Overview of Work
Revised MISD Genre Units
This series of literature units includes most of the original Macomb ISD genre units used by many districts across the county and state. For the past four years, Fraser teachers led by Dr. Elaine Weber revised the units to reflect current standards, competencies and expectations.
The initial charge from Assistant Superintendent, Carrie Wozniak, was to make learning more efficient and less isolated by linking science, social studies and literature together in an interdisciplinary unit. After months of pondering, the content areas were integrated at the concept/generalization level. Each interdisciplinary unit employs two concepts linked with a verb, forming a generalization that guides student’s thinking to the most abstract level.
On this website you will find three literature units per grade level for grades three to six. Within each unit students are prompted to think through the literature at the concept/generalization level revealing universal connections. At the same time, students are guided to read close and analytically to identify the content of the text as well as the craft of the author, that leads to disclosing the wisdom offered by the story. To ensure students are reflecting on what the author actually said or did, they are required to support their thinking with evidence from the text.
Fraser teachers have reported that students have enjoyed finding the evidence to support their thinking. Teachers have further shared many powerful insights that students have made using the concepts/generalizations as they reflect on the story at the most abstract/generative level.
Our greatest hope in sharing these units is that your students will have opportunities to read real literature at both the deep and analytical levels while also gaining universal/abstract insights.
Link to MRA Presentation - August 2nd, 2018
This series of literature units includes most of the original Macomb ISD genre units used by many districts across the county and state. For the past four years, Fraser teachers led by Dr. Elaine Weber revised the units to reflect current standards, competencies and expectations.
The initial charge from Assistant Superintendent, Carrie Wozniak, was to make learning more efficient and less isolated by linking science, social studies and literature together in an interdisciplinary unit. After months of pondering, the content areas were integrated at the concept/generalization level. Each interdisciplinary unit employs two concepts linked with a verb, forming a generalization that guides student’s thinking to the most abstract level.
On this website you will find three literature units per grade level for grades three to six. Within each unit students are prompted to think through the literature at the concept/generalization level revealing universal connections. At the same time, students are guided to read close and analytically to identify the content of the text as well as the craft of the author, that leads to disclosing the wisdom offered by the story. To ensure students are reflecting on what the author actually said or did, they are required to support their thinking with evidence from the text.
Fraser teachers have reported that students have enjoyed finding the evidence to support their thinking. Teachers have further shared many powerful insights that students have made using the concepts/generalizations as they reflect on the story at the most abstract/generative level.
Our greatest hope in sharing these units is that your students will have opportunities to read real literature at both the deep and analytical levels while also gaining universal/abstract insights.
Link to MRA Presentation - August 2nd, 2018