Units of study Overview
What Are Units of Study?
A unit of study is a way of organizing literacy instruction that allows the class to explore a particular topic in depth over the course of several weeks. The topic of a unit of study may be a comprehension strategy, a genre, an author, or a line of inquiry such as “Reading Like a Writer” or “Strategies to Figure Out Unfamiliar Words.”
A unit of study is a way of organizing literacy instruction that allows the class to explore a particular topic in depth over the course of several weeks. The topic of a unit of study may be a comprehension strategy, a genre, an author, or a line of inquiry such as “Reading Like a Writer” or “Strategies to Figure Out Unfamiliar Words.”
What Is Essential about Units of Study?
Focus on Essential Understanding
The unit of study topic determines the instructional content and focus standards of Readers’ Workshop for several weeks. Therefore, these units of study center around “big ideas” and major concepts for a particular grade level rather than isolated skills (e.g., syllabication or parts of speech) or superficial themes (e.g., apples or holidays).
Trajectories of Lessons
The lessons within a unit of study are arranged in a trajectory, a logical sequence that helps students deepen their understanding of the unit focus over time.
Appropriate Texts
Teaching a unit of study requires a variety of texts appropriate to the genre, author, or reading strategy under study. The teacher develops a collection of picture books, short text pieces, and excerpts for focus lessons, and ensures the classroom library contains an appropriate selection of related books for independent reading.
Assessment Informs Instruction
Although units of study are typically planned in advance, teachers often modify the plan as required to meet students’ needs. Important reading strategies and concepts can be taught as students move toward mastery. By observing the class, conducting reading conferences, and using other forms of formative assessment, the teacher decides when to revisit particular lessons and when to move on.
Alignment
To ensure students receive a comprehensive education as they progress through the grades, the school or district organizes units of study across the grade levels and aligns them with the state standards. Units of study on particular reading strategies or genres are often taught in more than one grade, and these units build upon one another so that students develop more sophisticated understandings and apply them to more challenging texts. Students also learn to integrate and apply the various reading strategies and concepts they have learned, using them to improve their overall understanding and response to challenging, grade-level text.
How are Balanced Literacy components connected through Units of Study?
At the beginning of the unit, the teacher names the new unit of study, explains the general topics they will be exploring in the coming weeks, and provides any foundational knowledge or vocabulary students will need. During the unit, the daily focus lessons all relate to this topic, building upon one another to grow student understanding. The teacher may ask students to focus their independent reading on the genre or author being explored, or to practice the strategy they are learning. Explicit teaching during Shared Reading and Interactive Read Aloud may also be used to reinforce the unit goals. Often times during the course of the school year, Readers’ Workshop and Writers’ Workshop units of study are connected (e.g., Poetry), with one curricular area providing the background, support, or application for the other. By the end of the multi-week unit, students will become experts in a new genre or author, and/or they will have had explicit teaching and repeated practice in a set of complex reading strategies.
Focus on Essential Understanding
The unit of study topic determines the instructional content and focus standards of Readers’ Workshop for several weeks. Therefore, these units of study center around “big ideas” and major concepts for a particular grade level rather than isolated skills (e.g., syllabication or parts of speech) or superficial themes (e.g., apples or holidays).
Trajectories of Lessons
The lessons within a unit of study are arranged in a trajectory, a logical sequence that helps students deepen their understanding of the unit focus over time.
Appropriate Texts
Teaching a unit of study requires a variety of texts appropriate to the genre, author, or reading strategy under study. The teacher develops a collection of picture books, short text pieces, and excerpts for focus lessons, and ensures the classroom library contains an appropriate selection of related books for independent reading.
Assessment Informs Instruction
Although units of study are typically planned in advance, teachers often modify the plan as required to meet students’ needs. Important reading strategies and concepts can be taught as students move toward mastery. By observing the class, conducting reading conferences, and using other forms of formative assessment, the teacher decides when to revisit particular lessons and when to move on.
Alignment
To ensure students receive a comprehensive education as they progress through the grades, the school or district organizes units of study across the grade levels and aligns them with the state standards. Units of study on particular reading strategies or genres are often taught in more than one grade, and these units build upon one another so that students develop more sophisticated understandings and apply them to more challenging texts. Students also learn to integrate and apply the various reading strategies and concepts they have learned, using them to improve their overall understanding and response to challenging, grade-level text.
How are Balanced Literacy components connected through Units of Study?
At the beginning of the unit, the teacher names the new unit of study, explains the general topics they will be exploring in the coming weeks, and provides any foundational knowledge or vocabulary students will need. During the unit, the daily focus lessons all relate to this topic, building upon one another to grow student understanding. The teacher may ask students to focus their independent reading on the genre or author being explored, or to practice the strategy they are learning. Explicit teaching during Shared Reading and Interactive Read Aloud may also be used to reinforce the unit goals. Often times during the course of the school year, Readers’ Workshop and Writers’ Workshop units of study are connected (e.g., Poetry), with one curricular area providing the background, support, or application for the other. By the end of the multi-week unit, students will become experts in a new genre or author, and/or they will have had explicit teaching and repeated practice in a set of complex reading strategies.
