Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Name: Emily Altman Grade Level: 2nd

Topic/Central Focus: Communities Course for which unit is developed:

Social Studies

Cumulative list of Standard(s) to be met in the Unit:

SS 2.1.2.d Identify characteristics of good citizenship (e.g., establishing beliefs and justice,
truth, equality, personal responsibilities for the common good, tolerance for diversity of
opinions)
SS 2.3.1.b Identify and describe locations in the neighborhood (e.g., home, the park, friend's
house, fire station, grocery store)
SS 2.3.1.e Analyze why things are located where they are (e.g., "Why are stores on a main
street?")
SS 2.3.2.a Identify and differentiate between physical and human features of neighborhood
and community (e.g., vegetation, housing)
SS 2.3.2.b Describe local places and regions with other places and regions (e.g., prairie,
forest, farm land, ranch land, local community)
SS 2.3.2.c Explain how places and regions change over time
SS 2.3.4.a Identify patterns of cultural traits (e.g., language, religion, food)
SS 2.3.4.b Identify patterns of land use (e.g., agricultural, residential, industrial, commercial,
educational, recreational)

Skills/ “Extras” Standards:

SS 2.3.1.c Identify map elements (i.e., title, scale, symbols, legend, and cardinal
directions)
SS 2.4.1.b Identify calendar time in years
SS 2.4.2.a Describe historical people, events, ideas, and symbols, including various cultures
and ethnic groups (e.g., Native Americans, colonists, local cultural figures, Uncle Sam,
patriotism, the White House, Independence Day)
What will students know? What will students
 Community understand?
 Neighbor  Students will understand
 Urban area that people live, work, and
 Suburb play in communities (SS
 Rural area 2.3.1.b, SS 2.3.1.e, SS
 Compass rose 2.3.4.a)
 Cardinal directions (north,  Students will understand
south, east, west) that changes affect a
 Transportation community over time. (SS
 Communication 2.3.2.c)
 Law  Students will understand
 Citizen that knowing the rights,
 Calendar responsibilities, and rules
 Interview of the community, which
 Legend are aspects of citizenship,
are an important part of
being in a community. (SS
2.1.2.d)
 Students will understand
that communities have
varying properties and will
look different in different
locations and cultures. (SS
2.3.4.a)
What will students do?
 Describe your own
community.
 Identify what
characteristics make up a
community.
 Compare and contrast
examples of two
communities, identifying
the characteristics that are
the same and that are
different.
 Diagram our community,
listing the
differences/similarities in our
community from now and
from the past.
 Create a list of what is
important in order to be a
good citizen.
 Discuss different ways a
community could use land.
 Differentiate between our
community and another
community somewhere else.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

 Students will understand  Investigate ways that we

that there are many can help our community.
different ways to use land  Research different ways
to make a community people have affected your
(agricultural, urban, etc.) community in the past.
(SS 2.3.4.b, SS 2.3.1.e)  Use a compass rose
properly.
The “Extras” Understands:  Use a calendar to indicate
when an event happened/s.
 Students will understand
that a compass rose can
be used to identify which
direction something is
located. (SS 2.3.1.c)
 Students will understand
that people in the past
have influenced our
community. (SS 2.4.2.a)
 Students will understand
that calendars can be
used to look back in
history. (SS 2.4.1.b)
Pre/Diagnostic Assessment (describe thoroughly):
 Written Response Prompt: What is a community? Describe the different factors of a
community using pictures and words.
 Before starting this assessment, I would give an example of a component of a
community, such as houses are an important part of the community because that is
where people live. Then, I would allow the students to complete the assessment.
 Students will have a sheet of paper with the prompt and directions written at the top
(which would be the above sentences). The students will draw what they believe are
the different components of a community, and then they will write down their
definition of a community underneath their drawing.
o I would include both drawing and writing to see where all of my students are
at in their understanding. Since I have some students that will not be able to
write and express themselves in words, I would let them draw and then
maybe come up and explain their drawing to me; this is differentiating
process by readiness.
o I would also go over the prompt as a whole class before having the students
complete it individually.
 Through this assessment, I will be able to see my students’ pre-existing knowledge of
communities and what make up a community, and then I will be able to build my
lessons for my unit off of my students’ pre-existing knowledge.
Summative Assessment (describe and justify format):
 Performance Task: Students will choose from four different options in how they would
like to demonstrate their knowledge.
 These different options will include 1) a picture book about the different aspects of a
community that would be shared with a group of Kindergarteners, 2) a skit between 2
people discussing the different characteristics in a community and how they are
important, 3) a diorama including the important characteristics of a community along
with a short essay describing the diorama, and 4) an essay that would have a student
explain how they would describe the town’s community (and the different
characteristics of the community) to a visitor.
 I chose a performance task because I believe that it would lend itself well to being
differentiated for my students.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

 I would also select this method because it differentiates product by learning

profile, but these options all still focuses on the same learning targets.

