Here is a sample TULP on the topic of Ancient Egypt: Unit Title: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt Sub-Unit 1: Homes and Families Content Objectives: Students will learn about types of homes and family structures in Ancient Egypt. Language Objectives: Students will be able to describe different homes and family roles. Strategy Objective: Students will create a family tree showing relationships. Sub-Unit 2: Jobs and the Economy Content Objectives: Students will learn about different jobs and the barter system in Ancient Egypt. Language Objectives: Students will be able to discuss different occupations and exchange goods. Strategy Objective: Students will role play buying and selling goods at the

2. Trapped in a Textbook
0Many teachers want to make their
lessons more interesting and fun for
their students, but they are
“trapped” into using a textbook and
have to get through a certain
number of lessons before the year is
over.

3. Types of Lessons Plans (LP)
Traditional: Thematic Units (TULPS):
o Lessons are based on
0 Units are disjointed class content
0 -the topics change daily o Deeper
or weekly o Redundant
o Language acquisition is a
0 Lessons are organized by byproduct of learning
grammar points content
C Brown UTK

4. How/Where do I start?
0 Some school curricula are more flexible than
others, so first think:
0 What area do I feel comfortable enough to talk and
teach?
0 What are can I “HANDLE” with some research, study
and preparation?
0 Go to libraries, bookstores and online to borrow
textbooks, story books, etc.
C Brown UTK

5. Choosing Materials
Textbooks:
0 Can be boring.
0 Never quite meet teachers’ needs
0 Teachers have to still find supplemental books and materials
anyway.
0 Disregard student differences in class.
0 Very costly
0 Much better to buy good reading books
0 In the U.S., school books are a multi- billions dollar business
C Brown UTK

6. Content Based Instruction
Select Select Select
content unit books Design TULP
area 3 Sub-units
elect
content
area
Each unit consists of the following:
1.Objectives: (1) Content objectives (2) Language objectives (3)
Strategy objectives
2.Priming (scaffolding)
3.Hands-on activities
4.Reading and writing
5.Problem-solving
C Brown UTK

7. TULP format
0 Thematic Unit Lesson Plans (TULPs)
0 Each TULP consists of one (big) unit.
0 The main unit consists of 3 sub-units.
0 One sub-unit is not the same as one period of class
time, i.e., 50 minutes.
0 Each sub-unit can last up to a week or even longer
depending on the level of the students.
0 Each sub-unit is determined once the concepts related to
the entire unit are decided.
C Brown UTK

8. TULP Sub-units
1. Each sub-unit has three objectives:
0 Content objectives (two objectives)
0 Language objectives (two objectives)
0 Learning strategies (recommend one strategy)
2. Priming (scaffolding) must proceed the main instruction.
3. Students must read (portions of the book or a book).
4. Reading and writing must be connected.
5. Cooperative learning is incorporated.
6. Hands-on activities are provided.
7. Problem-solving activities are included.
C Brown UTK

9. Top-down Approach
0 A TULP start a with “CONCEPTS”. “What do I
want my students to learn and know?”
0 Then continue with “essential concepts.”
0 What must they know/learn? (curriculum
requirements)
0 Go back-and-forth to adjust as your TULPs
take shape.
C Brown UTK

10. Borrowing Content
0 Content based instruction borrows the content to
teach language
0 However, content based language teachers are not
responsible for content areas
C Brown UTK

11. TULP format
The Unit
Sub-Unit 1 Sub-Unit 2 Sub-unit 3
C Brown UTK

12. TULP format
1. Spiral (Sequential) 2. Parallel
• Hierarchical
C Brown UTK

13. Spiral TULP
Builds on a topic
Nutrition
Food The Food
Nutrients
Portions Pyramid
C Brown UTK

14. Spiral TULP
Essential
Economy
Needs & Wants Goods & Services Supply & Demand
C Brown UTK

15. Spiral TULP
Relationships
Meeting Dating Marriage

16. Now you!
0What are some other ideas for
Spiral TULPs?

17. Spiral TULP
Environment
Deforestation,Forestation,
Natural Resources Climate Change
Natural Disasters

18. Spiral TULP
Music
Hip Hop Rock Reggae

19. Spiral TULP

20. Parallel TULPs
(2) My community
(Brasilia)
(1) Brazil
Geo-location
Geo-location
Climate
Climate
Language & culture Language & culture
(3) A country
I’d like
to visit
Language &
Geo-location climate
culture
C Brown UTK

21. Parallel TULPs
Celebrations
USA Korea Brazil
C Brown UTK

22. Parallel TULPs
Inventions
Car Telephone Computer
C Brown UTK

23. Parallel TULP
Transportation
Two-wheeled Four-wheeled
No wheels
Vehicles vehicles

24. Now you!
0What are some other ideas for
parallel TULPs?

25. Parallel TULP
Music
Hip Hop Rock Pop

26. Parallel TULP
Dance
Hip Hop Break Dance Axe

27. Parallel TULP

28. What kind of TULP is this?
Ancient Egypt
Daily Life Spiritual Life After-life

29. What kind of TULP is this?
Life Cycle
Butterflies Dandelions Frogs
C Brown UTK

30. 3 Objectives in each sub-unit
1. Content objectives
2. Language objectives
3. Learning strategy objectives
C Brown UTK

31. Dynamic relationships
Content Objectives: Language Objectives:
To know the process To orally describe
of photosynthesis photosynthesis
Strategy Objectives:
To use graphic organizers to aid
in describing orally
the photosynthesis process
C Brown UTK

32. Application Question
0 Is using a TULP (thematic unit lesson plan)
something that you could use in your
language classroom?
0 Based on your school curriculum, would you
be able to take content deeper?
0 What lessons from your textbooks could you
convert into a TULP?

33. Do you want to see a TULP in
action?