Launch: Welcome to the FACS Room

1. Why this unit

Kids do not learn from people they do not trust. So before anyone touches a stove, a needle, or a budget, I spend five days on the room, the routines, and each other. Students learn where things are, what the reset cue means, how a role card works, and how this class makes a decision when people disagree. They play a listening game, they argue over a survival list, they measure rice in silence, and they write their own team rules. On Friday they read and sign an agreement they helped shape, and they take a short pre-assessment so I know what Unit 1 can skip. None of it is graded. All of it is the reason the first cooking lab on day 16 runs without a fight.

2. Content identified (the concept map, written out)

1. What the state modules give this unit: no content module lines. The crosswalk assigns two Individual Growth and Life Readiness lines to U0 as their primary home because they are about how people work together, not about a subject: IGLR 3. b) Show understanding of interpersonal dynamics, and IGLR 3. c) Demonstrate effective communication skills. Both come back in Unit 2; b) also returns in Unit 3 and c) in Unit 7.
2. How the CTE themes come in:
   • Communication and Interpersonal Relationships: the Draw/See/Hear game (precise language, listening, feedback), the team ranking argument, and the team norms.
   • Problem Solving and Innovation: the five-step decision model, taught once in the plane crash simulation and used in every project all year.
   • Health, Safety, and Wellness: the room tour, the zones, the reset cue, and the Room and Lab Agreement, which is the classroom safety rules students write with me.
3. Trends, issues, and news an 11 to 14 year old recognizes: survival shows and "who would you bring" games; group chats where nobody listens; the phone rule at school; food allergies in their own class; the first week of school and who they sit with.
4. What students this age find interesting: a game on day two; arguing about a list; being trusted with a role; writing their own rules; being asked what they hope to cook.
5. Links to other subjects: ELA (precise description in Draw/See/Hear; a defensible reason in a ranking); math (the difference score in the survival ranking; measuring water and rice); science (the rule of threes in cold and the boiling point in the survival key); health (the allergy line in the agreement); social studies (how groups decide, majority versus consensus).

3. Enduring understandings and essential questions

Big ideas:

• A room runs on routines people can see and rules they helped write.
• Good communication is precise. "That thing over there" does not build a house or a cake.
• Groups make better decisions than one person when everyone talks and someone keeps the process honest.
• Safety is a habit that starts before anything is hot or sharp.

Essential questions:

• Why should you trust anyone in this room, including me?
• When a team disagrees, how does it decide?
• What is the difference between a rule you follow and a rule you wrote?
• What does a room need so nobody gets hurt in it?

4. Knowledge and skills

Knowledge (facts, vocabulary, ideas): the six FACS modules as a year map; the zones of the room (kitchen stations, sewing stations, hand sink, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, exits, the supply closet); the reset cue (lights, countdown, hands empty); what a do now is; what a role card is and the eight generic lab roles; the five-step decision model (name the choice, list options, weigh each against what matters, decide, look back); the difference between hearing and listening; the rule of threes; what a norm is; what an agreement is and what happens when it is broken.

Skills (what students will be able to do):

• Follow the do now routine and the reset cue without being told twice.
• Describe a simple picture so precisely that a partner can draw it without seeing it, and listen well enough to draw one.
• Rank ten items alone, then reach a team ranking by talking, and compare both to an expert key with a difference score.
• Apply the five-step decision model to a choice and name each step.
• Measure water and rice in a team without speaking.
• Write team norms that name a behavior, not a feeling.
• Read the Room and Lab Agreement, explain any line in their own words, and sign it.

5. Unit objectives

One per day, upper half of Bloom's:

• Day 1 (Lesson 0.1): Students will construct a one-line year map of the six FACS modules and justify which one they hope to reach first.
• Day 2 (Lesson 0.2): Students will evaluate their own description of a picture against what a partner drew and revise it to be more precise.
• Day 3 (Lesson 0.3): Students will judge whether their team's survival ranking beat their individual ranking, and explain which of the five decision steps made the difference.
• Day 4 (Lesson 0.4): Students will create a team norms contract of four norms, each written as a behavior someone could see.
• Day 5 (Lesson 0.5): Students will critique one line of the Room and Lab Agreement, propose a rewrite, and sign the agreement the class settles on.

6. Topics, sequence, and timeline

Flex lessons (drop first when time runs short): none of the five is dropped in the 180-day or 150-day versions. In the one-semester version (Unit 0 at 3 days): Day 1 and Day 2 combine (skip the hope card and shorten Draw/See/Hear to one round), Day 3 runs as written, and Day 4 and Day 5 combine (the Silent Measurement preview goes to Unit 1 Lesson 1.6, the norms are written in the last ten minutes before the agreement is signed, and the pre-assessment moves to the first five minutes of Lesson 1.1). Lessons that must not be cut: 0.3 (the decision model the whole year uses) and 0.5 (the agreement and the pre-assessment).

