MINI UNIT PLAN: INTRODUCTION TO HSP3U 1

Mini Unit Plan: Introduction to Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology HSP3U

Kaitlyn Pond

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Unit Overview

This unit, “Psychology,” would take its turn at the end of this course. This unit will

encompass about 8 lessons and one final project for the students. This is a good time to do this

until because the students will already have a previous base knowledge that will help them to

continuously develop their skills and knowledge of this information. Secondly, students have

already started to develop what it means to socialize different aspects, so they will have an easier

time relating psychology to socialization. Students will build a strong vocabulary surrounding

the topic of psychology and will be able to use it in realistic real-world scenarios. Also, students

will see how this unit is relatable to how they act on a daily basis and may answer personal

questions on how their brains react and work. Finally, this unit touches on mental health and this

will be beneficial to students that may want some information on this topic or resources they can

use in their lives.

Overall Expectations

C1. Theories, Perspectives, and Methodologies: demonstrate an understanding of major

theories, perspectives, and research methods in psychology;

C2. Explaining Human Mental Processes and Behaviour: use a psychological perspective to

explain how diverse factors influence and shape human mental processes and behaviour;

C3. Socialization: use a psychological perspective to analyse patterns of socialization.

(Ontario Ministry of Education, 2005)

Specific Expectations that are used in this Unit

C1.2 summarize the key ideas of major psycho- logical theories (e.g., psychodynamic theory,

behaviourism, cognitive theory, humanistic theory, feminist psychology theory), and explain how

they can be used to understand human behaviour; C1.2 summarize the key ideas of major
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psycho- logical theories, and explain how they can be used to understand human behaviour; C2.1

explain, from a psychological perspective, how various influences contribute to an individual’s

psychological development; C2.3 explain how diverse psychological factors influence individual

behaviour; C3.3 analyse the procedures of and ethical problems associated with major

psychological experiments in socialization.

(Ontario Ministry of Education 2005)

Teaching/Learning Strategies

In this unit numerous amounts of teaching and learning strategies will be used. Some of

the strategies that will be used is:

 Direct Teaching

 Debate

 Inquiry

 Think-Pair-Share

 Group Work

 Mind Maps

 Graphic Organizers

 Internet Research

 Use of Technology

 Presentations

 KWL Charts

Assessment
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This unit will mostly look at assessing students in group settings. There is a lot of group

work that will show how well they work together and shows their participation. The other final

assignment is assessing their knowledge of the content, and how well they can orally present the

information. This assignment will be marked on a rubric.

Accommodations

“Accommodations are tools and procedures that provide equal access to instruction and

assessment for students with disabilities. They are provided to "level the playing field." Without

accommodations, students with disabilities may not be able to access grade level instruction and

participate fully on assessments” (No, 2013). This quote proves that making accommodations in

the classroom will make an equal learning space for all students. In this unit there will be

multiple ways for students to convey the information specifically for the final project. Also

providing different ways for students to learn the information is also a way to use

accommodations. For example, having word walls and even having access to it online may help

as well.

Lesson Overviews

There will be a total of 7 full lessons. The time that this unit will take to complete in

consideration to all the lessons will be about 3 weeks. There is a range of time frames for these

lessons spanning from just one period to multiple periods depending on students’ needs and

accommodations. In addition to the lessons, time in class will be given to work on the end of unit

project which will be a presentation on a specific psychologist of the group’s choice.

Lesson 1: Introduction to Psychology Time: 75 minutes (1 period)

Expectations being used: C1.2

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Overview: Overall, this lesson is just meant to be an introduction to the new unit. This lesson

will include new vocabulary that students will be expected to learn, explaining what psychology

is, and a brief overview of the psychological theories.

Main Activities:

One of the activities that I will do is in their small groups, students will create a KWL

chart about what they know, want to know, and what they learned. I will instruct the students to

not fill in the last column which is what they learned because at the end of the unit I will revisit

their charts and in their small groups they will go over what we have learned, and they will add

this information. Another activity that I will do is each student will be given a term from the

vocabulary that was discussed in class and will need to create the word to add to a word wall.

