MicroUnit: A collection of resources that are short, dense, thematically connected, and easily tackled in 1-3 class periods. These are best done in a single document with built-in scaffolds and supports to give students practice breaking down these texts.
MicroUnits are a great opportunity to integrate diverse texts and perspectives that students may not otherwise be getting, particularly if they are reading almost exclusively in the canon.
MicroUnits are a great opportunity to integrate diverse texts and perspectives that students may not otherwise be getting, particularly if they are reading almost exclusively in the canon.
Creating a MicroUnit
Step 1: Choose Connected Resources
If you've been teaching long enough, you probably have a mental database of texts, art pieces, and videos that you can link to whatever your central text is. However, if you're running into a road block, here are some starting points:
Step 2: Determine How You Want Students to Tackle These Resources
Because these are MicroUnits, you don't want to do anything too extensive. But there are some basic habits that you can build into your MicroUnits that will reinforce the analytical process you want students to use. Remember that there should be a central idea or question for each MicroUnit, so any strategies you choose should ultimately lead students to be able to put a piece of that overall puzzle into place.
Step 3: Determine the End Result
That is, where is all this going? Obviously by the end you want students to be able to tackle the larger thematic question or idea, but how will that look? Some options:
If you've been teaching long enough, you probably have a mental database of texts, art pieces, and videos that you can link to whatever your central text is. However, if you're running into a road block, here are some starting points:
- TED Talks: www.ted.com
- Podcasts: https://listenwise.com/, https://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/
- Poetry: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poems
- Flash Fiction: https://flashfictionmagazine.com/
- Articles: http://www.tweentribune.com/
- Art: http://www.wga.hu/index.html
- Short passages from longer texts
Step 2: Determine How You Want Students to Tackle These Resources
Because these are MicroUnits, you don't want to do anything too extensive. But there are some basic habits that you can build into your MicroUnits that will reinforce the analytical process you want students to use. Remember that there should be a central idea or question for each MicroUnit, so any strategies you choose should ultimately lead students to be able to put a piece of that overall puzzle into place.
- TED Talks: See here for a TED talk graphic organizer.
- Podcasts: See here for some podcast graphic organizers.
- Poetry: TPCASTT is a good strategy that you can use with any poem. It forces students to hone in on the most meaning-making parts of the poem and dig below the surface. Another good practice with poetry, especially with struggling readers, is to have students mark out the sentences in the poem before reading. Many students read poetry line by line instead of sentence by sentence, which makes it difficult for them to understand. Show students how to read a poem sentence by sentence, when possible.
- Flash Fiction: Somebody-Wanted-But-So is effective for flash fiction that follows a traditional plot line. You can also ask that students read the story through a specific lens, or to identify a certain device. You can also use Flash Fiction stories as an opportunity to introduce students to the Notice and Note signposts.
- Articles: For articles with a persuasive angle, SOAPSTone is a strategy to consider. There are also the Notice and Note nonfiction signposts.
- Art: I find thematic questions to work best for art analysis, since we're using the art to connect to a larger thematic idea. If you need or want a graphic organizer, though, a modified Frayer model could work, with the art in the center and the four quadrants labeled as "Colors/Images", "Tone Words," "Symbolism", and "Context", or similar.
Step 3: Determine the End Result
That is, where is all this going? Obviously by the end you want students to be able to tackle the larger thematic question or idea, but how will that look? Some options:
- A microessay (a very short, abbreviated essay that still hits all the main components of a longer essay, but allows you to focus in on essentials--thesis statement, evidence, conclusion, etc.)
- A short answer response
- A group discussion
- A whole-class Socratic Seminar-style discussion (if you have more time)
- A connection to the central text