VIRTUAL LIBRARY OF INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS

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VIRTUAL LIBRARY OF CONCEPTUAL UNITS

Welcome to the Virtual Library of Conceptual Units. The Virtual Libray includes conceptual teaching units for middle and high school English/Language Arts classes. These units have been designed by preservice and practicing teachers at The University of Georgia. The units follow principles of curriculum and instruction developed by George Hillocks, Jr., (see, e.g., Dynamics of English Instruction, Grades 7-12, by Hillocks, McCabe, and McCampbell; Random House, 1971). The process for designing these units is described in Peter Smagorinsky's Teaching English through Principled Practice (Merrill/Prentice-Hall, 2002) and Teaching English by Design: How to Create and Carry Out Instructional Units(Heinemann, 2008; an online Instructor's Guide is available for this book as well).The units are designed to cover 4-6 weeks (assuming daily class periods of 45-55 minutes). Each is organized around a concept such as a theme (e.g., Coming of Age), genre (e.g., satire), strategy (e.g., understanding irony), literary period (e.g., Victorian Age), movement (e.g., Transcendantalism), region (e.g., Authors of Georgia), or author (e.g., the works of Emily Dickinson).

The units in this library contain the following elements:

A rationale that provides a justification for teaching the unit to appropriate classes of students.
A set of goals that provide direction and purpose for the unit. These goals serve as the major assessments for the unit and are accompanied by a rubric that guides assessment.
A list of materials that serve as the primary texts for considering the unit theme or focus.
Daily lessons and activities that enable students to work successfully toward rewarding performances on the unit assessments.

In designing the units, the teachers are urged to prepare them as though they suddenly might take an extended leave from their teaching and leave instruction in the hands of a substitute. The units therefore need to be written in sufficient detail that someone else could come in and teach them.

The Virtual Library of Conceptual Units appears next. Each unit is available for downloading. To download, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. You are welcome to borrow from these units; we only ask that you respect each unit's authors and credit their work if you borrow it for your own teaching or unit design. Units listed in red have been identified as good models to follow. Most units are of high quality; those marked in red have been singled out because they model all aspects of unit design unusually well. All units in the Virtual Library, whether marked in red or not, are worth consideration for teaching.

UNIT OUTLINES

This link provides dozens of unit outlines, each providing a unit topic (e.g., The Family, Frontier Literature) and accompanying lists of literature, songs, films, and other appropriate texts. Each topic listing also suggests key concepts and problems to guide the instruction.

If you would like to recommend additional titles for this list, please send the title, author, and appropriate unit to smago@uga.edu. I'm also happy to receive whole new unit outlines, for which I'll list you as the contributor. Thanks!

SEVENTH GRADE

EIGHTH GRADE

NINTH GRADE

TENTH GRADE

ELEVENTH GRADE

TWELFTH GRADE

The following units have been created by students at Florida State University under the guidance of Dr. Shelbie Witte, using the same principles as those created at UGA

2009

Search for Identity: Hamlet by Samar Al Slaiby and Brandi Doutherd

Friendship: Understanding and Cultivating It “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” by Amy Bradick

A Multi-Genre Look At The Social Change Of The 1960’s and 1970’s, Grade 12 by Samantha Buchweitz

Building Up and Breaking Down the Utopia in Dystopian Post Apocalyptic Texts by Thomas DeCeglie

A Generation Lost? Exploring the 1920’s through the Eyes of The Lost Generation by Marah Dolan

“Don’t Do Drugs” 9th grade by Katie D'Sousa

United We Stand: Celebrating Diversity in America by Jessica Egan

The Road Map to My Identity by Seth Federman

Symbols: Life without Words: Cultural Awareness and Self-Identity through the Evolution of Tattoos by Giannina Ferraro

Analyzing Adolescent Pressures & Choices through Young Adult Literature by Anna Harman

Adolescent Struggle With Authority While Searching For Identity By Carlin Huenke

Bullying: Students Actions and Potential Consequences by Taneshia Jones

Revolution—A Judgment of Justice by Victoria D. McDonald

Who's Cuckoo? A look into the stigma of mental illness in society by Lauren Niemeyer

The Battle of You: Struggling against Social and Family Expectations and creating an Identity, as seen through Text and Street Art by Mark Robbins-Penniman

Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a tooth by Aubrey Sallenbach

“Vociferous Voices from our Pitiless Past” A Unit on Protest Literature for 10th grade by Elizabeth Schaick

To Kill a Mockingbird by Jessica Trehy

2010 Spring

A Hero Lies in You by Kaitlyn Akos

“Peeling Away the Layers” A Unit on Social Boundaries For 9th grade by Katherine Barr

Memoirs of Migration: A Thematic Unit in American Literature by Daniel Beugnet

Can You Handle the Pressure? Peer Pressure & Today’s Youth by Kelly Campbell

A Child’s World by Kelly Cassidy

“Who am I, and why does it matter? A unit on life, death, and the meaning of it all. 12th grade honors. by Jenny Davis

Inner Beauty and Self-Image, Grade 9 by Christen Ellrich

Cool Runnings: “Peace be the Journey” by Katherine Freniere

Empowering Voices by Mallory Knabb

You Went through What? Struggles Students are Forced to Overcome by Erin Litvak

Through the Fire: Adversity by Annie Lockman

Going Against the Grain: "This is who I am. Nobody said you had to like it." by Nicole Lopez

The Faces of Evil – A Look into Adolescent Violence by Yahshae Mainer

“Breaking Up is Hard to Do”: A Conceptual Unit on Dealing with Loss for 10th grade by Anna Martinez

