Writing my own unit studies was never something I seriously considered doing. I was completely satisfied with the prepared resources I had purchased and assumed that it would never be necessary.
However, when my children and I grew tired of the last unused unit study we had, I was faced with the option of forging ahead through something none of us wanted to do, or creating my own unit. The idea was rather daunting to me, but out of desperation, I decided to give it a go. Surprisingly, I discovered that not only was it quite easy, but I loved doing it.
I approach everything with a no-nonsense attitude. I have ten children at home and don’t have time for any unnecessary triflings, so I write my unit studies the same way- with a clear, concise plan unencumbered by extraneous details.
Today I am writing about literature-based unit studies because I find that writing a unit with a specific read-aloud in mind makes for an effortless transition into authoring thematic units on your own.
5 Steps to Creating Your Own Unit Study
1. Choose a book that both you and your children will enjoy.
There is no point in opting for a title that neither you nor your children have an interest in, despite how popular it may be. If a good bit of time is going to be spent exploring a particular book, it had better hold everyone’s attention!
2. Decide how long you would like to spend on this particular unit and how many activities per day will be appropriate for your family.
Every family is different. While some may enthusiastically dive into 4-5 activities per day, others may be content with only 1-2. You know what your children can handle. If you want a successful unit study, don’t overdo it.
When deciding the length of time for each unit, I strongly suggest to let it work around the length of your chosen book. A 2-week unit study simply wouldn’t cut it for a 700 page book. I tend to tailor the time spent on a unit around how many chapters a book has. For example, if there are 23 chapters, I’ll more than likely make it a 5-week unit study since I usually read one chapter aloud per day, unless they are particularly small.
3. Do the math and begin browsing for ideas to explore.
If you’ve decided to spend three weeks on a particular book and are aiming for three activities per day, simple math will tell you that for 15 days x 3 activities per day, you will need to come up with 45 ideas to explore. For a two-week study with two activities per day, you’ll need 20. This may seem like a lot, but there’s a rather basic way to approach this.
If, like me, you are planning to read aloud one chapter per day, simply browse each chapter for the number of activities you plan to do. It is not necessary to read through each chapter thoroughly. Skim through and watch for any words or phrases that stand out to you. For example, if you are looking for two ideas per day, you may find “wolves” and “tree sap” seem to jump out at you in the first chapter. Never mind if they seem unrelated; the literature will tie them together. Jot down those two words and move on the next chapter, and so on, and so on…
4. Get creative and turn those ideas into lessons/activities.
Once you’ve gone through the entire book and have a basic idea of what you’d like to explore, it’s time to create your lesson plan. Remember that unit studies are meant to be cross-curricular, so keep that in mind as you’re brainstorming. There are so many ways you could approach each idea; the possibilities are almost limitless. Going back to the “wolves” idea, just off the top of my head, these are the activities I can think of right here on the spot:
- researching wolves and writing a report
- watching a documentary about wolves
- visiting a wildlife sanctuary
- making wolf masks out of papier mache or simple paper plates
- researching what parts of your country, if any, are home to wolves and locating on a map where they are
- calculating how far from your state or city wolves can be found in the wild; how long would it take to get there if you were traveling at 60 mph?
I could do the same thing with “tree sap,” but I don’t want to bore you. And don’t get overwhelmed by ideas. Pick one! Which one is your favorite, or which one do you think your kids will enjoy the most? Go with that one.
5. Gather your materials, and you’re off!
Once you have everything planned out, head to the library for any supplementary books that would be useful. Make a list of any art supplies needed and get them ahead of time. Once you have what you need, you’re ready to begin!
Watching your children’s faces light up doing something that you’ve created just for them can be an exhilarating experience. Don’t doubt yourself or your own innate creativity. You might just be astounded by what you come up with!
So cool that you put this process out there for those that have never put together a unit study before! 🙂
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It’s easier and more fun than most people think! (Either that, or it’s just the nerd in me, :))
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It intimidates me and I’ve been homeschooling for two years now. 🙂 But I think I’m going to give it a try for our next read-aloud.
