There are uncountable ways to create and design a unit for literature. Lately, I’ve been incorporating more thematic units in my courses, such as my Honors/Pre-AP course and my World Literature class. This blog post walks you through some tips to create your own thematic unit or enrich one you currently have.
Note: This is certainly not the only way or even the best way. This is just a snapshot of how my brain works when creating one. Use it as a jumping off point or a place for ideas in creating and expanding your own thematic units.
1: Select a theme
The first step in planning your thematic unit is selecting a theme. This isn’t always as easy as it sounds. You may need to tweak the theme or its selections as you move through each of the following steps, so I suggest returning to the theme after step 5 just to make sure you’re still on topic.
Throughout this post, I’ll show how two of my thematic units grow using these steps. The first is from my Honors English 10 class, the other is from my World Literature class. For my Honors unit, I needed to make sure my themes work for my whole class reads, since I don’t have the luxury of buying new books very frequently. I also want to make sure the theme is both intriguing and broad enough to include a diverse range of authors, countries, and genres.
In this blog post, I’ll be exploring how I formed two different thematic units that I use in my classes:
The Danger of Making Assumptions (Honors unit)
Learning Lessons (World Lit unit)
2: Determine your end goal
While this is now called backwards design, I just call it good planning. I always begin a unit with my end goal in mind. This may vary depending on your course, your students, or your required activities. For my Honors students, we end each thematic unit with a text-based test. These are tests that require close reading and can sometimes have very similar answers. These tests allow them to prepare for standardized tests or future AP classes, but they’re curved and require multiple takings. I also give them a project at the end of the unit, which is another summative assessment. For my World Literature students, our end goal is usually a test or a Socratic Seminar.
This goal doesn’t need to be written or fully created when you begin the unit, but I suggest having it in mind as you roll it out. This will allow you to build it as you teach, and to tell your students what they will need to “know and show” by the end of your unit.
The Danger of Making Assumptions (Honors unit)
End goal: Text-based test, project
Learning Lessons (World Lit unit)
End goal: Test or Socratic Seminar
3: Select an anchor text
To avoid thematic units that feel like a buffet of titles, I always spend more time or depth on a particular text. This is called our anchor text. In my Honors classes, I use our class novels or plays as our anchor text. We do a full novel study within our thematic unit, which is why they often take 6-8 weeks to fully get through the whole unit! In my World Lit class, we sometimes just use a short story as an anchor text, but sometimes it is full novel or play as well.
The Danger of Making Assumptions (Honors unit):
End goal: Text-based test, project
Anchor text: 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose
Learning Lessons (World Lit unit)
End goal: Test or Socratic Seminar
Anchor text: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
4: Pick 2-3 additional texts, including short stories, speeches, and poems
Not every text resonates with every student. This is why thematic units can be so great, because even if a student doesn’t connect with a novel, they may really connect with a connected short story (or vice versa!). For strong thematic units, supplement the unit with shorter works that relate to your chosen theme. This is a great opportunity to diversify your works as well and introduce new authors, genres, and styles to your students. I like to use short stories and poems the most, since my students read them the least. See below for some of my supplemented texts in my thematic units.
The Danger of Making Assumptions (Honors unit):
End goal: Text-based test, project
Anchor text: 12 Angry Men
Supplemental texts:
- “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora
- “A Rice Sandwich” by Sandra Cisneros
- “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Excerpt from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl
Learning Lessons (World Lit unit)
End goal: Test or Socratic Seminar
Anchor text: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Supplemental texts:
- “Land Enough for a Man” by Leo Tolstoy
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (excerpt)
- “The Street-Sweeping Show” by Feng Jicai
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (excerpt)
5: Incorporate media
One of my favorite things about a thematic unit is the opportunity to include non-textual resources in our study (which is my jam, if you didn’t know!). This can include music videos, movie clips, TED Talks, YouTube videos, and more! See below to see how I supplement the unit with movie clips and TED Talks. I’ve also used music videos, songs, documentaries, and art to supplement a lesson, so this is a great way to bring in your own interests in a unit and make it your own.