This word that they choose will include a definition on the inside so that if the students need to

come back to that word they can look inside at the definition to make sure they know the word.

Lesson 2: Schools of Thought in Psychology Time: 150 Minutes (2 periods)

Expectations being used: C1.1, C1.2, and C3.3

Overview: This lesson will take a look on different theories and different psychologist that have

an important significance. Students will also take a look at the Bobo experiment and how it is

part of socialization. This will give students the opportunity to look more at the different areas of

psychology and how each act independently.

Main Activities: Students will be given a cut and paste activity after an introduction of the

hierarchy of needs. They will first need to predict the order of the hierarchy and write down what

order they go in. After revealing the true order students will cut and paste the correct order on a

piece of paper. They will also include examples and a definition of each level. This will be a

resource for students to come back to for studying purposes.

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Lesson 3: Insight on Behaviours Time: 75 minutes (1 period)

Expectations being used: C2.1 and C2.3 C

Overview: This lesson will teach students all about Behaviours. Specifically, it will show how

Behaviours influence many aspects of our lives.

Main Activities: The students will be given a question and will have to do Think-Pair-Share to

show their understanding and to be able to hear about other views or similar ones to the answer

of the question.

Lesson 4: Influences on Behaviour. Time: 150 minutes (2 periods)

Expectations being used: C2.2

Overview: This lesson is an expansion of lesson 3 it will go over behaviours more in depth, so

the students get a better understanding.

Main Activities: The videos that are included in this lesson will allow for student group

discussion and for students to share information with one another.

Lesson 5: It’s All About the Brain! Time: 150 minutes (2 periods)

Expectations being used: -

Overview: This lesson will teach students what their brain actually does. It will show the

students all of its functions and how our brain is divided into different systems that work all

together as one. Finally, this lesson will show how our brain and mind are two different things.

Main Activities: Students will watch a video about what the brain does and what it clearly is.

They will be asked four questions. The questions are what the brain actually does, the differences

between the “old brain”, the limbic system, and the cerebrum, what brain myths are discusses,

and what is something you have learned. These responses will be handed in to see what the
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students have learned. Also, the students will to have a hands-on experience with a brain model

to be able to distinguish different parts of the brain.

Lesson 6: Who are we? Time: 150 minutes (2 periods)

Expectations being used: C2.1

In this lesson students will begin to discover what makes up who we are psychologically.

Students will see the ways personality and behaviour intertwine with each other. Students will

also focus on how real-world scenarios factor who we are as a person. Finally, this lesson will

look deeper into the debate of nature vs. nurture.

Main Activities: One activity that I will use is doing a debate with the students on the topic of

nature versus nurture. This debate will include splitting the class into two groups. This will allow

each group to do a bit of research into each side of this topic. This will also be an individual

exercise because students will be required to do a bit of research and make valid points why their

side is the right side to be on. This will be graded and recorded for a mark. In the debate it will

be marked as well for participation, plus also for communication.

Lesson 7: Mental Health Time: 225 minutes (3 periods)

Expectations being used: C3.1

Overview: This lesson includes defining what mental illness actually is. It will also go over

different illnesses that are common in today’s world. Students will see ways to stand up against

this difficult subject and see how they can be there for others with mental health issues. This will

also be able to be relatable to real-world scenarios.

Main Activities: The class will have a guest speaker come in and talk about mental health. The

students will get to have activities with this speaker and will have the chance to write a reflection

of this experience.
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References

No Child Left Behind: Determining Appropriate Assessment Accommodations for Students with

Disabilities. (2013, November 07). Retrieved from

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/no-child-left-behind-determining-appropriate

assessment-accommodations-students-disabilities

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2005). The Ontario curriculum grades 9‐12: Social Sciences and

Humanities [Program of Studies]. Retrieved from

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/ssciences9to122013.pdf