How to create a unit of study

- Hello, everyone, welcome to this video on how to design a unit of study. My name is Chris Fountain, the English Subject Lead here at Oak. I'm gonna walk you through six steps on how to design a unit of study, using an English unit on "Macbeth" as an example, but you can apply these steps when designing units in any subject. So, let's get started. Step one, identify the unit's intended outcome. Always start at the end. Why does this unit exist and what do you want it to achieve? For example, it might be preparing pupils for a particular exam, such as a GCSE or providing essential foundational knowledge for a later unit. Once you have established this, decide what you want pupils to know and be able to do by the end of the unit. Try to summarise this in a short sentence or two. This should be the driving force of your unit design. For example, the intended outcome for my "Macbeth" unit could be, by the end of the unit, pupils will have a detailed and nuanced understanding of the plot, characters, themes, and contexts of the play and can write originally and critically about all of them. This intended outcome can then drive the rest of your design. Step two, place the unit within your existing curriculum. First, decide where this new unit fits within the context of your wider curriculum. Is it near the beginning of pupil's curriculum journey or towards the end? This will affect how you draw on the rest of the curriculum in your unit design. Then look for similar units within your curriculum. For example, what other Shakespeare units are there? When designing my GCSE "Macbeth" unit, this might include "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in year seven, "The Tempest" in year eight, and "Julius Caesar" in year nine. Once I have this information, I need to cross reference what pupils learn in those units with my plans for the new unit. What foundational knowledge or definitions have they already learned that I need to be consistent with? Knowing that will help me to think about how to build on that knowledge. For example, how can I advance pupil's understanding of tragedy from "Julius Caesar"? What did they learn about Jacobean England in "The Tempest" that is relevant to "Macbeth"? This thinking will sharpen my unit's focus and ensure knowledge develops sequentially and logically within the curriculum. Step three, decide the unit's core content and vocabulary. Now you have defined your outcome and placed the unit within the curriculum, you'll need to decide on the core content and vocabulary to include. Be methodical. Write down the key learning points you want to cover in the unit. Don't worry about organising them into lessons for now, just specify what you want pupils to learn in order to meet your intended outcome. In my "Macbeth" unit, key learning points might include, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a tragic hero, and James I wrote a book about witchcraft before becoming King of England. Similarly, list the tier two and three vocabulary to teach in this unit. Tier two vocabulary will be transferable across multiple subjects. In my "Macbeth" unit, this might include the words divine and paranoia. Tier three vocabulary is technical and subject specific. In my unit, this might include the words soliloquy and foil. Step four, sequence the content and create a unit plan. You now need to work out how many lessons you have available to teach this content. Will you be teaching it over one half term or two? How many lessons does that total? Get a firm number, but remember to leave space for disruption at the beginning and end of the term, as well as events throughout the period. I would recommend leaving about five lessons of space for disruption and reteaching. Then look at your key learning points and vocabulary lists. Order them into a logical progression. What do pupils need to learn first? What will they learn later? Now, you have confirmed lesson numbers and a knowledge sequence. Start to populate those lessons. Keep it simple at this stage. Distribute the key learning points and vocabulary across the lessons, being mindful of cognitive load and progression. Once you have done this, tweak and tighten it by adding lesson titles and outcomes to each lesson. You might need to adjust or rearrange some key learning points to ensure all lessons are purposeful and manageable. Step five, create the lesson resources in blocks. This is the time intensive part. Start making the lesson resources in the format that works best for you and your colleagues, if you're sharing the resources. This might mean making lesson slides, workbooks, or detailed lesson guides. Do whichever will create the best outcomes for your pupils. Making resources around your day-to-day teaching commitments is tough, so try to identify a weekly slot that you can dedicate to it. I find it best to make my resources in blocks of three or four lessons. This helps to solidify logical links between the lesson resources. A good tip is to have four lesson resources open at the same time, so you can quickly flick between them and check consistency. Step six, review and iterate. Well done, you have finished the design process and are now ready to start teaching your new unit, but remember, the design is never really finished. Gather feedback from teachers and pupils every time you teach the unit and then use that feedback to help you iterate the unit. It will help make the unit better and better. So now we've worked through the six steps, I hope you feel more confident to start planning your unit. Good luck and enjoy, and if you need any extra support, download our Quick Guide. It includes all of the steps that I've talked through as well as prompt questions for each to help kickstart your planning. Enjoy.