Unit Plan Overview

Unit: The Diary of Anne Frank

Stage 1- Desired Results
Connections to Context:

NorthPointe Christian Middle School is a

small private school whose students are
mainly from the white, middle to upper
class. When reading about Anne Frank it
will be hard for them to truly relate to
going through such hardships since they
most likely have nothing similar to
compare it to.
When Anne Frank is in hiding and is
writing in her diary she is 13 and 14, the
ages of the 8th grade students that are
reading this. Anne is concerned about
typical things such as beauty, love and
relationships, and celebrities. These are
things that students can relate to in their
own lives.
There are about 12 students in the class.
Five girls and seven boys. The girls may
be able to connect better to Anne since
she is a girl herself.
(How does this fit with students
experiences, the school goals, and the
larger societal issues?)

Transfer
Students will be able to independently use their learning to
Connect events in the book to events they may have learned in history.
Realize that although the diary is a work of literature it is also a piece of history and allows us to
see a side of WWII that we may not have been able to otherwise.

(What kinds of long-term independent accomplishments are desired?)

Meaning
UNDERSTANDINGS
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Students will understand that
Students will keep considering
Although their circumstances and those of
How can we all live in harmony as the human
Anne Frank are much different, they can still
race?
find connections between her story and their
What is the meaning of tolerance?
lives.
What were Christians roles in the hiding or
How certain historical events prompted the
exposing of Jews? What should Christians have
characters to make certain decisions or act in
been doing?
a certain way.
How are Anne and I similar and how are we
The conventions of a play and drama.
different?

Why did Anne write this diary?

What are rights that all human beings should
have?

Established Goals

Mission Goals:
Students are challenged to explore their
Christian faith and to apply it to their
lessons and life outside of class. The
diary of Anne Frank can challenge
students view of the world and of faith
in general.
The course as a whole is designed to
impress upon students the importance of
excellent standard English language
skills in his/her life, as well as to gain an
appreciation for the beauties and

(What specifically do you want students to

understand?
What inferences should they make?)

(What thought-provoking questions will foster inquiry,

meaning- making and transfer?)

Acquisition of Knowledge, Skill and Values/Commitments/Dispositions

Students will know
Students will be skilled at
Students will exhibit
The dates of the beginning
Deciphering the tone the
Respect for the serious topic
and end of World War II
author is using and the mood
of the Holocaust.
of the writing.
The reasons for the start of
Use their own faith and
Determining the authors
World War II
beliefs to wrestle with the

Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

intricacies of the language that God has

given us, and to use language for His
purpose.
Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.3
Analyze how particular lines of dialogue
or incidents in a story or drama propel
the action, reveal aspects of a character,
or provoke a decision.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a
text and analyze its development over
the course of the text, including its
relationship to the characters, setting,
and plot; provide an objective summary
of the text.

What the Holocaust was.

Vocabulary words used within
the text
The term and conventions of
a Flashback and how it is
used

(What facts and basic concepts

should students know and be
able to recall?)

viewpoint and mood.

Making connections between
the written words of the play
and the actual setting in
which the events take place.
Making distinctions between
the play and the actual
events that took place.

(What discrete skills and processes

should students be able to use?)

human rights issues within

the book.
A knowledge of the use of
tone and theme throughout
the piece of writing in order
to make use of them in their
own journal writing.

(What values and commitments and

attitudes should students acquire or
wrestle with?)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.4
Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative, and
technical meanings; analyze the impact
of specific word choices on meaning and
tone, including analogies or allusions to
other texts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.3
Analyze how a text makes connections
among and distinctions between
individuals, ideas, or events (e.g.,
through comparisons, analogies, or
categories).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.6
Determine an author's point of view or
purpose in a text and analyze how the
author acknowledges and responds to
conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.7
Analyze the extent to which a filmed or
live production of a story or drama stays
faithful to or departs from the text or
script, evaluating the choices made by
the director or actors.
Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

CCSS.ELALITERACY.RST.68.9
Compareandcontrasttheinformationgainedfrom
experiments,simulations,video,ormultimediasources
withthatgainedfromreadingatextonthesametopic.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.CCRA.R.7
Integrateandevaluatecontentpresentedindiversemedia
andformats,includingvisuallyandquantitatively,aswell
asinwords.

