Lesson 5: Building Blocks & Boilerplates: Tools for Creating Unit Studies Part I
Consider this lesson and the next your shopping mall for building your unit studies. From handy kitchen items to the best all-purpose educational resources, this lesson gives you all the resources you need to build your own unit study on any topic. It will help put in front of you all the ingredients for the fabulous study you will be building in Lesson 7. So get out your shopping list and stroll down the aisles of our building block stores and boilerplate restaurants to fill all your needs.
In case you haven't run into boilerplates before, in writer's parlance these would be basic, unchanging formats or groups of words to which you might add your own personalizing touches. It could refer to a form letter which may have your name added to the salutation to personalize it. In this course boilerplates are all-purpose forms and text which you can use in many unit studies by adding your own touches to them. We'll be providing boilerplates for games or simulations, computer-generated activity sheets, and more.
The components of a study can come from so many different sources that it took quite a while to organize this lesson. Here's the structure I ended up with:
5-1 Introduction
5-2 Simple Gifts
* Good Stuff to Have Around the House
* Devising Your Own Generic Resources to Use and Use Again
5-3 Basic Learning Tools Worth the Investment
* Books
* Periodicals
* Supplementary Ed Resources
5-4 Resources
5-1 Introduction
Objectives of this Lesson
In this section I've gathered as many basic ideas and tools as I could find to put together that perfect study which you'll be building in Lesson 7. Much of what you'll find here was pulled from the examples in Lessons 3 and 4 which you thoroughly devoured . . . right?.
Recommended Resources
***Note: all books and reading assignments are optional and are provided as additional information for the student.
Throughout the main text -- especially sections IV, V, and X -- you'll find insight into the components which can makeup the various types of unit studies :
How to Create Your Own Unit Study by Valerie Bendt
Once again, however, much of this lesson is based on practical experience. You'll find it helpful to check out the resources you want to use as we discuss them. You may also want to check the links in the Resources Section.
Preparation
No prior preparation is necessary for this lesson.
