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Apr 10, 2020 Tjerria rated it really liked it

This book is always helpful. I still get ideas regarding thematic unit planning from this resource.

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Dec 02, 2013 Briana Wall rated it it was ok

I was really excited about this book after stumbling upon his students' units... unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.

The Good:
This text helped me clarified my idea of conceptual units, and through exploring his library of grad student units, I've honed my own skills at designing units.
He provides many practical suggestions for activities, projects, and unit planning.
He gives examples of prompts that could be used for a unit assessment or activity.
He lays out the process (import ...more

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Apr 22, 2018 Ashley rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book was a little less useful for me as a future teacher. While I appreciated Smagorinsky's dedication to teaching big ideas, and especially projects that are practical and hands-on, I thought overall he was too critical of the pedagogy at the time. Another detractor is that this book does show its age.

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Mar 16, 2010 GNOWP added it

Excellent resource for middle and high school English teachers. Peter Smagorinsky offers suggestions for creating flexible units for classroom use, as well as activities to engage students. This has become one of my favorite tools to use when making curriculum decisions.

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Feb 01, 2013 Kendall Yoder rated it really liked it

Shelves: teaching

I thought this book was really good. He has a lot of good approaches and ideas that seem to be backed by a lot of experience. He really goes step by step through creating a unit from the big idea on down to the daily lesson plans. Seems like a good thing to have your first couple years teaching.

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Oct 03, 2009 Elaine rated it really liked it

Shelves: teaching

If you choose to teach in conceptual units, this book is a necessity, but I am not sure how useful it would be in a typical curriculum setting. We shall see...

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Sep 23, 2011 Kaitlin Bevis rated it it was amazing

Very good resource. Smagorinsky walks you through his entire thought process and provides several ideas.

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Mar 13, 2012 Beth rated it it was amazing

It was very insightful and it had great examples.

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Apr 01, 2012 William Lawrence rated it did not like it

Shelves: education

I guess I got a bad version, but at least it's open ended.

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May 30, 2012 Tim Pollock rated it really liked it

Solid. Some sections were insanely good, but a few were some snooze-masters.

Overall, though, a really good read and helpful resource. I definitely stole some ideas.

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May 31, 2012 Tim rated it really liked it

Solid. Some sections were insanely good, but a few were some snooze-masters.

Overall, though, a really good read and helpful resource. I definitely stole some ideas.

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