 Standards that will be assessed:

o SS 2.3.1.b Identify and describe locations in the neighborhood (e.g., home,
the park, friend's house, fire station, grocery store)
o SS 2.3.2.a Identify and differentiate between physical and human features of
neighborhood and community (e.g., vegetation, housing)
o SS 2.3.2.b Describe local places and regions with other places and regions
(e.g., prairie, forest, farm land, ranch land, local community)
o SS 2.3.2.c Explain how places and regions change over time
o SS 2.3.4.a Identify patterns of cultural traits (e.g., language, religion, food)
o SS 2.3.4.b Identify patterns of land use (e.g., agricultural, residential,
industrial, commercial, educational, recreational)
 For Sarah, I would come up with some accommodations for her assessment; this
might be allowing her to write less or to not cover the standards as completely.
Other Formative Assessment Evidence (list and describe 3-5 assessments briefly):
 Picture Posters – Students will have different pictures that relate to either an urban,
suburban, and rural community and must place it on the poster with the correct word
on it. I will use this assessment as a way to check the students’ understanding of the
definitions of “urban”, “suburban”, and “rural”.
 Tiered Letters – Students will each be assigned a writing prompt that will ask them to
write a letter to someone in a rural community comparing the differences and
similarities between our community (more urban) and a rural community. I will use
this assessment to see if the students are able to explain the similarities and
differences between to communities. (Example provided)
 Tiered Graphic Organizers – I will look at the students’ graphic organizers and
formatively assess if the students understand how to compare and contrast different
cultural communities and identify these similarities and differences. (Example
provided)
 A Review List of the Differences between the two Cultural Communities – This will
assess the students’ knowledge and retention of the information that they learned in
the tiered graphic organizers the day before; this benchmark will be used to see if the
students are able to compare and contrast the two communities and are ready to
move on to the next lesson.
 Group Posters – I will use the posters as a formative assessment of the whole class’
ability to summarize their material and compare and contrast different cultural
communities. (Example checklist for poster requirements provided)
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Day One
Name: Emily Altman Grade Level: 2nd

Topic/Central Focus Subject: Social Studies

Communities – Intro to urban, suburban, and Time Frame: 50 minutes
rural communities

Standard(s) to be met in the lesson:

SS 2.3.2.a Identify and differentiate between physical and human features of neighborhood
and community (e.g., vegetation, housing)

SS 2.3.4.b Identify patterns of land use (e.g., agricultural, residential, industrial, commercial,
educational, recreational)

SS 2.3.1.e Analyze why things are located where they are (e.g., "Why are stores on a main
street?")
Learning Objective:
The students will be able to distinguish
between an urban, suburban, and rural
community and will be able to describe the
characteristics that make each community
different.
Assessment Tool(s) and Procedures:
 Tiered letter task: a formative
assessment that will assess if the
students are able to differentiate
between a rural and an urban
community.
 Picture posters: a formative
assessment that will assess if the
students are able to tell the
difference between an urban,
suburban, and rural community
using pictures.

Research-Based Best Practice used in lesson and why it is appropriate/useful

Tiered Instruction (Tomlinson) – various readiness needs will be met through the different
groupings of students in their letter writing activity.
Student Engagement used throughout the lesson
 Whole class work – students will engage as a whole class through putting the
different pictures on the poster.
 Individual work – students will engage in the material individually through writing
letters.
Key Vocabulary:
 Urban area, Suburb, Rural area
Materials: Technology:
 Three posters for the different  Projector
communities.  PowerPoint
 Pictures for the posters
 Writing prompts for the letters.
Faith/Values Integration:
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Assets (Knowledge of Students: personal, cultural, community)

Differentiating Instruction
Identify the elements of the lesson that are differentiated (content, process, product).
Identify the student characteristic you will use to differentiate (readiness, interest, learning profile).
Explain how you differentiate (whole class, groups of students, individuals, or students with IEPs or 504 plans)

Students will be assigned different writing prompts that differentiate content by readiness. The writing prompts
will provide students varying levels of difficulty in terms of detail and abstract thinking.