Act and React by Emily Oppel

Be the one Change You Wish to See, 9th Grade by Alison Pfeifer

For Better or Worse: Making the Most Out of Our Relationships by Michelle Quintero

2010 Fall
Prose, Politics, Persuasion, and Propaganda: A Look at Society Through Literature by Jacob E. Asbell
Identity: Who Am I? by Katie Baker
Irish Literature and Culture by Samuel Berkowitz
Bridging Shakespeare with the Big Lebowski: A Unit Based on Two Gentlemen of Lebowski by Adam Bertocci
I always feel like, somebody’s watching me…Teaching 1984 and the power of government by Sarah Brown
Planning for the Future by Haley Byfield
What is Love; Baby, Don’t Hurt Me by Tabitha Campbell
Find Out What You Believe in, and Stand Up For It! by Chloe Kendall
Exploring Urban Adolescent Community Issues by Allison Kibbey
What Makes a Hero: Exploring Traits of a Hero & the Plot of Their Story: A Unit on Story Elements and Characterization by Colae Logueby
Stepford Wives and Macho Men: An Exploration of Contemporary Gender Representations by Kimberly Mayer
The Effects of Love: Thinking with your heart vs. Thinking with your head by Kathleen McPadden
Miscommunication: Then and Now: A Pride and Prejudice Inspired Unit by Hayley Miller
Walk a Mile in my Shoes by Laramie Ohms
Perception is Everything: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Miriam Phillips
Traveling in the World's Footsteps by Katie Rybakova

2011 Fall

Modernizing the Epic: Making the classics applicable to students and their lives by Stephanie Barker
Stereotypes, Labels, and Identity by Elizabeth Blackburn
Love and Death Within Gothic Short Stories and Poetry by Cameron Cinkus
Fairies and Folk: A Unit Exploring Fairytales and Folklore From the Modern Perspective by Christina DiBella
Fear, and Conquering Fear: Using writing to channel emotions productively by Daniel Do
Our “Civilized” Society: A 4-Week Unit Plan Designed for the Study of The Scarlet Letter by Misty Lynn Foster
Writing the American Dream by Tamara Francis
The Power of Choice: How do our decisions affect our lives and the lives of others? by Erin Grysko
Dealing with life: Understanding inner conflict by Rebekah Hurd
Their Eyes were watching Harlem by Kaitlin Donahue
“Life Inside The Music Box”: Understanding Various Mental Abnormalities by Charise Kollar
Frenemies: Relationships in Othello by Gia Maxwell
Defining Happily Ever After: Traditional, Realistic, and Personal by Sarah Mazza
If we won’t, who will? A unit about social responsibility by Juan Cruz Mendizabal
Setting Goals and Making Choices Based on Definitions of Personal Success by Iris Moore
Macbeth Unit by Sean Noga
Embracing Differences in America by Lenet Rivas
Bullying: Awareness, Prevention, and the Media by Sidney Rutledge
Journey through Time with Literature: Past. Present. Future. by Nikki Smith
Why Blend In: Accepting Individual Differences within Self and Others by Stacy Ward
Dare to be Different by Ashley Wiseman

The following units have been created by students at Clemson University under the guidance of Dr. Bea Bailey, using the same principles as those created at UGA. Unfortunately, we cannot credit the authors of the units because doing so would violate an agreement stipulated by Clemson's Institutional Review Board.

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: The Difficulties of Friendship and Love: During the Renaissance and Today
Elie Wiesel's Night: Out of the Darkness: A Study of Literature from the Darkest Moments in Human History and Mankind's Effort to Emerge into the Light
Walking Across Egypt By Clyde Edgerton: Exploring the Social Limitations of Age and Youth
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: Modernizing the Renaissance: Feuds, Love, and Sorrow in Romeo and Juliet and the 2011 Classroom

The following units have been provided by professors from universities that use Teaching English by Design.

Monsters under Our Beds by John Kelly, University of Cincinnati
Creating False Identities: Breaking Down the Myths of Childhood by Amy Lou Brouner, Elizabeth Madani, & Nishi Patel, Georgia State University
From Sandy to Sudan: Childhood in Crisis: A Unit on Global Literature and Engagement by Lindsay J. Wrinn , Fairfield University
‘The Individual and the Cultural Environment’ Conceptual Unit Featuring The Awakening by Jenna Kober

The following units have been created by students at Oklahoma State University under the guidance of Dr. Shelbie Witte, using the same principles as those created at UGA

Literary Perspectives of Growing Up: Coming of Age Tales by Michael Potts (OSU 2016)
The Hero Inside, an Examination of the Epic Hero by David Anthony Gibbons (OSU 2016)
There Are Two Worlds: The Division of Identity by Emily Stephens (OSU 2016)
The Risks and Rewards of Science by Heather Ross (OSU 2016)
The Color of Identity in African American Literature by Hannah Hunter (OSU 2016)
What Do Values Have To Do With It? by Mickala Gorrell (OSU 2016)
Identifying "The Other" in Literature and Society by Kathryn McKinney (OSU 2016)
Follow the Leader by Mackenzie Stephan (OSU 2016)
I am Not a Robot: Stigmas and Stereotypes Regarding Mental Illness in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar by Samantha Wood (OSU 2016)
Walking in Someone Else's Shoes by Alexandria Akins (OSU 2016)
Man vs. Wild: Morality in the Wilderness by Lauren Nelson (OSU 2016)
The Road Paved By Choice by Chloe Andrews (OSU 2016)
Symbolism and Implicating Literacy Devices by Ben Titus (OSU 2016)
Wilderness Adventure by Kaley Semrad (OSU 2016)
"Nothing Gold Can Stay": Dealing With Trauma and Innocence Lost by Johannah (Hannah) Koehnen Eley (OSU 2016)