7. Standards block

NYS module lines taught (assigned to U0 by the crosswalk, Part B.1):

• NYS IGLR 3. Employability b) Show understanding of interpersonal dynamics : Lessons 0.3, 0.4
• NYS IGLR 3. Employability c) Demonstrate effective communication skills : Lessons 0.2, 0.4

CTE theme lines (verbatim from the theme modules):

Communication and Interpersonal Relationships:

• CTE CIR 1. Communication e) Understand the role of communication skills in establishing cooperation, compromise, and collaboration in relationships : Lesson 0.3
• CTE CIR 1. Communication f) Demonstrate personal development of communication skills through practice of these skills in a variety of classroom applications : Lesson 0.2
• CTE CIR 2. Listening b) Distinguish between hearing and listening : Lesson 0.2
• CTE CIR 2. Listening c) Show understanding of active listening and feedback techniques : Lesson 0.2
• CTE CIR 3. Workplace Communication f) Demonstrate effective communication skills in a group setting to accomplish a task : Lesson 0.4
• CTE CIR 6. Conflict Prevention and Management f) Contribute to a classroom environment that encourages respect for the ideas, perspectives, and contributions of all : Lessons 0.1, 0.4

Problem Solving and Innovation:

• CTE PSI 1. Problem Solving e) Demonstrate personal development of problem-solving skills through practice of these skills in a variety of classroom applications : Lesson 0.3

Health, Safety, and Wellness:

• CTE HSW 4. Classroom and Workplace Safety a) List and describe the purpose of safety rules specific to classroom and workplace settings : Lessons 0.2, 0.5
• CTE HSW 4. Classroom and Workplace Safety b) Recognize potential hazards and explain accident prevention strategies specific to classroom and workplace settings : Lesson 0.5
• CTE HSW 4. Classroom and Workplace Safety g) Understand and follow preplanned procedures in the case of accident or emergency : Lesson 0.5
• CTE HSW 5. Social-Emotional Learning c) Label, understand, and apply strategies for managing emotions; feeling and showing empathy for others; making responsible decisions; and handling challenging situations : Lesson 0.3

Career and Community Opportunities (one line, because the unit is about working in a group):

• CTE CCO 3. Employability Skills b) Describe characteristics and behaviors that enable individuals to contribute to the success of a group in a variety of community and work situations : Lesson 0.4

NYS FACS Learning Standards (Intermediate):

• Standard 2: A Safe and Healthy Environment. Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment. Key Idea: Students will know the basic principles of home and community safety. They can demonstrate the skills necessary to maintain their homes and workplaces in a safe and comfortable condition. They can provide a safe and nurturing environment for themselves and others. Used in Lessons 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.5 for the room, the agreement, and the norms. The crosswalk assigns Std 2 KI (no PI) to IGLR 3. b) and c); the last sentence of the key idea is the fit. None of the three Std 2 PIs (childcare, home, clothing) fits a classroom agreement, so the key idea is cited alone, as the crosswalk's Part A.6 note allows.
• Standard 3: Resource Management. Students will understand and be able to manage their personal and community resources. Key Idea: Students will understand and be able to manage personal resources of talent, time, energy, and money and make effective decisions in order to balance their obligations to work, family, and self. PI B: Students understand the resources available to them, make informed decisions about the use of those resources, and know some ways to expand resources. Used in Lesson 0.3 for the decision model.

CDOS (Intermediate):

• CDOS 3a Universal Foundation Skills: Interpersonal Skills (Students demonstrate the ability to work with others, present facts that support arguments, listen to dissenting points of view, and reach a shared decision.) : Lessons 0.3, 0.4
• CDOS 3a Universal Foundation Skills: Thinking Skills (Students evaluate facts, solve advanced problems, and make decisions by applying logic and reasoning skills.) : Lesson 0.3
• CDOS 3a Universal Foundation Skills: Basic Skills (Students listen to and read the ideas of others and analyze what they hear and read...) : Lesson 0.2
• CDOS 3a Universal Foundation Skills: Personal Qualities (Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between individuals and society and interact with others in a positive manner.) : Lessons 0.1, 0.5

National FCS 3.0 (all confirmed in 02 Standards/STANDARDS SOURCES - web research.md):

• 1.2.4 Work productively on teams at school, at work, and in the community, including with people different from yourself. : Lessons 0.3, 0.4
• 1.2.7 Examine what keeps school, work, and community settings safe and healthy. : Lesson 0.5
• 13.3.2 Show the spoken and unspoken behaviors and attitudes that make communication work. : Lesson 0.2
• 13.3.3 Show how to listen well and give useful feedback. : Lesson 0.2
• 13.5.1 Build a group climate where everyone's ideas, perspectives, and contributions are welcomed and respected. : Lessons 0.1, 0.4
• 13.5.7 Show how to cooperate, compromise, and collaborate. : Lesson 0.3

Career Ready Practices (as the IGLR module lists them): 1. Act as a responsible and contributing citizen and employee; 4. Communicate clearly and effectively and with reason; 8. Utilize critical thinking to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

8. Project

None. Unit 0 has no project and no rubric. The three products that end the unit are the team norms contract (Lesson 0.4), the signed Room and Lab Agreement (Lesson 0.5), and the Unit 1 pre-assessment (Lesson 0.5). The first real project is Feed a Family of Four on $40 in Unit 1.