Tier One – Students will write a letter to someone in a rural community; in this letter, the students will explain
their own community.
Tier Two – Students will write a letter to someone in a rural community; they will write about their own urban
community in Lincoln and come up with 2-3 questions to ask the person in the rural community.
Tier Three – Students will write a letter to someone in a rural community; they will go into detail about their own
community (an urban community) and will ask the recipient of the letter about his or her own community. The
student will then have to think of the response that the recipient might send back in a second letter and write
down the answers to the questions they asked.

Groups for tiered task:

o Tier one group: Sarah (she will write a sentence or two and then draw a picture describing her
community and explain her picture to me), Brian, Kristen, Madison, David, and Oscar
o Tier two group: The 12 “average” students.
o Tier three group: Samantha, Brock, and Liz, Scott, and Emma
Procedure with time allotments:
A) Hook/Engage/Pre-Assess Students

 Read a little story about each of the different kinds of communities. Make sure the
students are listening for the differences between the communities.

o Rural community: David wakes up early every morning and goes to help his
dad and siblings feed the sheep and chickens. When he returns home, his
mom has cooked breakfast with some of the fresh eggs that his sister
gathered that morning. After breakfast, his mom drives him and his siblings to
school; David is ready for another day of learning.

o Urban community: Joey’s mom comes in and wakes him up early in the
morning; the bus has lots of stops on the way to school, so Joey has to leave
early. He walks down the 3 flights of stairs in his apartment building and waits
for the bus on the corner. On his way to school, Joey passes by many people
walking to their big business buildings, and there are lots of cars on the roads.

o Suburban community: Danielle gets up every morning; her dad has to leave
really early to get to work in the city, while her mom makes sure everyone is
ready for school. After breakfast, Danielle goes and plays in the backyard until
her mom calls her to tell her that the bus is almost here. Danielle grabs her
backpack and rides the bus the short distance to school.

 Discuss the different stories and look at the differences and similarities between the
different scenarios. Have different lists on the board and put the different
characteristics in each category that it belongs.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

 Introduce the idea of urban, suburban, and rural communities.

B) Communicate the purpose of the lesson to students (objective/assessment)

 Today, we will be looking at some of the differences in communities within Nebraska.

(These communities will include Lincoln [urban], Waverly [suburban], and Milford
[rural]) We are going to look at some of the things that they have in common as well
as some of the differences between them.

C) Instructional Sequence:

 Go through a description of the different types of communities, using a PowerPoint

that has pictures of each of the communities. Once you have finished the PowerPoint,
ask the students questions about each community to check for understanding.
 Questions
o What is an important part of an urban community?
o What do you see in rural communities?
o What are the differences between a suburban community and a rural community?
o Why do urban communities have tall building?
o Why would a suburb have lots of houses?
 Have different pictures that depict the different communities; pass out the pictures to
the students.
 There will be three poster boards at the front of the room each with one of the
different communities on it (one board will say “Urban”, one will say “Suburban” and
one will say “Rural”). Have the students look at their photos and decide where their
picture best fits; then, have them stick the pictures on the correct board.
 After we stick the pictures on the boards, we will go over them and make sure that
we understand why the pictures belong where they do.
 This is a formative assessment that addresses if the students understand the
differences between the types of communities through being able to differentiate the
communities using pictures; the discussion afterwards will also give me a better
understanding of the students’ knowledge of the topic.
 We will then move on to another assignment where the students will write letters to
someone in a different type of community. This will be a tiered task so that students
will be able to complete the task in the readiness level that is appropriate for them.
Writing prompts provided below.
 Tiered Task:
o Tier One – Students will write a letter to someone in a rural community; in this
letter, the students will explain their own community.
o Tier Two – Students will write a letter to someone in a rural community; they
will write about their own more urban community and come up with 2-3
questions to ask the person in the rural community.
o Tier Three – Students will write a letter to someone in a rural community; they
will go into detail about their own community (an urban community) and will
ask the recipient of the letter about his or her own community. The student
will then have to think of the response that the recipient might send back in a
second letter and write down the answers to the questions they asked.
 STUDENT GROUPS:
o Tier one group: Sarah (she will write a sentence or two and then draw a
picture describing her community and then explain her drawing to me), Brian,
Kristen, Madison, David, and Oscar
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

o Tier two group: The 12 “average” students.

o Tier three group: Samantha, Brock, and Liz, Scott, and Emma
 This activity is differentiated process by readiness because the students are sharing
their knowledge in a way that is developmentally appropriate for them. For my lower
level student, they are using more concrete ideas and are asked to perform a simpler
writing task at the level that they are able to perform. The other groups are
performing at an increasingly more abstract level as well as completing a harder
writing task.
 The students will write their letters individually. Once they are done, they will give
their letters to me so that I can assess them.

