Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata - Facultad de Humanidades - Profesorado de Inglés

Residencia Docente I
Prof. Silvina Pereyra

Planning a didactic sequence

[The procedures] that follow should not be read as step 1, step 2, and so on. At all points
we should be reminded that planning is a recursive process, with comings and goings, to
and fro, and that Planning as Narrative is sequential, but not linear, in that every movement
forward embeds previous movements and foreshadows future ones in a growing, and at
times, simultaneous complexity (Casamassima, 2017, p.79).

This guide is an adaptation of chapter 3 in Casamassima (2017). We are going to delve into some
of the possible procedures to plan a unit of work.

1. The beginning of it all: the students.

The guide on classroom observation is aimed to facilitate deep understanding of the
characteristics of the context on which to base your pedagogic decisions.
- Characteristics of the educational community
- The learners. Individual differences
- The curriculum for the course
- Legislation
- Jurisdictional documents
- Teacher cognition (practical, content, contextual, pedagogical, personal & reflective
knowledge)

2. Topic and Trouble

Topic is defined as the subject to be discussed, written about or studied. Trouble implies the
problematization of the topic (critical thinking: asking how, why, what for)
It may well be the case that the teacher of the course assigns you a topic, a unit form the
textbook, or just a grammatical structure. Then, your job will be to develop an idea into the
story you want to write. Then, the preliminary idea may be a concept, a word, a topic, the
desire to do something (a task, a project), a resource. Once you have the preliminary idea,
you need to put it to the test. At this stage, some questions may be useful:

1. How is your idea reflected in the curriculum for the course?

1. What sort of idea is it? (a theme, a topic, a concept, an activity)
2. Towards which aspects of culture, science or the self is the idea directed?

Curtain and Dhalberg (2016) suggest further questions:

3. What is most important about this topic?
4. What themes can be drawn from this idea?
5. Why should it matter to learners?
6. What is emotionally/cognitively engaging about it?
7. What values can the student explore through the topic?

2.1. Possible paths to develop your preliminary idea can be found in Curtain and Dhalberg
(2016) and in Coyle, Hood & Marsh (2010).
2.1.a. Using the curriculum for the course
As the figure below shows, webbing is a very good strategy to develop a topic and establish
connections with curricular areas. This enables teachers to see the whole picture before selecting
the core components of the unit.

Curtain & Dhalberg (2016, p.16)

2.1.b. Even though Curtain & Dhalberg recommend that we do the webbing by subject content
disciplines (p. 44-46), you can try the expansion of your topic in many ways. Prof. Paula González
illustrates this point in her planning guide for the micro-teaching experience in Didáctica y
Currículum. You can see a possible web for the topic “Health” below.

González (2023)
2.1.c. Using CLIL 4C’s Framework
Coyle, Hood & Marsh (2010) provide a list of useful questions and examples to think about this
framework in chapter 4.

2.1.d. Textbook analysis

Analyze the textbook bearing in mind:
● the BIG question you may aim to explore throughout the unit
● the oftentimes hidden potential of the text materials and activities
● how you can expand the topic of the unit from the textbook
● how the target forms can be used meaningfully in real life situations

3. From Topic to Goals

“Narrative goals refer to what we pursue in the unit, the aims that trainees and teachers have in
relation to the unit for a particular group of learners expressed in a brief narrative piece as long as
a paragraph, which tells the story to be developed” (Casamassima, 2017, p. 85).

Inspired by the concept of narrative thought developed by Bruner, Casamassima invites us to think
of the unit as a story, since “we organize our experience and our memory of human happenings
mainly in the form of narrative -stories, excuses, myths, reasons for doing and not doing, and so on
Bruner, 1991, p.4). To this purpose, we expand the preliminary idea, test it through questioning,
and envisage what we desire to happen in the classroom. Let’s see the example in chapter 3 (pp.
87, 91).
Topic: My healthy universe Questions

Trouble 1: Why should I care about being healthy? What does healthy mean?
What benefits can I get from being healthy?

Trouble 2: How can I make sure my life is healthy? What are healthy routines?
What is healthy food?
Trouble 3: How can I help others to become healthy? What healthy activities can I do with my friends/family?
What problems can people have that make their lives
unhealthy?
How can I help if someone has a health problem?

Narrative goal
In this unit,we (trainee/teacher and students) will explore what it means to be healthy and how it
can be beneficial to us. We will describe healthy routines and we will decide how we can make our
lives healthier on a personal level and when we share time with friends and family. Many people do
not lead a healthy life. We will look at some of these problems and we will work out ways to help
others. We will produce a presentation with the whole classroom to provide tips for a healthy life
and useful information for people in need of help.

In narrating goals, we seek to merge goals and final task in a narrative piece where the
wording that trainees have to use is language they are familiar with, because it is the
language of narrative thought. We seek to prioritize the expression and commitment to a
story that will unfold in the process and in which the final task can naturally be included,
because it is a goal itself. (Casamassima, 2017, p. 95)

4. Tasks and Linguistic Content

Having defined the goals, the final task gives a sense of direction and is the driving force to make a
coherent and cohesive plan towards it. Using the metaphor of a narrative, if we think of the final
task as the climax of the story, we have to plan the foreground narrative which is composed of
actions, non-liguistic tasks arranged in chronological order and in a growing complexity. In this
vein, the plan is devised in such a way that each task builds on the previous one.