9. Assessment plan

• Formative (daily): the do now, an exit card or hope card each day, the Lesson 0.2 observation checklist (follows the reset cue; uses precise words in Draw/See/Hear), the team ranking sheet with its difference scores (Lesson 0.3), and the norms contract (Lesson 0.4). All scored complete, partial, or missing for the participation and safety category; nothing in Unit 0 goes in the topic assessments or labs and projects categories.
• Formal at the end of the unit: the signed Room and Lab Agreement (Handout 00.05 - Room and Lab Agreement.md). Every student signs before Unit 1 begins; a student who is absent on day 5 signs during the do now of Lesson 1.1. A student who will not sign gets a conversation with me, then with a family member, before the first lab.
• Pre-assessment: Assessment 00.1 - Unit 1 Pre-Assessment.md, 15 items, 12 minutes, not graded. Tallied by item before Lesson 1.1. Items 1, 11, and 13 are the growth measure Unit 1 compares against on its test; items 5 to 8 size the review in Lesson 1.9; items 3 and 4 size Lesson 1.5.
• Unit test: none.
• Project rubric: none.
• Grade weights: the participation and safety category only (15 percent of the marking period), scored weekly on the 0 to 4 scale from the grading plan.

10. Materials, budget, and room

Room assumptions: a FACS room with kitchen stations, a hand sink, sewing stations, tables that seat four, a light switch the teacher can reach for the reset cue, and wall space. Every Unit 0 lesson also runs in a plain classroom; the room tour on day 2 becomes a map exercise with photos if the room is not available yet.

Consumables for the whole unit (about $8 per section, one time): index cards (one pack); a 2 lb bag of white rice and a pitcher of water for Lesson 0.4 (the rice is reused in Unit 1 Lesson 1.6); sticky notes; chart paper for the class rules draft (Lesson 0.5); tape for the survival ranking posters.

Equipment (already in the room): per table of four: a dry measuring cup set, a liquid measuring cup, a set of measuring spoons, six paper cups, a tray. Shared: a timer on the screen, the gram scale if the room has one (optional in Unit 0), the printed role cards from Handout 01.08 - Role Cards Lab 1.md for the day 2 demonstration, the Safety Data Sheet binder, the first aid kit, and the fire extinguisher (pointed to, not used).

Handouts (in 05 Materials/Unit 00/): Handout 00.01 - Course Map and Hope Card.md; Handout 00.02 - Draw See Hear Picture Cards and Room Map.md; Handout 00.03 - Survival Ranking Sheet.md; Handout 00.04 - Team Norms Contract.md; Handout 00.05 - Room and Lab Agreement.md.

Slides: Slides 00.01 through Slides 00.05, one outline per lesson, in the same folder. The site renders each as a deck.

No-kitchen plan: nothing in Unit 0 needs heat or a sink except the tour. Lesson 0.4 needs water and rice at a table. Lesson 0.2's tour becomes a photo tour on the slides if the room is not ready.

11. Health and other-department coordination

Health class does not cover classroom safety agreements or decision models in the first week; there is no overlap. Ask the health teacher and the nurse for the class allergy list before day 5 so the allergy line of the agreement is real, not general. ELA teachers may be teaching precise description or claim and evidence in September; Draw/See/Hear and the ranking reasons use the same language ("say exactly what you see," "give a reason someone could check").

12. Connections (in-building and community)

• Inside the building: the school nurse (the allergy list for the agreement; a two-minute visit on day 5 to say where the nurse's office is); FACS gives the nurse a class that knows the allergy rule before any food is served, and gets the list and a second adult voice on the rule. The custodian (where the breaker, the water shutoff, and the extinguisher are on the day 2 tour). The ENL teacher (a check on the Spanish lines in Vocabulary 00.md and on the agreement).
• Community: a family member who signs the optional line on the agreement. FACS gives families a one-page picture of how the room runs before the first lab, and gets a signature that makes the phone and food rules easier to hold all year.

13. Vocabulary for translation

See Vocabulary 00.md: about 15 Tier 3 words (do now, reset cue, role card, station, hazard, sanitize, agreement, norm, decision, option, consequence, teamwork, listen, describe, precise, and a few more) with a one-line student definition and a Spanish column, to be checked by a native speaker.