D) Closure:
 As a closing, I will have the students pair up into groups of 2 or 3 (these groups will
just be students sitting around them; possibly table groups). In these groups,
students will discuss the different types of communities and then choose which one
they would like to live in and why.
 I will then bring the whole class together for a final share out. I will pick names out of
a jar, and I will ask students to define the different communities, and then I will ask a
couple of students which communities they would choose to live in.

Day Two
Name: Emily Altman Grade Level: 2nd

Topic/Central Focus Subject: Social Studies

Communities – Discussion on different cultural Time Frame: 50 minutes
communities

Standard(s) to be met in the lesson:

SS 2.3.4.a Identify patterns of cultural traits (e.g., language, religion, food)

Learning Objective: Assessment Tool(s) and Procedures:

 The students will be able to compare
and contrast two different cultural
communities by identifying the
different characteristics within the
community and similarities and
differences within the community.
 Informal assessment in the form of
a review discussion during the hook;
this formative assessment will be
used to see if the students
understand how culture relates to
community.
 Formative assessment in checking
for understanding of the learning
objective when looking through the
graphic organizers after class; this
formative assessment will be used
by me, as the teacher, to see if the
students understand how to
compare and contrast cultural
communities.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Research-Based Best Practice used in lesson and why it is appropriate/useful

Tiered Instruction (Tomlinson) – various readiness needs will be met through the graphic
organizers used.
Student Engagement used throughout the lesson
 Individual work – students will be engaged in completing graphic organizers that will
contain information that was learned in previous lessons and research.
Key Vocabulary:
 Community, Transportation, Communication, Culture
Materials: Technology:
 Social study text book - Macmillan  Different websites and resources
McGraw-Hill “We Live Together” used to research different cultural
 3 different graphic organizers (attached communities.
below)
 Books used to research other cultures
Faith/Values Integration:

Assets (Knowledge of Students: personal, cultural, community)

Differentiating Instruction
Identify the elements of the lesson that are differentiated (content, process, product).
Identify the student characteristic you will use to differentiate (readiness, interest, learning profile).
Explain how you differentiate (whole class, groups of students, individuals, or students with IEPs or 504 plans)

Students will be assigned different graphic organizers that differentiate process by readiness. The graphic
organizers will be based on varying degrees of structure in organizing students’ research and
abstractness in student thinking.

Tier One – Students fill out a graphic organizer comparing and contrasting the culture they have researched and
their own culture.
Tier Two – Students fill out a T-chart comparing and contrasting the culture they have researched and their own
culture.
Tier Three – Students fill out a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the culture they have researched and
their own culture.

Groups for tiered task:

o Tier one group: Sarah (she will listen to audiobooks as well as books with lots of pictures to look at, and
then will be able to draw out her answers on the graphic organizer as well as use words), Brian, Kristen,
Madison, David, and Oscar
o Tier two group: The 12 “average” students.
o Tier three group: Samantha, Brock, and Liz, Scott, and Emma
Procedure with time allotments:
A) Hook/Engage/Pre-Assess Students
 We will review some of the aspects of culture that we have learned about in
previous lessons.
 I will have students pair up and answer a question; then students will find
another partner and answer the next question until we are finished with the
questions. This will be an informal formative assessment to see if the students
understand the idea of culture and how it relates to communities.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

 Questions:
 What does culture mean? (What are some of the aspects of culture?)
 How can communities look different in different cultures?
 How can communities look the same in different cultures?
B) Communicate the purpose of the lesson to students (objective/assessment)
 Today we will be continuing our investigation of different communities in
different cultures. We will use the knowledge that we have learned from our
research to fill out a graphic organizer, looking at what is the same and
different between our community and the different communities that everyone
has researched.
C) Instructional Sequence:
 Discuss what the students will be doing today: “we are going to use our
information from yesterday to complete a graphic organizer.”
 Model how to fill out a graphic organizer; while the students will be receiving
different graphic organizers, the general idea is still the same. Use an example
text of a Japanese community for the graphic organizer.
 As you complete the demonstration, have the students repeat back to you the
process that they are using to complete their graphic organizers. Write a
checklist out for each group as the students dictate what to do to you.
 Have the students grab a graphic organizer based off their readiness. These
organizers will be in three piles, and I will have each group come up and get
the organizer that I have already assigned to them. I will have three groups:
the red group (higher learners), blue group (on-target learners), and yellow
group (struggling learners).
 After each group has gotten their organizer, go around to each group and
make sure students know how to fill out the graphic organizers; model filling
out a graphic organizer in the small groups and scaffold each groups’ learning
through a think aloud and visual modeling as needed. Start with the yellow
group, then the blue group, then the red group. Make sure that all groups
know what they are doing.
 The students will individually complete these graphic organizers and will use
the books that they read the day before to fill out the information needed.
o (If students are having a hard time figuring out what goes in the
graphic organizer, help them focus on some of the different aspects
that we talked about in the hook.)

