Freifeld

Hannah Freifeld
Dr. Hall
ENG391
10 Dec. 2015
Mental Health: The Power of the Mind Unit Plan
1. Unit title: Mental Illness: The Power of the Mind
2. Content area/grade/SES: ELA/8th grade/upper-middle class (Lower Moreland S.D.)
3. Objectives
a. Guiding questions
- What is the big idea about mental health?
- Why is it difficult to talk about?
- Why is it important to talk about?
b. SWBAT
- Students will read, analyze, and create informational text about mental health
- Students will identify what mental illness is in order to gain empathy in effort to
foster a classroom community
- Students will utilize figurative writing to gain perspective of the effects of mental
illness to raise awareness and create advocates
4. Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1

Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the
text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary
of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.3

Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal
aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone,
including analogies or allusions to other texts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.1

Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.2

Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text,
including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.3

Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or
events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,

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connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning
and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.7

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text,
video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1 (A-E)

Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2 (A-F)

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and
information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are
defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.6

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the
relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with
others.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.7

Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question),

drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for
multiple avenues of exploration.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.8

Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms
effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data
and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1 (A-D)

Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.4

Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with
relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact,
adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.5

Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen
claims and evidence, and add interest.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.1 (A-D)

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing
or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.2 (A-C)

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and

spelling when writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.5 (A-C)

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word

meanings.

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5. Procedures
DAY
TITLE OF LESSON
1
Introduction: What is
mental health?
2
What is normal?
3
Defining mental illnesses
4

10

What does mental illness

look like?
The social scene: No crazy
people allowed
Infographic presentations
How mental illness affects
people
Addressing
stereotypes/misconception
s
Empathy: Seeing the other
side
Knowing where to go for
help
Learning personal care

11

Learning about resources

12

Case studies

13

Speak up, speak out! (Day

1)
Speak up, speak out! (Day
2)
Advocacy poster
presentations

5
6
7
8
9

14
15

READINGS
What is mental health?

ASSIGNMENTS
Tagxedo collage
Research Infographic

Read chapters 1-3 of Kissing

Doorknobs
Animal I Have Become Three Research Infographic
Days Grace
Read chapters 4-6 of Kissing
Research Infographic
Doorknobs
Read chapters 7-9 of Kissing
Doorknobs
Read chapters 10-12 of Kissing
Doorknobs

Poem
Poem

Read chapters 13-15 of Kissing

Doorknobs
Read chapters 16-18 of Kissing
Doorknobs
Read chapters 19-21 of Kissing Social media profile
Doorknobs
Read chapters 22-23 of Kissing
Doorknobs
Recovery is Real
http://walkinourshoes.org/#/ourstories
Advocacy poster

6. Assessments
Genre
Purpose
Tagxedo
Creative text that depicts
words that make you
different in an abstract
fashion

Advocacy poster

Skills
- Use of structure
- Formatting
- Figurative language
- Effective word choice
- Visually appealing

Understanding(s)
- Shows students an
attribute about
themselves they find a
downfall can really be an
asset
- Creates an opportunity
for students to discuss an
uncomfortable/vulnerabl
e issue in a safe manner

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Infographic Formal informative text
that uses research to
inform the audience about
a particular mental illness

Poem

From your perspective,

describe what a person
with a mental illness looks
like (Ex. What I think a
person struggling with
depression looks/acts like)

- Purpose
- Appropriate audience
- Accurate information
- Supporting details
- Formal style
- Introduce and support
claims
- Figurative language
awareness
- Awareness of diction
- Structure
- Voice
- POV

Social
media
profile

Creative text outside the

curriculum to promote
positive mental health:
What makes you truly
happy?

- Organization
- Proper formatting
- Conciseness
- Appropriate text
- Supporting details

Advocacy
poster

Informative text to
promote awareness and
advocacy: What can you
do to bring awareness to
mental health?

- Purpose
- Appropriate audience
- Accurate information
- Organization
- Proper formatting
- Introduce and support
claims

7. Materials
Kissing Doorknobs (Terry Spencer Hesser)
What is mental health? (Walk In Our Shoes)
Animal I Have Become (Three Days Grace)
Recovery is Real (Walk In Our Shoes)
PowerPoints
Poster/coloring utensils/glue
Computer/iPad
Writers notebook
8. Integration of technology

- Delves into specifics of

a particular mental illness
to inform the audience
and how it affects people
- Creates an
understanding of its
prevalence and severity
- To gain awareness of
someones life other than
your own.
- Reflecting by
positioning yourself in
the shoes of someone
else can create empathy.
- Provides students
opportunity to self-reflect
about what makes them
happy.
-Mental health can be
regulated in part through
self-care; making
students think about what
makes them happy is
healthy for the mind
- Bring awareness to the
school community along
with any larger audience
- Advocacy along with
repeated exposure can
destigmatize the negative
perceptions of mental
illness

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Technology is incorporated throughout the entire mental health unit. For direct instruction, the
projector is utilized to teach new content along with instructions. Students can use iPads and
laptops to take notes and bring up articles if it is easier to view. Tagxedo is an online app that
takes inserted text and transforms it into a shape. Students will use the website on any form of
compatible technology to create their own. For the infographic, students will take a
multimodal/digital approach when publishing their research. Students will take their informative
text and mold it into the infographic option on Piktochart (or another website if approved). For
the advocacy poster, students will have the option to make it digital or remain with the tangible
poster option. On day four of the unit, the teacher will play the song Animal I Have Become
by Three Days Grace; in which a laptop will be used for audio.
9. Differentiation
Students who need extra time to read or struggle with the text will have the opportunity to get the
mentor texts in advanced to have early exposure. Summaries of the chapters can be provided to
students who are at a lower reading level and will struggle with the content. Additionally,
technology will be integrated in the lessons for students who find it easier to learn the material.
This can benefit visual learners, auditory learners (play sound), and even students who find it
easier to concentrate with having a device to work with. Group work will be strategically sorted
so in some cases the lower-level students will be grouped together for additional direct
instruction from the teacher. The higher-level students can have more in depth supplemental
activities to work on during those times. Other groupings can consist of a combination of lower
and higher-level students working together to learn from each other. ELLs will be accommodated
by having revised text and/or altered assessments.