Unit Plan: Imagine!
Creative Writing
English Language Arts / Grade 4-5
Big Ideas
English Language Arts 4-5
- Using language in creative and playful ways helps us understand how language works.
Visual Arts 4-5
- Creative expression is a means to explore and share one’s identity within a community.
- Engaging in creative expression and experiences expands people’s sense of identity and belonging.
Concepts:
- Creativity
- Imagination
Essential Questions
Students will keep considering…
- How can I express my creative ideas effectively in oral and written language?
Evaluative Criteria
Formative Assessment
- Participation in classroom activities: reading circles, listening to peers, reading stories, etc.
- Planning and drafts of story writing : editing and revising
- Journaling: students write weekly journals and choose one to hand in
- Teacher observation in class
Summative Assessment
- Creative story: “What happens on your perfect day”?
- Storytelling: share story out loud with the class
- Journaling: students hand in one journal assignment (they choose the best from the unit)
Monitoring Progress
Teacher will monitor progress:
Teachers can monitor progress through ongoing formative assessment including but not limited to:
- N/A
Resources
TEXTS
- Imagine by Bart Vivian
- Imagine a Day by Rob Gonsalves and Sarah L. Thomson
- Imagine a Place by Rob Gonsalves and Sarah L. Thomson
- Imagine a Night by Rob Gonsalves and Sarah L. Thomson
Reflection
How will teachers and their students reflect on and evaluate the completed project?
Teacher Reflection
- What aspects of the unit went well?
- What did students struggle with?
- What did you struggle with?
- What would you add/revise the next time you taught this unit?
- Were there any unintended outcomes?
- Were students engaged?
Downloads
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Big Ideas
- Using language in creative and playful ways helps us understand how language works. (English Language Arts 4-5)
- Creative expression is a means to explore and share one’s identity within a community. (Arts 4)
- Engaging in creative expression and experiences expands people’s sense of identity and belonging. (Arts 5)
Concepts:
- Creativity
- Imagination
Transfer Goals
Students will be able to independently use their learning to understand that…
- Creativity and imagination are important parts of our life.
Meaning
Students will understand that…
- Creativity and imagination are important parts of our life.
Students will keep considering…
- How can I express my creative ideas effectively in oral and written language?
Acquisition
Students will be skilled at…
- Consider different purposes, audiences, and perspectives in exploring texts
- Apply a variety of thinking skills to gain meaning from texts
- Identify how differences in context, perspectives, and voice influence meaning in texts
- Recognize the role of language in personal, social, and cultural identity
- Recognize how literary elements, techniques, and devices enhance meaning in texts
CONTENT
Students will know…
- writing processes
- features of oral language
- Story/text: forms, functions, and genres of text, text features, literary elements, literary devices, evidence
Which Core Competencies will be integrated into the unit?
Creative Thinking & Communication
- I can get new ideas, build on other’s ideas and add new ideas of my own, or combine other people’s ideas in new ways to create new things or solve straightforward problems. My ideas are fun, entertaining, or useful for me and my peers, and I have a sense of accomplishment. I can usually make my ideas work within the constraints of a given form, problem, or materials if I keep playing with them.
- I can develop a body of creative work over time in an area of interest or passion.
- I gather basic information I need for school tasks and for my own interests, and present it in ways I have learned. I am becoming an active listener; I ask questions and make connections. When I talk and work with peers, I express my ideas and encourage others to express theirs; I share roles and responsibilities. I recount and comment on events and experiences.
First People's Principles of Learning
The following resources are made available through the British Columbia Ministry of Education. For more information, please visit BC’s New Curriculum.
Big Ideas
The Big Ideas consist of generalizations and principles and the key concepts important in an area of learning. The Big Ideas represent what students will understand at the completion of the curriculum for their grade. They are intended to endure beyond a single grade and contribute to future understanding.
Core Competencies
Communications Competency
The set of abilities that students use to impart and exchange information, experiences and ideas, to explore the world around them, and to understand and effectively engage in the use of digital media
Thinking Competency
The knowledge, skills and processes we associate with intellectual development
Social Competency
The set of abilities that relate to students’ identity in the world, both as individuals and as members of their community and society
Curricular Competencies & Content
Curricular Competencies are the skills, strategies, and processes that students develop over time. They reflect the “Do” in the Know-Do-Understand model of curriculum. The Curricular Competencies are built on the thinking, communicating, and personal and social competencies relevant to disciplines that make up an area of learning.
Additional Resources
First People's Principles of Learning
To read more about First People’s Principles of Learning, please click here.
For classroom resources, please visit the First Nations Education Steering Committee.
