A thank you to all those who participated in Unit Opener Planning week by posting, reading, and responding.In addition to the ideas presented on this blog:Here’s the schedule for this blog (entries posted at 7:30 AM PST):
I hope you checked out:
Jose Rodriguez’s Open Court Unit Opener Ideas including incorporating realia.
City Teacher’s ideas for Collaborative Unit Openers where teachers split responsibilities across a grade level.
Alice Mercer’s ideas for supporting unit openers in a computer lab setting.
Jane Little’s ideas for planning higher level thinking questions in the City Wildlife unit.
And Leila’s reflection on the difficulty of teaching multiple grades and planning unit openers.
I’d also like to add a special thanks to Francie Kugelman, Stephanie Penniman, and Jill Kilbrosky who sent their entries in to me or posted on the discussion board even though they didn’t have their own blogs.
Also, two first grade teachers who sent in ideas for Things That Go.
Readership was up during the week of unit opener planning and I enjoyed the excitement of reflecting on what makes an effective opening to a unit.
I have not decided on whether I’d like to have another unit opener planning week when we approach unit 3. However, I am glad that we have the entries on unit two posted and can refer back to them. Over time I hope they are discovered by more and more teachers who will add their own ideas.
If you found the week of use please let me know.