Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: A Christmas Carol Name: Vicky Caseria

Content Area: English/Language Arts Grade Level: 7
th
Grade
CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):
C.S.S. Reading 3.2 Identify events that advance the plot and determine how each event explains past or present action(s) or
foreshadows future action(s).
C.S.S. Reading 3.3 Analyze characterization as delineated through a character's thoughts, words, speech, patterns, and
actions; the narrator's description; and the thoughts, words, actions, of other characters.
C.S.S. Reading 3.4 Identify and analyze recurring themes across works (e.g. the value of bravery, loyalty, and friendship; the
effects of lonliness)
C.S.S. Writing 1.0 Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays. The writing exhibits student's awareness of the
audience and purpose. Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions. Students progress
through the stages of the writing process as needed.
C.S.S. Writing 1.2 Support all statements and claims with anecdotes, descriptions, facts and statistics, and specific examples.

Big Ideas:

Six Main Themes in the novel
Theme 1: Each person in society has a responsibility to help the poor and uneducated.

Theme 2: The individual can do much to relieve human suffering.

Theme 3: Happiness comes mainly from caring about others and being cared for.

Theme 4: Having great wealth makes people selfish and uncaring.

Theme 5: Kindness and generosity usually triumph over selfishness.

Theme 6: A person can change through self-knowledge.


Unit Goals and Objectives:
- Students will be able to understand the major events in Charles Dickens' life and familiarize themselves with the main
characters in A Christmas Carol by completing a partially individual and partially collaborative Webercise activity.

- Students will be able to organize and compile evidence and ideas for their essay by filling out an outline before beginning
to write their essays.

- Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding and analyze Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation by completing a
five-paragraph essay where students include a thesis statement, and use evidence from the novel to explain Scrooge's
transformation.

- Students will be able to identify the 6 main themes in A Christmas Carol and how they are relevant to real-life by
completing a pre and post assessment where students will answer prompts about the 6 main themes.
Unit Summary:

In this unit, students will explore the life of Charles Dickens, and get to know the main characters in A Christmas Carol by completing a webercise activity where
they will find this information on various websites provided for them. Then, students will read the novel. After students finish reading the novel they will
prepare to write their character analysis essay on Ebenezer Scrooges transformation by completing an essay outline in class. This essay outline will aid them in
writing their final essay about Scrooges transformation. In addition to learning about the dynamic character of Scrooge, students will also be learning about the
six main themes that run throughout the novel and how they are relevant to real-life events and experiences. Lastly, students will be given a final test where
they will be tested on basic reading comprehension and analysis of the main themes.
Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level:
- Quickwrite (1/2 pg) on each of the six
themes in A Christmas Carol. Students will
talk about whether or not they agree with
this theme and explain their reasoning.
Formative:

- Webercise/Webquest - learn about
Dickens' life and main characters in ACC.
- Essay Outline - Main ideas regarding
Scrooge's transformation
- A Christmas Carol flashcards
- Graphic Organizer - Relating themes in
ACC to real-life events.


Summative:

- Final Essay analysis of Scrooges
Transformation
- Final Test checking basic comprehension
of text and analytical skills on basic
concepts/themes in the novel
Lesson 1
Student Learning Objective:

- Students will be
able to organize and
compile evidence and
ideas for their essay
by filling out an
outline before
beginning to write
their essays.

Acceptable Evidence:

Outline completed and
filled out with proper
information, evidence, and
quotes from the Prezi
presentation.
Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction
Lesson Activities:

Prezi Presentation: Students will listen and fill out their outlines
during the teachers Prezi presentation about Scrooges
transformation/characteristics. Students will participate in whole-
class discussions regarding what events show Scrooges traits, and
what events caused Scrooge to change. By the end of the
presentation, students should have the meat of their outline (the
body paragraphs) filled out with the information they need to include
to get an A on their paper.

Attention Grabber activity: Students will collaborate in groups of 4
to come up with silly, shocking, unexpected attention grabbers. Each
group will read one out loud to the class, and students will participate
in a whole-class discussion about the other groups attention
grabbers.

Closing Statement Activity: Like the attention grabber activity,
students will collaborate in groups of 4 to come up with silly,
shocking, unexpected conclusions. Each group will read one out loud
to the class, and students will participate in a whole-class discussion
about the other groups concluding statements.

Lesson 2
Student Learning Objective:

Students will be able to
understand the major
events in Charles Dickens
life and familiarize
themselves with the main
characters in A Christmas
Carol, by completing a
partially individual and
collaborative webercise
activity.
Acceptable Evidence:

Webercise worksheet /
venn diagram completed.
Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction
Lesson Activities:
Webercise: Students will search through various
websites individually to learn all about Charles Dickens'
early life, the main characters in the novel, and other
random facts pertaining to Dickens. They will fill out the
webercise worksheet as they explore these sites. This
portion of the webercise must be completed at home as an
individual activity

Venn Diagram: The last activity students must complete
is a venn diagram where they will compare two different
characters from A Christmas Carol using the information
about these characters that is provided on the website
listed. The venn diagram will be a collaborative in-class
activity.
Lesson 3
Student Learning Objective:

- Students will be able
to identify the 6 main
themes in A Christmas
Carol and how they are
relevant to real-life by
completing an entry-
level and formative
assessment where
students will answer
prompts about the 6
main themes.
Acceptable Evidence:

Filled out graphic organizer
with quotes from novel and
articles to support each
theme. Quotes must be
properly cited with either
page numbers or the title of
the article quoted from.
Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction
Lesson Activities:

First, students will work in groups of four to find six
quotes from ACC that support the six themes.
Then, students will work individually on the classroom
iPads to visit and read the articles provided on teachers
website and find quotes from these articles that fit and
support our six themes.
Lastly, we will have a full class discussion about the
quotes students have found for the six themes and talk
about them further. Students will be called on to share the
quotes they picked and how they support a theme from the
novel. Teacher will guide discussion appropriately.
Unit Resources:
FLASHCARDS: http://quizlet.com/42770157/a-christmas-carol-flash-cards/
ESSAY RUBRIC: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2439507&
PREZI PRESENTATION FOR ESSAY OUTLINE: http://prezi.com/xu7eqeeezwqq/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

WEBERCISE WEBSITES:
http://www.biography.com/people/charles-dickens-9274087?page=1#awesm=~oE5QQvsx8fTX5b
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/charles_dickens/
http://www.theguardian.com/books/interactive/2011/sep/22/charles-dickens-interactive-wallchart
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Category:A_Christmas_Carol_characters

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER WEBSITES:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24379018
http://business.time.com/2011/08/12/study-the-rich-really-are-more-selfish/
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20314021,00.html
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304692804577281413725296538

Useful Websites:
http://quizlet.com/latest Use this site to make flashcards to study from.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/charles_dickens/ The Sounds section on this website will allow students to listen to the novel being
read. This is extremely helpful for slow readers and English Learners.