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It was very intimidationg for me, too. We’ve done so many units created by truly brilliant people, so I doubted my ability to come up with great ideas myself. Once I was more or less forced into it, though, 🙂 I found that my misgivings were unfounded. We just need to believe in ourselves. And I happen to know that you have an awesome imagination, so I know you’ll do well if you decide to do this!
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*blushing* I’m seriously considering it for the next book. 🙂 I’ll let you know how that goes.
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Great tips for homeschool moms (and dads)! Blessings!
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Thank you so much. And many blessings to you, as well!
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Loved this! I have yet to write a unit lesson plan this way. Great tips! Thank you! Now following you on FB and Pinterest 🙂
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Thank you! Writing unit studies is so much fun. I do write more comprehensive ones, too, but I thought this was an easier way to show people who don’t know how to do it.
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This is such a great idea. It really combines many educational models into one. I love it.
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Thank you. Learning is so much easier when you can see how everything is connected. I’m glad you like it!
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You’re a brave woman! I’ve loved literature based approach to history over the years, but have kind of “wimped out” and used SonLight curriculum because they provide a schedule and lists of wonderful books.
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SonLight does have great books. I subscribe to their catalogues- even though I’ve never used SonLight- because of the awesome book lists. 🙂
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I’ve always been curious about homeschooling and your list of subject topics has given me a peek into this world. I’m sure the kids enjoyed something new and fresh! Thanks for linking up with Funtastic Friday.
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We had a great time with it. Thanks for stopping by!
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Great list, Shelly! As a veteran of writing literature studies for my middle school students when I was teaching in Principle Approach schools (the teacher is the “living textbook” and we write all our own studies), you’ve built a good foundation of practical preparation. I still mentor a 13 year old homeschooler being groomed for a world class music career. Her mom and I just mapped out her four year literature and composition study plan for high school. I’ll be blogging about that process once we’re off the ground with it in September. Right now we’re testing some creative methods with The Invention of Hugo Cabret incorporating a lot of art with our focus on theme and drawing out biblical principles we discover. We’re taking bunny trails to the side studies that make sense with the story. Having a blast with it and love that I still get walk in my passion even after my own children are long flown from the nest taking the fruit of their own teaching and learning years into their adult lives and callings.
Joy!
Kathy
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Wow. That’s amazing! I’ve never heard of Principle Approach schools before. I’ll be looking for your blog. Keep me updated!
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I had to come up with unit studies all the time in my classroom, so it’s something I’m used to, but I think it’s great how you set out all the steps here! So glad you linked up with us at #FridayFrivolity this week, Shelly!
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I’ve done much more comprehensive unit studies, but I figured this is the easiest way for people who have never done them before. Thanks for hosting #FridayFrivolity!
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This is great! I love creating my own unit studies, but I think some people shy away from it because it seems overwhelming.
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That’s true. That’s why I wrote about the most basic kind of unit study I write. It’s an easy place to start!
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What great information for those parents who homeschool! Thanks so much for sharing it with us at Share The Wealth Sunday! xoxo
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To save $, I’ve often written study questions and come up with a few activities for the subject of literature, too. Not sure if they’d count as an entire unit study, but it’s worked for us. 🙂 Thank for the tips!
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Glad you stopped by!
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Shelley, you were the most clicked this week on Literacy Musing Mondays. Be sure to check out the post when it goes live tomorrow at 6 p.m. on my blog: http://maryanderingcreatively.com/
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Wow, that’s awesome! I’ll be there!
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You did such a great job breaking this into manageable steps! Now, I’m thinking about what books I want to try it out with first! 🙂 Thanks for sharing this post at Lifelong Learners Link-up Party at DesperateHomeschoolers.com!
Tina
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I hope you have fun with it. We always do!
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Pinned to my homeschool resource. I love to have things broken into steps. Helps me figure out my own time commitment.
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They’re so much fun to wirte. I hope you enjoy it!
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Stopping by from Homeschool Nook Linkup and don’t know how I missed this post when it originally published. These are fantastic tips for planning unit studies! I don’t create my own unit studies very often, but when I do, it’s because my kids want to dive into something that someone else hasn’t tackled and made available. Thanks for sharing!
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It’s funny because I used to think I would never be able to write one, but now I love it!
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