Thematic Teaching.docx

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Thematic teaching

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hematic or Integrated Instruction

Thematic or integrated instruction is an interdisciplinary teaching approach that presents subject matter according to themes or topics. Each theme or topic is presented in extended units so that students have enough time to develop understanding and to find connections to what they know and value. This approach integrates knowledge from different disciplines and encourages students to explore topics deeply, reading many different sources and engaging in a variety of activities. The use of multiple sources encourages students to be involved in planning, locating materials, and thinking more actively and deeply than when learning is based on a single text. As a result of their in-depth study, students are more likely to understand and feel confident in their learning. Examples of thematic teaching include explorations of big questions, such as: What happened to the dinosaurs? What impact do rain forests have on our life? Can family members and older adults be our friends? How could international conflicts be prevented?  Share

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Overview

I designed this unit as a fun introduction to healthy foods. Taking an integrated approach, students learn where food comes from and become more familiar and comfortable with fruits and vegetables through art, music, and cooking.

Objective Students will: 1.

Gain the knowledge and skills to select a diet that supports health and reduces the risk of illness and future chronic diseases. –Massachusetts Health Curriculum Framework

2.

Identify a variety of fruits and vegetables and how they are grown and harvested.

3.

Identify the connection between food served in the home with regional food production. –Massachusetts Health Curriculum Framework

Lesson Plans for this Unit Lesson 1: Vegetable Faces: A Giuseppe Arcimboldo Portrait Study Lesson 2: Vegetable Soup: A Reverse Recipe Lesson 3: In-My-Garden Sing Along

Reproducibles Lyrics for In My Garden Sing-Along Classroom Newsletter to Send Home

Supporting Books Books for An Apple A Day Unit Plan

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Part of Collection:

5 Great Thematic Unit Plans from Scholastic Teacher Advisors

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Subjects:

Cooking, Arts and Creativity, Health and Safety, Plant Growth and Development, Songs and Rhymes, Music, Food and Nutrition

 1 Week

Duration:

Sample of a Thematic Unit Plan Edit 0 12…

Below is an example of a Thematic Unit Plan designed for a third grade reading group. This small group of students was classified in the "Intensive Intervention" or Tier 3 of the RtII program. I created this lesson during my student teaching internship at Evans Elementary School, first half of Fall 2010.

Rationale: The teacher will introduce the unit to the students by asking the students to think of a time

when they had a substitute teacher or coach. Allow the students to share their experiences to the class. Remind them that substitutes are there to follow the plans of the teacher and to see that work continues while they are absent. The students will be given the opportunity to share their experiences to the class. After the students have shared their experiences the teacher will introduce the book "Miss Nelson Has a Field Day," written by James Marshall. The teacher will explain that this story will be used throughout the week to guide their experiences with making predictions, gathering information about the main ideas of the story, as well as applying learned skills and vocabulary to learning centers. The unit is planned for third grade students at the ages of eight and nine. This unit plan's theme is on the book "Miss Nelson Has a Field Day,written by James Marshall. In order to provide for concrete exploration of the topic, I have set up several constructive academic activities. These activities will incorporate the book, and will help the student develop skills that can be applied to everyday situations. These skills include making predictions, using comprehension and applying vocabulary. Throughout the unit the students will be exposed to using story maps to outline a story. Learning centers have been designed to allow the students to be actively engaged, while applying learned information to the centers. The students will be given the opportunity to explore with an interactive bulletin board, which will test their knowledge on vocabulary words that are incorporated in the story. By the end of the unit the student's will be able identify and define vocabulary pertaining to the story, Draw conclusions, make predictions and inferences as well as identify the characters, setting, problem and solution of the story. The students will be able to order the main events of the story, write a thank you letter and make progress towards reading the story fluently.

Lesson Objectives:

By the end of the unit the students will be able to:  

Identify and define vocabulary pertaining to the story. Draw conclusions, make predictions and inferences as well as identify the characters, setting, problem and solution of the story.

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Order the main events of the story.

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Write a thank you letter to Coach Swamp from Coach Armstrong.

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Read the story fluently.

Assessments:

The unit plan was assessed according to checklists throughout the week. These checklists are attached to the lesson plans. The unit will also be assessed on the final day while the student's complete their learning centers. This rubric is attached to the lesson on Day 6.

Unit Schedule: STA-Unit Schedule.doc

Day 1: STA-Unit-Miss Nelson 1 (Sp.Ed).doc Day 2: STA-Unit-Miss Nelson 2 (Sp.Ed).doc Day 3: STA-Unit-Miss Nelson 3 (Sp.Ed).doc Day 4: STA-Unit-Miss Nelson 4 (Sp.Ed).doc Day 5: STA-Unit-Miss Nelson 5 (Sp.Ed).doc

Day 6: STA-Unit-Miss Nelson 6 (Sp.Ed).doc

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