Great Content. Great Education.

A Universally Designed, Rigorous, and Culturally and Currently Relevant Curriculum engages students.

Building Vocabulary

Throughout the year, students enrolled in 7th grade Ancient Civilizations and World Geography learn “key words” to help them not only think about past society’s but also our present society. While learning about the Indian Caste system [MA HSS 7.T1b.2e], students focused on the key word “stratification”. Even today, society is stratified, and we answered essential questions on whether society can function with or without stratification. This encourages students to use their own lived experiences and build upon their prior knowledge, leading to academic risk taking and growth.

When given an article, students were tasked with creating a poster to determine whether the caste system harmed or benefitted Indian society. Once students found their evidence and backed it with sufficient reasoning, they presented to the class.
After students presented their caste system findings to the class, they reflected on whether society could run without a system of social hierarchy. Students were provided with a checklist for their paragraph response requiring a claim, examples, reasoning, and a conclusion.
Frequently during the do-now, students must recall information from prior activities. As we review together, students are encouraged to build upon each others ideas and add-on to their responses.
In this exemplar, students compared the caste system to the social pyramid, as learned about in our ancient Egypt unit. They also labeled the pyramid with "high power" and "low power", which demonstrates understanding about how status can be tied to power.
Routinely, students practice recalling information during the do-now. Many students take out their notes or readings to help them complete the do-now.

Making content accessible.

Grade 10 students responded better to lectures when they were asked to watch them for homework, and take notes, or fill out a feedback form about what they learned. This is especially helpful for students who were absent, or who need a recap before exams. The feedback can also be used to revisit material in class that students struggled to comprehend or need more practice with.

Students could access these lectures on Google Classroom as pre-recorded videos with closed captions in English or their native language—I use Microsoft PowerPoint’s feature in which spoken language can be transcribed or translated for the audience. This was especially helpful for multilingual learners as they learn new vocabulary in their native language and the target language.

High Expectations

Being able to write, research, and create original arguments prepares students to think critically.

Many students in the 7th grade had never written a five paragraph essay. It was apparent that students needed explicit and targeted instruction to support them in their historical writing journey.

Students received a workbook that supported them in not only creating an outline for each paragraph, but also on deadlines, grading expectations, creating a thesis, and how to structure a historical paper.

Check out the workbook below that we used during our unit on Engaged Buddhism, where we built upon ideas of stratification, justice, and social constructs during Black History Month.

As many students needed more practice with presenting, citing, and analyzing evidence, I developed a reference sheet.

We practiced using this reference sheet each day during the do-now. Some students even kept this resource for beyond the essay to help them throughout the year. While working with students one-on-one or in small groups, it was essential to model how to use the reference sheet to better their writing as well.

With direct and explicit expectations, students achieved incredible results when using this work book.

Check out one of their essay’s below!

Great Content. Great Education.

A Universally Designed, Rigorous, and Culturally and Currently Relevant Curriculum engages students.

Building Vocabulary

When given an article, students were tasked with creating a poster to determine whether the caste system harmed or benefitted Indian society. Once students found their evidence and backed it with sufficient reasoning, they presented to the class.

After students presented their caste system findings to the class, they reflected on whether society could run without a system of social hierarchy. Students were provided with a checklist for their paragraph response requiring a claim, examples, reasoning, and a conclusion.

Frequently during the do-now, students must recall information from prior activities. As we review together, students are encouraged to build upon each others ideas and add-on to their responses.

In this exemplar, students compared the caste system to the social pyramid, as learned about in our ancient Egypt unit. They also labeled the pyramid with "high power" and "low power", which demonstrates understanding about how status can be tied to power.

Routinely, students practice recalling information during the do-now. Many students take out their notes or readings to help them complete the do-now.

Making content accessible.

High Expectations

Being able to write, research, and create original arguments prepares students to think critically.