Tiered Graphic Organizers:

 Tier One – Students fill out a graphic organizer comparing and contrasting the culture
they have researched and their own culture.
 Tier Two – Students fill out a T-chart comparing and contrasting the culture they have
researched and their own culture.
 Tier Three – Students fill out a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the culture
they have researched and their own culture.

 STUDENT GROUPS:
o Tier one group: Sarah (she will be listening to audiobooks as well as
books with lots of pictures to look at, and then will be able to draw out
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

her answers on the graphic organizer as well as use words), Brian,

Kristen, Madison, David, and Oscar
o Tier two group: The 12 “average” students.
o Tier three group: Samantha, Brock, and Liz, Scott, and Emma
 Assessing their graphic organizers will be a formative assessment of their
understanding of the learning objective of comparing and contrasting the two
communities. Graphic organizers provided below.
 After students have finished filling out their graphic organizer, I will assign
them to mix-ability groups of 2 or 3 (which they will be in tomorrow for their
next activity); all students in the group should have done the same culture
(i.e. a group of students who researched about a Mexican community will be
together).
 Groups
1. Mexican community – Sarah (IEP), Samantha (high achiever), and 1 other
students
2. Mexican community – Emma (gifted), Scott (gifted) These students will
have a more advanced task. (See explanation below)
3. Mexican community – Brian (struggling), 2 other students
4. Chinese community – Kirsten (struggling), 2 other students.
5. Chinese community – Brock (high achiever), Madison (struggling), David
(struggling)
6. Kenyan community – 3 other students
7. Kenyan community – Liz (high achiever), Oscar (struggling), 1 other
student
8. Kenyan community – 3 students
 Special notes about the groups:
o The gifted students (Scott and Emma) are in a group together and will be
given a more difficult task to complete in this section; they will be asked to
create a poster that goes more in depth about a certain topic along with
the cultural community. This will be based on the students’ interest but
could be a topic such as looking more in depth at the religion in the
community, the businesses in the community, or the schools in the
community.
o For my IEP student (Sarah), I placed her with two students that I believe
will really help her in this project and will be patient with her. I placed
Samantha in this group because I believe that she can help teach Sarah a
little bit more about the community and will be patient with her.
o I scattered my other high achieving and struggling students into different
groups so that they can learn from each other and have experience
working with other students in their class.
 They will not start working on their poster today, but I want the students to
brainstorm a little about what they would like to put on their poster and have
the students discuss what they would like to put on their poster.
D) Closure:
 We will have the students in their mix-ability groups do a quick share out
discussing what they found to be the most interesting fact they learned
through their research.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

 Students will then bring all of their graphic organizers up to me so that I can
check them for understanding before giving them back to the students
tomorrow for their posters.

Day Three
Name: Emily Altman Grade Level: 2nd

Topic/Central Focus Subject: Social Studies

Communities – Discussion on different cultural Time Frame: 50 minutes
communities

Standard(s) to be met in the lesson:

SS 2.3.4.a Identify patterns of cultural traits (e.g., language, religion, food)

Learning Objective: Assessment Tool(s) and Procedures:

 The students will be able to compare
and contrast two different cultural
communities by identifying the
different characteristics within the
community and similarities and
differences within the community.
 Formative assessment in the hook;
students will write out what they
can remember from their graphic
organizers the day before about
what is different between the two
communities; this formative
assessment will be used to see if
the students can remember how to
contrast different communities.
 Formative assessment in the small
group assessment; this will take the
form of a poster summarizing the
combined students’ knowledge of
their own culture and the culture
that they have researched; this
formative assessment will be used
to see if the students can
summarize the information and
compare and contrast two
communities.

