MYP unit planner - World Literature

Unit title

World Literature

Teacher(s)

Y11 Teachers

Subject and grade level

English 11

Time frame and duration

Approx 6 weeks

Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of

interaction and unit question
Area of interaction focus

Significant concept(s)

Which area of interaction will be our focus? Why

have we chosen this?

What are the big ideas? What do I want my

students to retain for years into the future?

CAS: What common conflicts do

characters face across different
societies?

As global citizens, we can empathise with

individuals around the world despite having
distinct historical and cultural experiences.

MYP unit question

What part does our community / social environment have in
shaping us as individuals?

Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?

Common Assessment Task

Compare and Contrast essay on a topic of the students choice: A, B, C
Taken through the writing process (brainstorm to outline to draft to final)

Teachers may choose from a variety of the tasks below.

Group presentation on a short story - A, B C

26 questions to ask a short story class discussion
Guiding questions for each short story class discussion

Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?

understand and comment on the language, content, structure, meaning and significance of
familiar pieces of writing
demonstrate a critical awareness of a range of written and visual texts
express an informed personal response to literary texts and demonstrate the ability to
approach works independently
understand connotations within a language in order to interpret the authors or speakers
intentions
express ideas with clarity and coherence in both oral and written communication
structure ideas and arguments, both orally and in writing, in a sustained and logical way, and
support them with relevant examples
distinguish the main ideas in a text from the secondary ideas
use correct grammar with appropriate and varied sentence structure
show awareness of the need for an effective choice of register suited to the audience in both
oral and written communication.

Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?

A, B, C, depending on the activities noted above in assessment.

Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the

learning activities through inquiry
Content
What knowledge and/or skills (from my course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the guiding
question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the
significant concept(s) for stage 1?

techniques of characterization (description, dialogue, forms of address, silences,

posture, gesture, movement, props, costume symbolism, own/others comments)
the function of minor characters
how conflicts and tensions are established and developed through a range of literary
devices
how cultural setting is incorporated into world literature
the role of (cultural / historical / geographical and psychoanalytical setting in
creating mood/tension, defining character and developing theme
the use of images, symbols and motifs by authors
how to identify conflicts and their relation to historical/cultural and geographical or
political context
write a detailed analytical commentary on a key scene
how to select, reference and integrate quotations seamlessly to support analysis
comparing two writers treatment of a similar theme across cultures and time periods

Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?

ATL: Organisation: Students will learn the skills required to compare and contrast texts.(what
organisational tools can I use?)
ATL: Thinking: Students will learn how to make an effective independent choice of topic. (generating
ideas)

Learning experiences

Teaching strategies

How will students know what is expected of them? Will

they see examples, rubrics, templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise
the skills required? How will they practise applying
these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will
we know?

The majority of the stories will be analysed in

group and class discussions.
Students will be provided with creative
opportunities to present a short story to the
class
Model work will be provided for the common
assessment task, Compare and Contrast
Essay. Other tasks will also have detailed
rubrics and frameworks which provide
scaffolding.
The Y11 World Literature Unit builds on the
knowledge introduced and developed the
prose fiction units in Y11 and previous years.

How will we use formative assessment to give students feedback

during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have
we made provision for those learning in a language other than their
mother tongue? How have we considered those with special
educational needs?

The teacher will provide scaffolding (modelling,

explanation, group work, redirection, etc) for students
as they explore the short stories. Support decreases
but does not disappear as students progress through
the texts and become more adept and independent.
The English Department uses a variety of digital texts
which are available on the World Literature wiki.
Teachers may elect to add stories to this collection.
The teacher provides samples of compare and
contrast essays.
The teacher provides focus questions, note-taking
models, and graphic organizers to assist the students
in critical reading.

Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students experiences during
the unit?

1.
2.
3.
4.

Short Stories on the portal

Rubrics, Model Work, and Frameworks on portal
Background Readings and interviews on portal
Oral Readings scenes on portal

Ongoing reflections and evaluation

In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There
are further stimulus questions in the unit planning section of MYP:
From principles into practice.
Students and teachers
What did we find compelling? Was our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
How did we reflectboth on the unit and on our own learning?
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated
action?

Possible connections
How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?

Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make
sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?

Are we prepared for the next stage?

Data collection
How did I decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?