The Danger of Making Assumptions (Honors unit):
End goal: Text-based test, project
Anchor text: 12 Angry Men
Supplemental texts:
- “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora
- “A Rice Sandwich” by Sandra Cisneros
- “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Excerpt from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl
Media:
- “The Danger of Making Assumptions” TED Talk
- Clip from Catch Me If You Can
Learning Lessons (World Lit unit)
End goal: Test or Socratic Seminar
Anchor text: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Supplemental texts:
- “Land Enough for a Man” by Leo Tolstoy
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (excerpt)
- “The Street-Sweeping Show” by Feng Jicai
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (excerpt)
Media: Bao (Pixar short)
6: Introduce in an engaging way
Now that I’ve my texts selected, I take my first step in real lesson planning. I like to roll out thematic units with an engaging activity. This can include, but is not limited to, ideas such as:
- Reading a children’s story
- Watching a video clip or short film
- Doing a gallery walk
- Having an either/or discussion
- Hexagonal thinking
The first lesson of a thematic unit is one of the most important int terms of engagement. You don’t have to make a production out of it, but look for ways to draw students into the theme. Once again, using media or strong interpersonal activities are strong introductory activities. For my sophomores, we do a gallery walk with some of the texts and media from the unit. In World Lit, I begin with a curation project. I first read about curation activities from the Cult of Pedagogy in this blog post (which I highly recommend), which inspired me to incorporate more of these kinds of activities in class. My students LOVE them, and I find it helps them understand our selected theme even more.
The Danger of Making Assumptions (Honors unit):
End goal: Text-based test, project
Engagement Activity: Gallery Walk
- “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora
- “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Excerpt from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- Clip from Catch Me If You Can
Anchor text: 12 Angry Men
Supplemental texts:
- “A Rice Sandwich” by Sandra Cisneros
- “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl
Media:
- “The Danger of Making Assumptions” TED Talk
Learning Lessons (World Lit unit)
End goal: Test or Socratic Seminar
Engagement Activity: Curation activity
Anchor text: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Supplemental texts:
- “Land Enough for a Man” by Leo Tolstoy
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (excerpt)
- “The Street-Sweeping Show” by Feng Jicai
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (excerpt)
Media: Bao (Pixar short)
7: Round it out with formative assignments
In my Honors class, we do our research papers and speech units as standalone units, not thematic ones. Therefore, I don’t necessarily need my thematic units to end with papers. However, I try to work in several writing and discussion assignments in each unit to make sure they’re constantly practicing these skills. In both of my classes, we balance writing, speaking, and knowledge recall (usually in the form of quizzes) as our graded formative assignments. We do a lot more speaking and listening in non-graded form as well.
The Danger of Making Assumptions (Honors unit):
End goal: Text-based test, project
Engagement Activity: Gallery Walk
- “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora
- “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Excerpt from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- Clip from Catch Me If You Can
Anchor text: 12 Angry Men
Supplemental texts:
- “A Rice Sandwich” by Sandra Cisneros
- “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl
Media:
- “The Danger of Single Story” TED Talk
Formative Assessments:
- Gallery walk response paragraph
- “A Rice Sandwich” worksheet/quiz
- Lamb to the Slaughter mock trial
- “The Danger of a Single Story” discussion
Learning Lessons (World Lit unit)
End goal: Test or Socratic Seminar
Engagement Activity: Curate activity
Anchor text: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Supplemental texts:
- “Land Enough for a Man” by Leo Tolstoy
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (excerpt)
- “The Street-Sweeping Show” by Feng Jicai
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (excerpt)
Media: Bao (Pixar short)
Formative Assessments:
- Curate Activity
- The Kite Runner quote analysis
- Homegoing quizzes & paragraph reflections
A Visual Overview
That’s my process for planning a thematic unit as simply as I can lay it out. For visual learners (like me!), here’s a visual overview of how the theme applies outward to the different aspects of a unit.
In conclusion, a thematic unit can be a great way to share a variety of texts and media with your students under the umbrella of one subject or theme. I find that thematic units are easier to adjust to meet the needs and interests of my students as well. The last benefit is that they are more reflective of the personality of the teacher, meaning you can infuse your thematic units with your interests, expertise, and favorite texts.
If you’re looking for some ready-made thematic units, I do have several available on TpT. My World Lit units aren’t completed yet, but I have several available from my Honors/Pre-AP course. All of these units are editable and customizable, so you can adapt them to fit the needs of your students and to reflect your own interests. Some of my thematic units include:
- Identity Unit (Honors/Pre-AP)
- The Danger of Making Assumptions (Honors/Pre-AP)
- Hero Distance Learning Unit (Eng 9-10)
Do you do thematic units in your course? Drop me a comment or send me an email to share any tips you have for incorporating thematic units in your classes!