Research-Based Best Practice used in lesson and why it is appropriate/useful

Cooperative Learning – students will learn about different cultures by working in groups to
discuss what they have learned about a culture and then sharing their findings with the whole
class.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Student Engagement used throughout the lesson

 Small group work – students will be engaged in completing a group task with a couple
of other students that discusses how one cultural community differs/is similar to our
community.
Key Vocabulary:
 Community, Transportation, Communication, Culture

Materials: Technology:
 Posters  A computer to get pictures of the
 Markers/crayons/glue/scissor/etc. different communities.
 Graphic organizers from the day before
Faith/Values Integration:

Assets (Knowledge of Students: personal, cultural, community)

Differentiating Instruction
Identify the elements of the lesson that are differentiated (content, process, product).
Identify the student characteristic you will use to differentiate (readiness, interest, learning profile).
Explain how you differentiate (whole class, groups of students, individuals, or students with IEPs or 504 plans)

Students will be assigned to mixed ability groups that differentiate content by interest. The posters will vary in
terms of student interest of what cultural community they researched.
Groups:
1. Mexican community – Sarah (IEP), Samantha (high achiever), and 1 other students
2. Mexican community – Emma (gifted), Scott (gifted) These students will have a more
advanced task. (See explanation below)
3. Mexican community – Brian (struggling), 2 other students
4. Chinese community – Kirsten (struggling), 2 other students.
5. Chinese community – Brock (high achiever), Madison (struggling), David (struggling)
6. Kenyan community – 2 other students, 1 other student
7. Kenyan community – Liz (high achiever), Oscar (struggling), 1 other student
8. Kenyan community – 3 students

Notes for group reasoning:

The gifted students (Scott and Emma) are in a group together and will be given a more difficult task to complete
in this section; they will be asked to create a poster that goes more in depth about a certain topic along with the
cultural community. This will be based on the students’ interest but could be a topic such as looking more in depth
at the religion in the community, the businesses in the community, or the schools in the community.

For my IEP student (Sarah), I placed her with two students that I believe will really help her in this project and will
be patient with her. I placed Samantha in this group because I believe that she can help teach Sarah a little bit
more about the community and will be patient with her.

I scattered my other high achieving and struggling students into different groups with my other at-level students;
this will help student learn from each other and have experience working with other students in their class.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Procedure with time allotments:

A) Hook/Engage/Pre-Assess Students

 Students will get out a piece of paper; the students will be asked to list everything
that they can think of that is different from our community and the cultural
community that they researched and organized yesterday. I will give them 60 seconds
to name everything that they can remember.
 Once this is done, I will draw names out of a bucket and ask students to give me one
difference that they had on their list.
 This is a formative assessment of the students’ knowledge and retention of the
information that they learned yesterday; this benchmark will be used to see if the
students are able to compare and contrast the two communities.

B) Communicate the purpose of the lesson to students (objective/assessment)

