Integrated

Unit Assignment
Karen Lee Pickett
VIU: Fall 2018

The Unit Plan

Overview Theme: Living Newspaper
Description of theme
and the content Subject Areas: drama, English language arts, social studies,
Subject area curricula math, art
addressed

Rationale Value: Students gain insight about current events and
Value of the unit for writing and performing plays about those events. They will
students’ lives work collaboratively to create plays and set designs, and
development, and analyze real-world parameters around small-scale touring
learning. shows. Students will create a short play based on current
Describe how First events. Students will design production elements, including
People’s Principles of set designs. Through writing, reading, speaking, and visually
Learning is addressed representing, students will learn how they can express
themselves and bring understanding to issues that they care
about.

First Peoples Principals: Learning ultimately supports the
well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the
spirits, and the ancestors; Learning is holistic, reflexive,
reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on
connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense
of place); Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story;
Learning involves patience and time.
Curricular (Please see following page for detailed curriculum
Connections connections)
Curricular Connections Drama: devising & performing
and Content explored English: playwriting, reading analysis, collaboration
through the unit Socials: 1930s History, culture of news
Math: measurement & estimation
Art: Theatre set design
Materials Lesson 1:
Summary list from • The NEWS slide presentation
lesson plans • https://theprovince.com/tag/cowichan-valley
• https://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/
• Federal Theatre Project video
• Envelopes containing two headlines each

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 Lesson 4:
• Quads from last class
• CBC Macdonald statue story:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-
columbia/john-a-macdonald-statue-victoria-city-hall-
lisa-helps-1.4782065
• Walking Eagle (First Nations satire site) Macdonald
statue story:
https://walkingeaglenews.com/2018/08/29/death-
toll-from-sir-john-a-macdonald-statue-removal-
continues-to-climb/

Lesson 6:
• https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-
cm-hamilton-takes-los-angeles-20170813-story.html
• measuring tapes
• Unit set cube (full sized; these are often in a drama
room)
• On the road handout
• Graph paper
• Calculators
Scope and Sequence *Lesson 1: The NEWS – intro to unit
List of the lesson topics Lesson 2: Five Ws. Finding news piece to present.
through the unit Lesson 3: Bringing news alive: movement
*Lesson 4: How do we know news? Medium and message.
Looking at different ways to convey news.
Lesson 5: Living Newspaper: Stage set. Elements of design.
Introduce design assignment.
*Lesson 6: Math: on the road
Lesson 7 through 11: rehearsal, studio time, revision
Lesson 12: Play presentation, gallery walk & reception
*lesson plans provided
Culminating Activity Students will present their short plays, with their scenic
Culminating activity design artworks as projection backdrops. They will engage
that students will in a gallery walk and reception to appreciate each others’
engage in/create as work.
evidence of their
learning

Established Goals (big ideas):

English Spoken Language 10:

• The exploration of text and story deepens our understanding of diverse, complex ideas about
identity, others, and the world.
• People understand text differently depending on their world views and perspectives.
• Texts are socially, culturally, geographically, and historically constructed.
• Language shapes ideas and influences others.

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 • Voice is powerful and evocative.

Drama 10
• Drama communicates ideas, emotions, and perspectives through movement, sound, imagery, and
language.
• Active participation in drama creates personal and cultural connections and reveals insights into
human experience.
• Drama offers dynamic ways of exploring our identity and sense of belonging.
• Growth as an artist requires active engagement, risk taking, and reflection.
• Drama cultivates collaboration through critical reflection, creative co-operation, and the exchange
of ideas.

Math 10
• 3D objects can be examined mathematically by measuring directly and indirectly length, surface
area, and volume.
• Representing and analyzing data allows us to notice and wonder about relationships.

Socials 10
• The development of political institutions is influenced by economic, social, ideological, and
geographic factors.

Art Studio 10
• An artist's intention transforms materials into art.
• Growth as an artist requires time, patience, and reflection.
• The creation of visual art relies on the interplay of the mind and body.

Students will be able to: Students will know;

(competencies – include BC curriculum citation)
English Spoken Language 10:
• Respectfully exchange ideas and viewpoints
from diverse perspectives to build shared
understanding and extend thinking
• Assess and refine texts to improve clarity and
impact
• Demonstrate speaking and listening skills in a
variety of formal and informal contexts for a
range of purposes
• Explore appropriate spoken language formats
for intended purposes
• Use writing and design processes to plan,
develop, and create spoken language and
other texts for a variety of purposes and
audiences
• Express and support an opinion with evidence
• Use the conventions of Canadian spelling,
grammar, and punctuation proficiently and as
appropriate to the context
• Transform ideas and information to create
original texts
(content– include BC curriculum citation)
English Spoken Language 10:
• Text forms and text genres, including
creative spoken forms
o Text features and structures
o oral text features and
structures
• Strategies and processes
o reading strategies
o oral language strategies
o metacognitive strategies
o writing processes
o presentation techniques
• Language features, structures, and
conventions
o features of oral language
o elements of style
o rhetorical devices
o persuasive techniques
o usage and conventions
o literary elements and devices
o literal and figurative meaning

Drama 10
• Explore and create
o Explore and create dramatic works to
express ideas and emotions
o Explore dramatic works through
presentation or performance
o Develop a repertoire of dramatic skills
and techniques through presentation
or performance
o Intentionally select and combine
Drama 10
• drama elements, principles, vocabulary,
and symbols
• strategies and techniques to support
creative processes
• character development
• drama forms and conventions
• skills specific to a drama genre and/or
style