Note: we may also use performance tasks throughout the unit as instances for alternative assessment.

At the moment of thinking of the final task, we may ask:

What performance tasks will bring resolution to the unit and show the teacher and the students
themselves that the goals of the unit have been met?
Then we can brainstorm and select fore-tasks that will make up the foreground narrative. These
fore-tasks contribute to the final task in some way: scaffolding the process, building up learning
strategies, defining concepts, fostering the development of lower-order thinking skills as well as
higher-order thinking skills (Bloom’s taxonomy), facilitating the integration of skills, enhancing
communication skills, and so on. Let’s see the progression of tasks in the unit of work My healthy
universe as illustrated by Casamassima (p. 98). The table depicts the preparation for planning the
foreground narrative.

Foreground narrative
Tasks

Trouble 1 Define health and related terms as physical

What does healthy mean? health, mental health, wellness, health care,
What benefits can I get from being WHO (World Health Organization).
healthy? Do research on benefits in categories such as
exercise, nutrition, rest, hygiene. make slides for
a presentation on your topic.

Trouble 2 Write an entry for a class journal.

What are healthy routines? Write about your routines and explain how you
What is healthy food? can change the ones that are not healthy.

Trouble 3 Post comments on a blog to suggest healthy

What healthy activities can I do with activities to do with your friends or family.
my friends/family? Search for photos of people who suffer from
What problems can people have that obesity, addictions, etc. and describe their
make their lives unhealthy? problem.
How can I help if someone has a Work out ways to help people in need.
health problem?
Make a digital poster with your ideas and the
photos that you found.

Final Task Make a slide presentation with the whole class to

provide tips for a healthy life and useful information
for people in need of help.

In the same fashion as the main story develops in the foreground narrative, there are subsidiary
stories that develop in the background. The background narrative develops linguistic and
strategic work which is essential to perform the fore-tasks. The tasks in the background narrative
may:
● focus on form (lexis, grammar, phonology)
● focus on discourse analysis
● develop learning strategies
● develop subskills for reading, writing, listening and speaking

Casamassima (2017) suggests planning the foreground narrative first and deciding on the content
the teacher will need to work on in the background narrative afterwards. The author proceeds to
elaborate on the same didactic sequence for you to notice the process.
Foreground narrative Background narrative

Define health and related terms as physical How to find information on the web
health, mental health, wellness, health care, (strategic).
WHO (World Health Organization)

Do research on benefits in categories such as Vocabulary related to these categories (linguistic). Make
exercise, nutrition, rest, hygiene. make slides an exhaustive list.
for a presentation on your topic.
- Find vocabulary used to talk about exercise, nutrition,
rest, and hygiene on the web.
- Make a network to show the findings to the class.
- Go over the vocabulary in your category and highlight
the expressions you will use in your slide.

Write an entry for a class journal. Expressing routines. Simple Present Tense. Adverbs of
Write about your routines and explain how you frequency (linguistic).
can change the ones that are not healthy. - Write about your routines.
- Read about how people talk about their routines and
compare the language they use with the language you
used in the first task.
- Work out rules on how to talk about routines in the
present.
- Go over the first task and edit it.
- Make a chart to show how to express frequency.
- Re-read the texts about people’s routines and highlight
how they talk about frequency.
- Work out rules on how to use frequency words in your
sentences.
- Go over your first task once again and add frequency
words.

Post comments on a blog to suggest healthy Making suggestions (linguistic). Write the linguistic
activities to do with your friends or family. exponents in your plan.
- List ways to express suggestions
- Practice intonation to convey meaning

Search for photos of people who suffer from Vocabulary related to addictions (linguistic). Make a list in
obesity, addictions, etc. and describe their your plan.
problem. - Make a mind map of addictions and suitable
collocations.

Work out ways to help people in need. Vocabulary related to ways of helping peoplein need
Make a digital poster with your ideas and the (linguistic).
photos that you found. How to make a digital poster (strategic).
- Expand on the previous mind map by adding suitable
collocations.
- Rehearse how to use an application for digital posters.
- Generate a QR

Make a slide presentation with the whole How to make an oral presentation (strategic).
class to provide tips for a healthy life and - List tips to make a good oral presentation.
useful information for people in need of help. - Rehearse your presentation. Keep in mind the tips that
you have agreed on.

Evaluation of the plan

5. Evaluation of the plan

We are going to deal with the evaluation of the plan in the class devoted to the final task for
Residencia Docente I.
References
Casamassima, M. (2017). Planning as Narrative: A Cubist View on Planning Units of Work for
English Language Teachers. Editorial Dunken.

Coyle, D., Hood, P. y Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL –Content and Language Integrated Learning. Chapter
4. CUP.

Curtain, H. y Dhalberg, C. A. (2016). The Learner: Setting the Stage for Language. En Languages
and Learners: Making the Match. World Language Instruction in K-8 Classrooms and Beyond. 5 th
ed. (chapter 2). Pearson Ltd.

González, P. (2023). Lesson planning. Some guidelines before writing a First Draft. Guía de
Trabajos Prácticos diseñada para la cátedra Didáctica y Currículum. Facultad de Humanidades.
UNMdP.