 Today we are continuing our study on different cultural communities. We will be
working in groups to create a poster that represents the similarities and differences
within two different communities.
C) Instructional Sequence:
 Students will group together in mixed ability groups of 2 or 3; all students in
the group should have done the same culture (i.e. a group of students who
researched about a Mexican community will be together).
 Before students move into their groups, I will have the class tell me what our
group work expectations are (we respect everyone’s ideas, we expect
everyone to do work in the group, and we use these groups for learning)
 Groups:
1. Mexican community – Sarah (IEP), Samantha (high achiever), and 1 other
students
2. Mexican community – Emma (gifted), Scott (gifted) These students will
have a more advanced task. (See explanation below)
3. Mexican community – Brian (struggling), 2 other students
4. Chinese community – Kirsten (struggling), 2 other students.
5. Chinese community – Brock (high achiever), Madison (struggling), David
(struggling)
6. Kenyan community – 2 other students, 1 other student
7. Kenyan community – Liz (high achiever), Oscar (struggling), 1 other
student
8. Kenyan community – 3 students
 Special notes about the groups:
o The gifted students (Scott and Emma) are in a group together and will be
given a more difficult task to complete in this section; they will be asked to
create a poster that goes more in depth about a certain topic along with
the cultural community. This will be based on the students’ interest but
could be a topic such as looking more in depth at the religion in the
community, the businesses in the community, or the schools in the
community.
o For my IEP student (Sarah), I placed her with two students that I believe
will really help her in this project and will be patient with her. I placed
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Samantha in this group because I believe that she can help teach Sarah a
little bit more about the community and will be patient with her.
o I scattered my other high achieving and struggling students into different
groups so that they can learn from each other and have experience
working with other students in their class.
 Once in these groups, students will summarize and consolidate all the
information that they have in their graphic organizers and decide on the most
important points to put onto a poster comparing and contrasting their own
culture and the culture that they researched.
 This poster will be a formative assessment to see if the students can compare
and contrast two culturally different communities. The checklist to help guide
students through this assessment is provided below.
 Criteria of a good poster: comparison of the different communities, clear
understanding of what makes them similar/different (through the writing on
the poster and through explaining it to another group), addresses at least 3
different aspects of culture, and is aesthetically pleasing, with pictures (either
printed out or drawn) and good handwriting.
 Students will present their posters to another group with a different culture
and explain the similarities and differences between the culture they
researched and their own culture.
D) Closure:
 The class will come together, and each group will share something that they
learned from creating their poster.
 After class, I will put the posters up on the walls for reference throughout the
rest of the unit.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department
Copy/Paste summative assessment here.
Choice Board
Choose one of the following activities to complete as a final project. Show your
best work of what you’ve learned in completing each of the projects.
“This is a Community” Picture Book
Create a picture book about the different
aspects of a community that you would
present to a Kindergarten classroom.
This presentation must include:
 A definition of a community
 Important parts of a community
 How communities can look different
 And, pictures that describe a
community
“A Look into a Community” Map
a map including the important characteristics
of a community along with a short essay
describing the map,
This map and essay must include:
 The essay must include a definition of a
community.
 The essay must include an explanation
of how communities look different.
 The map must include important parts
of a community, and the essay must
talk about these different parts of a
community.
 And, the map must have details that
help the viewer understand what a
community is.
Unit Plan Format
“What is a Community?” Skit
a skit between 2 people discussing the
different characteristics in a community and
how they are important.
This skit must include:
 A definition of a community
 Important parts of a community
 How communities can look different
 And, at least 5 speaking lines per
person in the skit.
“Welcome to our Community” Essay
an essay that would have a student explain
how they would describe the town’s
community (and the different characteristics
of the community) to a visitor.
This essay must include:
 A definition of a community
 Important parts of a community
 A description of your own community
and the important parts of the
community.
 And, a comparison between your
community and another community.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Copy/Paste THREE formative assessments here.

Writing prompts for first tiered task (group 1 is first, group 3 is last)

Writing a Letter
Directions: We have talked about many different communities today in class, including urban,
suburban, and rural communities. Today, you will write a letter to someone who lives in a rural
community.
Assignment: Describe our community in Lincoln to someone who lives in a rural community.
Include different parts of our community such as where you live, how you get around (like what
are does your family drive?), where you play, what your school looks like, and where you get
food.

Writing a Letter
Directions: We have talked about many different communities today in class, including urban,
suburban, and rural communities. Today, you will write a letter to someone who lives in a rural
community.
Assignment: Describe our community in Lincoln to someone who lives in a rural community.
Talk about where you live, where you play, where you get food, and other things about your
community. Then, come up with 2 or 3 questions to ask in your letter about what it is like to live
in a rural community.

Writing a Letter
Directions: We have talked about many different communities today in class, including urban,
suburban, and rural communities. Today, you will write a letter to someone who lives in a rural
community.
Assignment: Describe our community in Lincoln to someone who lives in a rural community.
Talk about where you live, where you play, where you get food, and other things about your
community. Then, come up with 2 or 3 questions to ask in your letter about what it is like to live
in a rural community. Once you have written down your questions, come up with a possible
answer to each of your questions.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Graphic organizers for second tiered task

Name: ____________
A _______ Community
My Community
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Name: _______________

A ___________ Community My Community

 Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Name: _______________

A __________ Community My Community

Food: Food:

Play: Play:

Language: Language:

Clothing: Clothing:

Family: Family:

Other Interesting Facts:

Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Checklist for posters

Poster Checklist
Get into your group
Go over all of your graphic organizers and pick out the most
important points from both of the two communities that you
researched.
Make sure you have at least 3 different facts about each
culture.
Be sure to talk about what makes the cultures the same and
what makes them different.
Once you have your important points picked out, write them on
your poster using your best handwriting. Make sure to leave
room for pictures!
Find pictures online or draw your own pictures to describe the
different cultures.
Have fun creating your poster!
Presentation:
Get together with another group that did a different
community than you did and present your poster to them.
Give the other group 2 stars and a wish.
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Assessment for Learning and Differentiation Reflection

Differentiation and assessment go hand in hand. Without assessment, there is no way to know

how to differentiate for the students’ need, and without differentiation, the students are not able to

learn in the most effective manner. These different ideas form a cycle of assessing the students’ learning

and then differentiating to meet their needs; one without the other is ineffective and could become

harmful to the students’ learning. In my unit plan, I made certain to include multiple formative

assessments that would be used to inform my teaching as I differentiate later in the unit.

