Instruction & Management Plan

American Dream Unit Overview

Lessons

The Boom,
The Dream,
The Crash

The American
Dream as
Literature

The Evolution
of the
American
Dream: Then
& Now

1920s
Issues,
Culture,
People,
& The
America
n Dream

F. Scott
Fitzgeral
ds The
Great
Gatsby
Style,
Plot,
Themes,
Symbols
& The
America
n Dream

The
Evolution of
the American
Dream:
Where we
were, where
we are,
where will
we go?

1. KWL Pre- Assessment

2. Intro. The Roaring
Twenties
3. Decade Texture Texts
4. Decade Research
5. Decade
Talks/Presentation
6. Fitzgeralds Writing
Style& Gatsby
7. Figurative Language
8. Gatsby Party Plan
9. Plicker Pre-Assessment
10.

Narrative Writing

11.
Gatsby Discussion &
Plickers

12.
SWBS & Socratic
Seminar Prep
13.
Socratic Seminar
14.
Cost of Living
Inflation
15.
Interviewing
16.
Writing Process
Outlining
17.
Writing Process
Drafting/Peer Editing
18.
Post-Assessment:
Plickers & KWL

Explanation of the Unit Sequence

The unit is sequenced in a way where build a foundation of historical knowledge,
and learn how it changes and influences generations over time. Throughout the unit,
they will engage with various activities and assignments that reinforce knowledge of:
The definition of the 1920s American Dream, and how it has evolved over time.
How historical events, ideas, and issues have influenced change over time.
Understanding various perspectives from the 1920s decade.
Different Writing Styles
We start off by understanding the basics, and building a foundation of knowledge,
historically understanding the 1920s, and the definition of the American Dream. This
will then lead students into doing self-guided research on topics and issues they want to
learn more about. Now having a historical context of the times, students begin reading F.
Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, in which portrays and illuminates aspects of the
upper-class lifestyles of the American Dream. Through this novel, students not only gain
the authors perspective of the decade and the American Dream, but also learn about his
style of narrative writing and use of figurative language. With the plot, themes, and
symbols from the novel under their belts, students would then be doing self-guided
research, to gain different perspectives and beliefs about the American Dream. They
would learn how to create and respond to Level Three questions, and then interview
people of their choosing, spanning three different decades. Once well researched,
students would formulate their personal, modern day definition of the American Dream.
They were to take all perspectives, knowledge, and research into consideration, and then
analyze how and what influenced their definition of the American Dream. The unit would
conclude by students discussing what their newfound definition means to their future,
their community, and America as a whole.

Methods of Integrating Literacy, Numeracy, and Technology

Literacy:
1920s Events, Issues, & People Texture Texts students read an assortment
of articles from and about 1920s events, issues, & people. Students then
took detailed notes about selected articles in the form of a note-catcher.
F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Spread out over the course of three
weeks, students read the novel in its entirety. Each week, they would submit
a series of Sticky Notes, in which reflected their engagement with the text,
by marking quotations or scenes where they could: Visualize, Connect,
Clarify, Predict, Question, or Evaluate.

Figurative Language In conjunction with reading Fitzgeralds novel,

students also reviewed and practiced his writing style, figurative language.
Students located examples of different figurative language elements used by

Fitzgeralds throughout The Great Gatsby. This reinforced their existing

knowledge of figurative language, and helped them become more familiar
with the text, and the ways Fitzgerald wrote.
Narrative Writing As a way of creatively disseminating the plot, context,
and characters, students wrote a narrative from either the perspective of a
1920s person, or a Gatsby character. Students were to follow the style of
narrative writing by including a beginning, middle, and end that incorporated
aspects of characterization, tone, dialogue, conflict, resolution/reflection.
Their narratives also needed to reflect Fitzgeralds writing style, so figurative
language was to be used to enhance narrative aspects. This assignment and
form of summative assessing not only reinforced students knowledge and
understanding of the novel, but also incorporated their knowledge of the
authors style, with a creative twist.

Interviewing Applicable skills for real life scenarios, students learned tips
and techniques to conducting and executing interviews. Students practiced
these skills by creating Open-Ended, (Level-Three Questions), that would be
used in a Socratic Seminar. They would both play the part of the
conductor in which they would ask their peers open-ended questions
pertaining to The Great Gatsby and the American Dream, and then being on
the receiving end of answering those types of questions as well. After this
activity, students then independently practiced their interviewing and
questioning skills by interviewing three different generations of people, (of
their choosing) about their American Dream beliefs. They would then use the
responses to help guide the creation of their personal American Dream
definition.
Expository Writing As the final, summative assessment, students would be
assembling all of their knowledge from the American Dream unit, into a
cohesive expository and analysis essay. The end goal was for students to see
how the idea/definition of the 1920s American Dream has evolved over
time, and define what it means to them and their future. They needed to
make claims or points about their American Dream beliefs, and use their
research of 1920s Topics, The Great Gatsby, and Generational Interviews as
supporting evidence for why they define the American Dream the way they
do. They would then analyze how these different aspects influenced their
understanding and definition of the American Dream. Students would
conclude by reflecting on the evolution of the American Dream, and look to
the future to see how these different perspectives, including their own,
impact their community and the Country as a whole.

