UNIT PLAN: HORROR AND VILLAINS
This unit is written for the Quebec education system. The competencies, essential knowledges and professional development goals are all government mandated. The learning objectives were developed for the purpose of this unit, and are not specific to government requirements.
First and foremost, I would like to say that this unit is NOT intended to be a Halloween unit. In fact, it would be better to do this unit at another time of year, so that it is not associated with Halloween. It is looking at different aspects of fear and horror and how it is used in the media. This shouldn’t be undertaken during the Halloween time of year, because students may develop the incorrect assumption that the media only does this sort of thing around Halloween. Furthermore, one of the goals of this unit is to look at fear and horror beyond witches, vampires and pumpkins.
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS AS A HALLOWEEN UNIT!!
Second, I would like to preface this unit with the indication that it is not a teaching unit. The goal of this unit is to involve students in active learning. This means there is less traditional teaching and more of students actually doing. They will discover and learn in the process.
This unit plan consists of 10 lessons, each between 1 and 3 hours. Lesson 05 contains two distinct but associated lessons plans.
The unit plan will take place over the span of several weeks. The lessons are centered around active learning, so the duration of the lessons may need to be modified depending on students’ enthusiasm. This unit plan has yet to be tested in a classroom, so all of the time estimates are tentative.
The unit plan is a language arts unit that also uses computer time. Other subjects are not part of this unit. Math will continue to be taught separately and not follow the theme of the unit.
The intention is for the ten lessons to take place over the course of a month. Each lesson is intended to take place on one day, not span several days. The lessons will occur every second day, taking into consideration that half of the students’ days will be in French class. The longer lessons will not take place on Fridays, as there would not be enough time for other subjects such as math if this were the case. The class will make use of their slotted computer time as well as optional open lab time in order to complete this project.
For the purpose of this project, I am required to create a fictional classroom: the intended audience of this unit plan.
- My classroom will be in an early immersion upper/middle class school in the suburbs of Montreal.
- This school follows a 5 day schedule. English and French days alternate, and the day is shared on Friday.
- The class is a sixth grade class consisting of 28 students. The division of sex is roughly even.
- Any students with exceptionalities in the classroom have individual IEPS. None of the students in this class have disruptive or pervasive exceptionalities. As such, they will be expected to complete the lessons as they are presented in the lesson plans. Specific exceptionalities will be taken into account along with the teacher’s knowledge of the student’s capacities, and assessment may be modified to suit the individual students’ needs.
- The school has a computer lab with enough computers for each student. There are scanners, printers (both colour and black&white), and microphones. The computers have photo and video editing software installed. This would be the default software, either Windows Movie Maker or iMovie. I am a PC user. Since this is imaginary and I can create a perfect world, the PC’s in the computer lab will be running iMovie.
- The school also has several digital video cameras that students can used in supervised settings.
I feel that this unit plan can be adapted to suit the needs of any classroom in any school.
Some of the lessons requiring more access to technology can be omitted or adjusted for schools in lower socioeconomic positions than my invented classroom.
The lessons can also be adapted for the successful inclusion of students with special needs. For example, Lesson 01 can undergo the following adaptations:
| Notes on Specific Students
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Adaptations for a Hearing Impaired StudentThe student will be seated at the front of the class or in a position to facilitated view of the teacher. If space permits, the classroom may be arranged in a semi circle. The seating will ensure an unobstructed view of the teacher and the class, providing the best chance of hearing and seeing what is said.
During discussion time, the student will be able to turn in his/her seat (swivel chair, if possible), stand or move around, to have the best chance of seeing whoever is speaking. Additionally, the teacher will write more detailed summaries of what is said during discussion on the board so the hearing impaired student can read what is going on. The teacher will identify students by name when they are speaking so the hearing impaired student can follow along. The teacher will provide the written text of the story for any student who desires to read along. The teacher will assure that the student can hear the expectations for the assignment by explaining in short and concise statements. This will also be written on the board. The teacher will be aware that the hearing impaired student may need more explanation of words and may write with a smaller vocabulary due to possible language deficits.
Adaptations for an Intellectually Challenged Student The student will be included in the discussion period, and their perspectives acknowledged. The teacher will ensure the intellectually challenged student has a turn in the discussion, and that their comments are not disregarded. The assignment questions will be modified for this student: What happened in this story? How does this story make you feel? (Tone); Who is in this story? Draw a picture of this person (character). What did you think and feel when you saw the pictures? The teacher will explain the guidelines to the student individually and insure he/she understands what to do. The teacher will also help the student understand why it is important to recognize his/her feelings towards media and the importance of being able to listen to a story and pull out information (such as the names of the characters)—in the job market, they will need to control their emotions and be able to pull out important information from instructions in the workplace. The teacher will support the student through the activity while the others are working individually.
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