Our All Access Unit Overviews received a makeover this month! At Maneuvering the Middle, we strive to create AND update resources that teachers use for planning and teaching. Let’s talk about what is new, what has been removed, and some tips for implementing the unit overviews in instruction.

FEATURES OF THE UNIT OVERVIEW
The unit overviews serve as a comprehensive guide to each unit, and are an excellent place to begin as you plan to teach a unit. The 5-6 page document is located on the new platform within the unit.
STANDARDS: Each unit has an exhaustive list of the associated grade level standards. This includes not only the standard reference, but the complete wording of the standard.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Discover what standards were taught in the previous grade level related to the current unit. This section may help you gauge the level of familiarity you can expect your students to have with the unit standards as well as any key skills to review before jumping into the grade level content.
UNIT SUMMARY: This section will describe the unit objective and will highlight the intentional progression of the lessons throughout the unit. Connections to problem-solving skills and higher-order thinking are included in this summary.
BIG IDEAS: This section provides a concise summary of the mathematical concepts and major takeaways from the unit. In other words, if you’re wondering, “What should my students be able to do or understand by the end of this unit?” this list can be a great reference.
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE: This section includes the progression of key skills that will be taught in the unit. Suggested video lessons from our instructional video library are listed for teachers to reference as needed while preparing for instruction.
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS: This section includes a list of errors and struggles to anticipate and correct with your students.
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY: Key vocabulary with the definition listed in both English and Spanish
Where can I find ______?
Daily Objectives: They are located on our platform within each lesson’s materials. (see below)

Pacing Calendar: Need help creating or outline a unit pacing calendar? Our new platform is set up to help make planning and pacing for your unique classroom easy. First, each unit lists the lessons in the order they should be taught. Additionally, the platform allows you to easily filter by resource type. When filtering by activity, you can quickly see all the activities for the unit within their corresponding lesson. Maneuvering the Middle serves classrooms and teachers with a variety of class lengths, daily needs and pacing specifics, so our new unit overview combined with the platform capabilities is a flexible approach to meet a wider range of situations!

Here is a free editable pacing calendar and lesson planning template!
The freebie includes a video that walks you through the process of using the platform to create a pacing calendar.
TIPS FOR USING THE UNIT OVERVIEWS
First, read the unit overview from top to bottom before beginning the unit. Print the unit overview, and underline, circle, and highlight anything that you will need to remember as you teach the unit.
Consider posting the unit overview to your online classroom or send it in an email to parents. Knowledge is power!
BIG IDEAS: As you internalize the big ideas, think about how you can communicate these big ideas as you teach individual lessons. Students will benefit from seeing the bigger connection to the specific skill they’re working on!
Progressions of Key Skills: This is where I would do a bulk of my pre-work! Teachers can scan this list of key skills and watch the videos of the skills for a refresher on or to learn additional teaching strategies from another teacher.
Not only does this give you an understanding of the material, but it also clues you in on what problems you should model and which problems you should have students complete as a check for understanding. A novice or an expert can benefit from watching someone else teaching a concept!
Common Misconceptions: As you read through each misconception, consider when students might run into this in the unit and brainstorm questions you might ask your students in anticipation of these struggles! Some misconceptions are best to direct teach and clarify for students, but often we can allow students to learn and correct their own mistakes by asking good questions.
Academic Vocabulary: Print the corresponding pages and post on your classroom walls. You could also print the vocabulary list for students or post inside your online classroom.
How do you use our unit overviews?