There were many times in my unit plan where I purposefully differentiated to help my students

learn in the most productive way possible. For my pre-assessment, I used a writing prompt that included

both writing and drawing so that my students with limited writing skills would still be able to

demonstrate their knowledge to me through their drawings and through explaining their drawings to

me. Through this assessment, I can differentiate process by readiness. My summative assessment was

also differentiated – product by learning profile; I wanted to make sure that the students were all

meeting the required standards; therefore, I didn’t choose to differentiate by readiness, but I also

wanted to make sure that the students were invested in the assessment and had a choice in what they

did. I chose to use learning profile because I wanted to give students the opportunity to show their work

in the way that they prefer to learn. Some of my formative assessment were also purposefully

differentiated. The tiered task letters connected process and readiness by having students write letters

at the level that they understood the material; the material taught was all at the same level, but my

students’ writing proficiency and ability to think abstractly are all different. I wanted students to show

their work at the level that they were ready to share it. My tiered graphic organizers were also

differentiated by process and readiness and varied in how structured the information needed to be and

how abstract the students were thinking. My cultural community poster was another differentiated

formative assessment, but this assessment was differentiated content by interest. Students were able to

choose from a couple of cultural examples the one that they found the most interesting to study; once
Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

they research their cultural communities, they create a poster in their groups. While differentiating by

readiness is important, I didn’t want every assessment to be differentiated that way, so I included

student choice into my unit. Differentiation is important in teaching because it helps students learn in

the zone where they can grow, with instruction that is not too easy or too difficult.

Another important aspect of my unit plan was purposeful assessments. I chose many of my

assessment to help further my instruction. My pre-assessment was used as a starting block to help me

see where my students are in their knowledge of communities. My tiered letter task as well as my

picture poster formative assessments were used to assess the students’ knowledge of the differences

between urban, suburban, and rural communities; this assessment would help me know if we were able

to move on to the next subject or if we needed more time distinguishing between these different

communities. Finally, both the graphic organizer and the small group cultural community poster were

used to assess the students’ knowledge of recognizing the similarities and differences between two

cultural communities; these assessments were purposefully put in place so that I, as the teacher, could

assess if the students were ready to move on to the next section in the unit. Assessment is a crucial part

of teaching; without assessments we would not know if the students are learning. I included

assessments that would assist me in understanding where the students are in their learning and help me

move forward in the unit.

Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Unit Plan Format

Assessment Unit Plan Project Evaluation

Learning Target’s follow correct format, provide clear direction for the unit, and are /10
comprehensive.
Pre-Assessment is clearly described and demonstrates a strong connection to the /5
learning targets.
Summative Assessment aligns with learning targets. A brief explanation of the /5
assessment, as well as a justification for the chosen format is included on the unit
plan cover page.
Summative Assessment is created and ready for student use. The assessment is /10
carefully constructed with attention paid to principles of effective assessment
discussed in class.
3-5 Formative Assessments are described clearly. Assessments are aligned with /5
learning targets.
Two Formative Assessments – Two STRATEGIC assessments for learning were /10
created to address students’ learning progress towards the learning targets. At least
one of these assessments showcases a differentiated task.
The lesson plans include all listed components with a clear connection from standard /10
to objective to assessment. Instructional plans are age appropriate, strategic, and
engaging. There is evidence that concepts are linked together or linked to real world.
The lesson plans provide evidence of the use of differentiated techniques that /20
addresses specific learning populations. A variety of differentiated options are
included to address content, process, product, and readiness, interest, and learning
profile. Differentiation is clearly articulated in the LP template DI box as well as in the
instructional sequence and assessments.

The needs of the gifted students and high achievers were addressed.
The needs of the student with an IEP and the low performing
students were addressed.
A variety of strategies are used to address the 12 average learners.
Technology is used in at least one occasion that provides a relevant learning /5
experience and stimulates interest.
Reflection unites the concepts of assessment for learning and differentiation and /10
provides a summary and justification for the choices made in the unit.
3 paragraphs are written.
Professionalism in grammar and spelling are evident throughout plan. /5
Total Score: /95
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