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 drama conventions • the role of the performer, audience, and
o Create dramatic works with an venue
intended audience in mind • movement, sound, image, and form
o Improvise and take creative risks to • traditional and contemporary First
express meaning Peoples worldviews and cross-cultural
• Reason and reflect perspectives communicated through
o Describe, analyze, and respond using drama
drama-specific language
o Apply feedback to develop and refine
ideas
o Examine the influences of social,
cultural, historical, environmental, and
personal context on drama
• Communicate and document

o Express personal voice to respond to
environmental and social issues
Connect and expand
•
o Demonstrate personal and social

responsibility associated with
creating, performing, and responding
to dramatic performance
o Demonstrate respect for self, others,

and the audience
o Explore First Peoples perspectives
and knowledge, other ways of
knowing, and local cultural knowledge
to gain understanding through
dramatic works
o Make connections with family and
community through drama and
theatre

Math 10
Math 10
• Reasoning and modelling
• Metric and imperial measurement
o Develop thinking strategies to solve
and conversions
puzzles and play games
o with a focus on length as a
o Explore, analyze, and apply
means to increase
mathematical ideas using reason,
computational fluency
technology, and other tools
o using tools and appropriate
o Estimate reasonably and demonstrate
units to measure with accuracy
fluent, flexible, and strategic thinking
• surface area and volume
about number
o including prisms and cylinders,
o Model with mathematics in situational
formula manipulation
contexts
o contextualized problems
o Think creatively and with curiosity and
involving 3D shapes
wonder when exploring problems
• Understanding and solving
o Develop, demonstrate, and apply
conceptual understanding of
mathematical ideas through play,
story, inquiry, and problem solving
o Visualize to explore and illustrate
mathematical concepts and
relationships
o Apply flexible and strategic
approaches to solve problems
o Solve problems with persistence and
a positive disposition
• Communicating and representing
o Explain and justify mathematical
ideas and decisions in many ways
o Represent mathematical ideas in

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 concrete, pictorial, and symbolic
forms
o Use mathematical vocabulary and
language to contribute to discussions
in the classroom
• Connecting and reflecting
o Reflect on mathematical thinking
o Connect mathematical concepts with
each other, other areas, and personal
interests
o Use mistakes as opportunities to
advance learning
o Incorporate First Peoples worldviews,
perspectives, knowledge, and

practices to make connections with
mathematical concepts
Social Studies 10

Social Studies 10
• Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills
to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze • environmental, political, and economic
ideas and data; and communicate findings and policies
decisions • advocacy for human rights, including
• Assess the justification for competing accounts findings and recommendations of the
after investigating points of contention, Truth and Reconciliation Commission
reliability of sources, and adequacy of
evidence, including data (evidence)
• Assess how underlying conditions and the
actions of individuals or groups influence

events, decisions, or developments, and
analyze multiple consequences (cause and
consequence)
• Explain and infer different perspectives on past
or present people, places, issues, or events by
considering prevailing norms, values,
worldviews, and beliefs (perspective)
• Make reasoned ethical judgments about
actions in the past and present, and assess
appropriate ways to remember and respond
(ethical judgment)
Art Studio 10
Art Studio 10
• elements of visual art
• Explore and create
• principles of design
o Create artistic works using sensory
• image development strategies
inspiration, imagination, and inquiry
• materials, techniques, and technologies
o Explore artistic possibilities and take
creative risks • creative processes
o Create artistic works with an audience • use of symbols and metaphors to
in mind represent ideas and perspectives
o Express meaning, intent, and emotion • role of the artist and audience
through visual art • role of visual art in social justice issues
o Demonstrate safe and responsible
use of materials, tools, and work
space

• Reason and reflect
o Describe and analyze how artists use
materials, technologies, processes,
and environments in art making
o Reflect on the influences of a variety
of contexts on artistic works
• Communicate and document
o Document, share, and appreciate

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 works of art in a variety of contexts
o Demonstrate respect for self, others,
and place
o Communicate ideas through art
making
o Communicate and respond to social
and environmental issues through
visual art
• Connect and expand
o Explore First Peoples perspectives
and knowledge, other ways of
knowing, and local cultural knowledge
through artistic works
o Create artistic works that demonstrate
personal, cultural, and historical
contexts

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BLOCK PLAN

WEEK 1 Mon Intro – what is news? How do we get
news? Activities looking at news stories
and headlines. Brief introduction of
Federal Theatre Project & Living
Newspapers. Introduce Living Newspaper
project.

Tues The five Ws. POV and accuracy. DUE: printed headline
In class

Wed Bringing news alive: movement

Thur How do we know news? Medium and

message. Looking at different ways to
convey news.

Fri Living Newspaper: Stage set. Elements of DUE: five printed news
design. Introduce design assignment. stories.

WEEK 2 Mon On the road! Introduction of unit set. Math

lesson based on packing a touring van.

Tues Peer editing/feedback. Studio time. DUE: On the road plan;

Draft of scripts.

Wed Revising & casting

Thur Rehearsal; studio time DUE: Final scripts

Fri Rehearsal; studio time DUE: Set design

OFF BOOK

WEEK 3 Mon Final rehearsals

Tues Play presentations & gallery

walk/reception