(What content standards and programor mission-related goal(s) will the unit
address?
What habits of mind and crossdisciplinary goal(s)- for example 21st
century skills, core competencies- will
this unit address?
Include source and identifying number)

Evaluative Criteria
Students journals will be assessed
by a number of criteria
1) It will have correct grammar
and spelling
2) Creative binding
3) Some sort of picture on each
page relevant to what their
journal entry is about
4) Use of at least 10 vocab
words throughout the journal
5) Cohesive structure for each
paragraph
6) Cohesive structure for the
journal as a whole.
7) Minimum of one paragraph
per entry
8) Answers the question or
follows the prompt that is
given for that journal.

Stage 2- Evidence
Students will show their learning by
PERFORMANCE TASKS

Answering questions by raising their hands or from being called on.

Answering the questions in their packets.

Completing their Journal entries.

Choosing a character to read as during class, and reading their characters part in the correct tone.

The students will also answer

questions in their packet after
finishing reading each question.
1) Questions must answer the
question correctly if it is an
Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

objective question.
2) Questions must be answered
in complete sentences.
(What criteria will be used in each
assessment to evaluate attainment of
the desired results?)
(Regardless of the format of the
assessment, what qualities are most
important?)
It is important for students to understand
the significance and importance of the
Holocaust as well as connections that
they have with Anne Frank. They should
understand the themes, tones, and
conventions of the play and diary as well
as historical connections present within
the story.

OTHER EVIDENCE:
Contributing to class discussion.
Meeting with students after the completion of ten journal entries to see where they are at
Going over questions in their packets and answering any questions that I may ask about the
reading.
(What other evidence will you collect to determine whether Stage 1 goals were achieved?

Stage 3- Learning Plan

I have no formal pre-assessment for this unit. The pre-assessment will be addressed through classroom discussion. The first day will
be started with a class discussion asking students about what they may already know about world war II and the holocaust.
Perhaps they already know about these topics from social studies or history. In addition before we begin reading again for the day we will
go over any questions that students had unanswered from the reading questions as well as review questions about the reading
from the previous day.
(What pre-assessments will you use to check students prior knowledge, skill levels, and potential misconceptions?)

Learning Events
Student success at transfer, meaning, and acquisition depends
upon their participation in these learning events
Reading during class. Choosing a character to read as, as well as
following along in the text when they are not reading.
Answering the accompanying questions about the reading.
Writing their journal entries
Participating in group discussion as well as thinking about and
answering questions that come up.

Progress Monitoring

(How will you monitor students progress

toward acquisition, meaning, and transfer
during lesson events?)

During lesson events I will monitor students

progress by seeing who is following along with
the reading, who is participating in discussion,
who is asking and answering questions, who is
answering their homework questions
correctly, and who is making journal entries
that are correct in tone and content.

(How will students monitor their own

progress toward acquisition, meaning, and
transfer?)

Students can monitor their own progress

toward acquisition by seeing if they answered
Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum

questions right in their packet, as well as

being able to answer any questions that I may
ask during class reading or discussion.

(What are potential rough spots and student

misunderstandings?)

Potential rough spots may be in getting

students to carry on a discussion with their
peer. The students in this class are more used
to answering a question for the right answer
than for discussion purposes.

(Does the learning plan reflect principles of learning and best

practices?)
(Is there tight alignment with Stages 1 and 2?)

(How will students get the feedback they

need?)

Students will get the feed back they need

when I go over the reading questions with
them as well as when I check their journals
half way through the assignment to make
sure they are on the right track. I will
encourage students to come meet with me if
they have any questions or would like help on
an assignment. I will also plan on meeting
with particular students who may potentially
need a little extra assistance on assignments.

Based on Wiggins and McTighe (2011) The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units and Van Brummelen (2002) Steppingstones to
Curriculum