Padlet Unit Plan

I focused on utopian and dystopian societies for my unit plan because I was unaware that interactivity # 4 will be an expansion of interactivity # 3. Regardless, I was able to make a tight connection amongst Thomas More’s On The Best State Of A Commonwealth And On The New Island Of Utopia, Apple’s 1984 commercial, George Orwell’s 1984, and contemporary government surveillance.

The Understanding by Design framework helped me develop the essential question and unit goals. First, I thought about the desired results of the unit plan. The unit goals were easy to identify after establishing the essential questions, and were a factor in choosing the content and material for the unit plan. Next, I searched on Google for utopian and dystopian unit plans. For example, Arts Edge gave me the idea to introduce the concept of a utopia through John Lenon’s Imagine. The lyrics of the song provide a smooth segue into Thomas More’s text.

I created a playlist composed of contemporary movie clips portraying dystopian characteristics on YouTube to support the themes that run through the texts; students can also add relevant videos to the playlist. Coogle will allow students to create mind maps to organize the structure and characteristics of the society in More's Utopia and Orwell's 1984. Therefore, I would use Padlet in my own teaching because it has helped me organize my thoughts about the unit plan, allow students to catch a glimpse of the unit plan, and provides students with resources.

Grade 9 English: Utopian and Dystopian Societies

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