 Quick Writes/Think, Write, Share Used for hooks or warm-up activities

students would typically have Level-Three questions they would have to
respond to, that either previewed the days lesson, or reflected on a
previous days material. As a form of collaborative learning, students would
some times be asked to share their writing and thinking of a question or
concept with a nearby peer. This would sometimes spark new or un-thoughtof ideas or answers between the two students.

Numeracy:
Cost of Living In order for students go gain a better understanding of the
decade, and what it meant to live the American Dream, students used
literacy, numeracy, and economics to determine the inflated Cost of Living
from the 1920s to present day. Using Chrome Books for Internet sources,
students researched prices of universal items that would contribute to an
average, 1920s consumers monthly cost of living. They would then use
those prices to calculate the inflated cost of those items today. Students
interpreted the data, and used it to answer a series of questions that
compared and contrasted the two decades. From this formative assessment,
students were able to gain a better understanding of the definition of The
American Dream, using it later to formulate their own definition.

Technology:
Power Point The Microsoft Office program, Power Point was at the forefront
of every lesson I taught. Daily lessons or lectures were created using mindful
and engaging Power Points, from which students interacted with and took
notes from. They often included Hook or Warm-Up questions, YouTube
video clips, and Diagrams, and detailed notes. Power Points would then be
digitally made available to students via Schoology. Students also worked
with Power Point, by creating an informal decade presentation, and for
planning a Gatsby Party. To be graded, these would then be shared with me
through Google Docs.
Chrome Books Boulder High School provides classrooms of students with
Google Chrome Books, in which we used them for research, citing and
Google Docs. Since Google engineers Chrome Books, Google Docs is ones
main source for creating, sharing, and publishing. I used Google Docs with
my students for creating, drafting, editing, and publishing; they could then

share their work with me, where I could comment and give them feedback
digitally.

YouTube I often used YouTube to introduce new ideas or concepts, because

it seemed to be the most attention grabbing and engaging. There are
several videos clips that do a really good job of educating the public in a
universal manner.
Plickers - Plickers, according to the companys website, is a powerfully
simple tool that lets teachers collect real-time formative assessment data
without the need for student devices. Plickers, is a digital form of
assessment, that allows for administrators to create multiple choice tests
that students take using an individualized image that is scanned by a
teachers cell phone, and translated through the Plickers program to
generated a pre-determined response. My students took a series of three
Plickers assessments, the first one being pre-assessment or introduction to
the unit, the second one was a mid-point assessment, and the third was a
final summative/post-assessment. It was through this incredible piece of
technology that I was given instant data regarding my students progress
and understanding, and then turn around and use that data to skew and
determine my future lessons and assignments.

Schoology is a Learning Management system that is used for grades K-12,

in which teachers can post assignments, due dates, handouts, notes, grades
and assessments for each of their classes. I learned Schoology from the
inside out, and posted Power Point lectures, daily activities and assignments,
even updates and announcements. I found this tool to be useful for not only
teachers and students, but for communicating with parents too! Parents
could be given access to the site, in which they could see everything their
child was doing in my class on a daily basis. It was also great for students
who were absent, needed material for review, or if they lost a handout I had
given them.
Instructional Strategies
Direct Instruction: was primarily used when students were doing specific
activities or assignments, in which instructions were clear, and concise. It was
used when there is a specific outcome is desired, such as with formative and
summative assessments. There are clear steps involved with a very direct end
goal that students are being assessed on.
Cooperative Learning/Presentation Model: cooperative learning takes center
stage in most of my lessons. Students took charge of the learning with other

students, through peer lead and group orientated discussions and assignments.
Assignments such as: 1920s Research & Decade Talks, Discovering Figurative
Language, Planning a Gatsby Party, and Socratic Seminars, using higher level
thinking and questioning. Students are encouraged to share their ideas with their
peers with conversation starters and warm-ups like Think, Write, Pair Share, or
Class Discussions where students express and reflect on questions, concepts, and
ideas. This not only created a closer classroom culture, but also stimulated new
ideas and growth.
Inquiry: Inquiry based instruction was the main focus of the unit. Students were
to conduct their own various methods and topics of research, and come to a
conclusion about the evolution and definition of the American Dream. There were
several inquiry-based assignments in activities, including: 1920s Research &
Decade Talks, Socratic Seminar, and Generational Interviewing. Inquiry-based
instruction seem to be the most beneficial and the most difficult for students
because they were so used to being directed on what a teacher specifically
wanted, that they didnt know how to find what they wanted to know. They always
looked for a specific prompt or direction to go in, so when I had given them the
chance to take charge of their own learning, they were lost. Although in the end,
they ended up learning about things that really mattered to them, being the most
useful type of instructional method.

Concept Teaching: Concept teaching instruction occurred when there was a

specific concept to be learned. This was typically an overarching concept that
would lead into another defining aspect of the unit. For example, at the beginning
of the unit, students became familiar with the concept of the 1920s American
Dream and the ideas behind it. We then explored the concepts of the American
Dream through narrative writing, and The Great Gatsby, understanding what it
contextually looked like. With all of those concepts grasped, while sharpening their
interviewing skills, students learned concepts of higher leveling thinking and
questioning. It was through these activities and assignments where students were
able to write a summative, expository essay where they explored the concepts and
ideas they just learned about in a cohesive manner.