This unit plan was designed for a first grade reading and writing class to help students improve their literacy skills over four 40-minute lessons. Based on pre-assessments, all students were below the first grade level. The plan included activities to help students make letter-sound connections, recognize high frequency words, practice decoding, and develop fluency. Formative assessments during lessons and summative assessments after showed that most students' reading skills improved, though one student who missed the first lesson did not progress as much. The teacher reflected that interactive activities engaged students and supported learning, and collaborating more with classroom teachers could strengthen future units.

1. Teacher Candidate Unit Plan Template
Semester: Fall 2014
Part 1: Standards and Objectives
Name: Cherie Richwine
Title: Alphabet Fun with Letters and Words
Content Area: Reading and Writing Grade: First Duration: Four lessons,
40 minutes each
Standards/Evidence Outcomes:
Key Ideas and Details:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central
message or lesson.
Print Concepts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.1
Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
Phonological Awareness:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.2
Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
Phonics and Word Recognition:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
Fluency:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.4
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Speaking and Listening:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics
and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.5
Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify
ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

2. Objectives:
Students will make connections between letters and sounds.
Students will recognize high frequency words.
Students will spell and write high frequency words and decodable words.
Students will use voice-print matching with text.
Students will practice decoding words.
Students will identify beginning, middle, and final sounds in a given word.
Students will use punctuation and spaces between words correctly.
Students will use capital letters and lower case letters correctly.
Students will listen to a story and tell events from that story.
Summative Assessment (Description): Students will be assessed on the activities
they complete throughout the unit. They will also be assessed on the high frequency
words taught during the unit.
Pre-assessment (Description):
Students will take the word reading fluency test from Easy CBM for first grade. For
this assessment, students read words for one minute. Students have also taken the
100-word identification assessment for first grade during the first week of
September. Additionally, students have been frequently assessed with the iReady
reading assessment program and the Lexia reading program for developing literacy
skills. Progress monitoring scores place the students at the kindergarten level.
Pre-assessment Whole Class Data:
The students for this unit are all below the first grade level in reading. On the 100-
word assessment, scores ranged from 0 to 19 words correct out of 100 words.
Target Students (Identify one student at each level based on Pre-assessment
results. Describe each student as a learner. All student names and/or
identifying information must be redacted.)
Below Proficient Student: All students for this unit are below proficient. One
student displays difficulty with retaining information that has been
previously taught to him.
Proficient Student: N/A
Above Proficient Student: N/A
Differentiation/UDL Considerations(Based on Pre-assessment):
Below Proficient Student: The students for this unit are below proficient.
When the students show strengths during the unit, they will work
independently. Students will need support for retaining information through
practice and repetition of skills taught to them.
Proficient: N/A
Above Proficient Student: N/A

3. Summative Assessment: Whole Class Data
**All student names and/or identifying information must be redacted.
On the Easy CBM assessment, most of the students’ scores increased in the percentile rank
for reading first grade words. The scores are also based on word identification skills for the
first trimester of first grade. The assessment included some of the words from the unit as
well as other first grade level words. Students were also assessed on 25 words from the
100-word test. The test included all of the high frequency words taught during the unit.
Students’ scores at the end of the unit ranged from 20 – 23 words correct out of 25.
Students also demonstrated knowledge during the activities. They read words during the
memory games, wrote high frequency words correctly, and arranged words to create a
sentence.
Student Easy CBM Test on 12/2 Easy CBM Test on 12/17
1 25th PR* 50th PR
2 25th PR 45th PR
3 55th PR 73rd PR
4 60th PR 78th PR
5 30th PR 30th PR
*Percentile Rank
Summative Assessment: Target Students Data
**All student names and/or identifying information must be redacted.
Below Proficient Student: Student 5 was the only student that did not show
progress on the Easy CBM test. He also missed the first lesson of the unit, so he did
not learn and practice the words a much as the other students. He is making
progress and learning to read, but his progress is slower compared to his peers.
Student 3 is making a lot of progress, and he is showing that he can read at grade
level. He struggles more with expressive language and demonstrating his
knowledge through verbal responses.
Proficient:
Above Proficient Student:
Part 6: Final Reflection
Write a succinct response to each of these prompts:
1. Describe the strengths of your unit.
I think the activities I used for the unit supported the students with learning to read.
During the activities, students were very engaged and they used visual, auditory,
and kinesthetic senses to support learning. Students had fun during the unit and
expressed to me that they liked coming to the group.

4. 2. Summarize student learning as a result of this unit (whole class and your
target students).
The students learned to read high frequency words found in the books. As a result of
this unit, students’ assessment scores for reading words improved and they learned
to read the words from the unit. This demonstrates that practice and interactive
activities supports these students with learning to read.
3. Note any modifications you might make to your unit to increase student
learning.
Overall, I felt my unit supported the students with developing reading skills. The
main modification I would make with my unit requires making additional time to
allow students the opportunity to read sections of the books, find the words within
the text, and practice with writing or using the words in a sentence more often. I
could also extend the lessons over two days to give students more time to review
and practice the words.
4. Describe your strengths as an instructor.
I feel I build a good rapport with students that supports them with being able to take
risks while learning. The students trust me and feel safe to talk to me. I take time to
learn about their interests and I try to incorporate activities around their preferred
interests. I think this supports students with remaining engaged during lessons and
building upon their background knowledge for learning new concepts.
5. What did you learn through this process?
Collaboration and communication with the general education teachers is important
for supporting the students. It would be beneficial to have copies of their weekly
plans and as much detail as possible about what the students are working on in the
classroom. As I developed my unit, I realized that I had very little information about
what the students were learning in the classroom. More collaboration with the
teachers may support me in developing ideas for units and build upon what
students are learning in the classroom.