Using the Net to Create Thematic Units

 

 

What is a Thematic Unit?

According to www.funderstanding.com - "Thematic instruction is the organization of a curriculum around macro "themes." Thematic instruction integrates basic disciplines like reading, math, and science with the exploration of a broad subject, such as communities, rain forests, river basins, the use of energy, and so on."

 

 

Ten Key Reasons to Use Thematic Units

1. Increases Effective Use of Computers and Technology

2. Compacts the Curriculum

3. Demonstrates the Interdisciplinary Nature of Learning

4. Increases Student Interest in Learning and Time Engaged

5. Expands your Assessment Strategies

6. Utilizes Collaborative and Cooperative Learning

7. Focuses the Learner on the Mastery of Objectives

8. Integrates Word Processing Skills into Creative Activities

9. Models for Students the Resources Used in Research

10. Can Safely Control Web Access for Students

 

This Thematic Unit Model is based on those found in Chapter 13, "Literature and the Curriculum: A Thematic Approach," of Legacies: Using Children’s Literature in the Classroom by Liz Rothlein and Anita Meyer Meinbach. HarperCollins College Publishers, 1996.

 

Component Parts of this Thematic Unit:

1. Theme. Select an appropriate theme reflecting text topics (curriculum), student interests, experiences, issues, or problems.

2. Grade Level Appropriateness

3. Focus. Develop a one-sentence focus statement that summarizes the direction and intent of the unit.

4. Objectives. Identify three or four specific objectives you wish students to master by the completion of the unit. These can be tied to state and county objectives and competencies.

5. Materials and Resources. It is advantageous to determine all the necessary materials and resources after the unit has been written. The way, you avoid limiting yourself to a few familiar items.

a. Printed Resources. newspapers, pamphlets, notices, travel guides, junk mail, journals, diaries, letters, maps, advertisements, brochures, flyers, encyclopedias, dictionaries, magazines, booklets, professional journals.

b. Computer and CD-ROM Resources. Educational software, reference works, educational games and simulations related to curriculum, and CD-ROM adaptations of literature.

c. Internet Resources.

d. Audio/Visual Resources. videos, films, filmstrips, movies, slide programs, or overhead transparencies. Records, audio tapes, books and tapes, and CD’s.

e. Community Resources.
1. guest speakers
2. field trips

f. Instructional Television Resources
1. ETV
2. Cable
g. Literature Resources
1. fiction
2. non-fiction
3. poetry

6. General Activities. Develop activities you wish to use throughout the unit. For the most part, these activities will be broad-based, covering the range of curricular areas and reflecting elements of a literature-based program.

7. Discussion Questions. Include a variety of open-ended questions that help students think about the topic in varied and divergent ways.

8. Literature Selections. See Materials and Resources above. Select books related to the topic of each thematic unit. For literature selection you may wish to develop a pre-reading activity, a variety of cross-curricular learning activities, and open-ended discussion questions. Select books from a variety of genres.

9. Culminating Activity. The culminating activity is a project or activity that engages students in meaningful summarization of their discoveries and leads to new ideas, understandings, and connections.

10. Evaluation. Devise appropriate means of evaluating student progress throughout the unit. Avoid relying on formal pencil and paper tests; select criteria to measure growth. Use conferences, logs, and student journal writing as well.

11. Related Works of Literature. Select books that relate to the theme and make these available for independent reading and reading aloud.

 

 

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">Creating Thematic Units Sites

 

Integrating Technology Into Thematic Units  http://198.234.67.3/integrating/cover.htm - Notes for a class. has some nice links.

NCTE Teaching Ideas: Thematic Units http://ncte.org/teach/Vardell9069.html-  A reprint detailing one teacher's method of using thematic units and ideas in the classroom.

 

Thematic Unit lesson Plan Sites

AtoZ Teacher Stuff Thematic Unit Index  http://atozteacherstuff.com/themes/index.shtml -  Lists by subject and grade level.

BCPhare's List of Links  http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/4705/themes.html -  A small collection grouped by subject.

Chocolate Thematic Unit  http://explorer.scrtec.org/explorer/explorer-db/html/827532906-81ED7D4C.html -  "Provides a rationale for the thematic unit itself and a brief description of each component resource. Component unit resources cover the mathematics, literature and geography curriculums. You must download as a PDF (Adobe Acrobat Reader software) file. part of the Explorer Web Site  http://explorer.scrtec.org/explorer-cgi/search.cgi?SearchField=Title&SearchField=Author&SearchField=Description&Function=QuickSearch&SearchExpr=Thematic+unit&x=12&y=15 web site.

Collaborative Lesson Plan Archive  http://faldo.atmos.uiuc.edu/CLA/ -  Thematic plans are mixed in, with many good ideas and links. Grouped by Grade and then subject. Has a search option available.

Colonial America Thematic unit http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/colunit.htm -  Grades 4th & 5th By Karen Sutton. mainly English, geography and social studies cross-over.

Connecting Students  http://www.connectingstudents.com/themes/index.htm  - Mainly lesson plans organized by themes. Good for planning thematic units as each plan includes useful resources and grade level.

Early Childhood Thematic Units http://www.sbcss.k12.ca.us/sbcss/specialeducation/ecthematic/index.html -  These units are designed and published through a Technology Grant Project supported by the San Bernardino County Schools, Special Services, Special Education Division. The intent of this Grant is to design Early Childhood Thematic Units that incorporate technology throughout the curriculum.

Education World  http://www.education-world.com/ -  This is a searchable lesson plan and educational information database. Searching for Thematic Units brings up many options.

Enhancing Thematic Units with Technology  http://www.ed.sc.edu/caw/theme.html -  Some very good links.

Gander's Academy's Theme Links  http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/themes.html - Good for resources. organized by topic.

Lesson Planz's Thematic Unit Links  http://lessonplanz.com/Lesson_Plans/Thematic_Units/ -  A good reference list with a brief summary of each link.

Millard Public Schools middle school curriculum  http://www.esu3.k12.ne.us/districts/millard/centmidd/thematic.html  - This sites lists a few middle school thematic units and has a set of curriculum links useful for developing links.

Michigan Standards Based Thematic Units  http://www.muskegon-isd.k12.mi.us/language/mi_standards/index.htm-  Local teachers have written units based on a process developed by the Waterford School District under the direction of Julie Casteel.

MIKSIKE Thematic Units  http://miksike.com/thematic.htm -  this site contains integrated thematic curriculum, which divides learning into cross curricular projects / thematic units. MIKSIKE targets regular K-12 and home schools.

Sources on the Web for Thematic Units  http://www.collegestation.isd.tenet.edu/teacher_links/thematic_units.htm - Maintained by college station.

TCCN Thematic Units  http://www.trumbull.k12.oh.us/tccn/Default.htm - The units are from five to ten days in duration and emphasize the use of multi-media in the presentation shared through Distance Learning.

The Teacher's Guide  http://www.theteachersguide.com/Thematicunits.html -  Listed by subject.

Teacher's Pet Pages  http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/6727/newplans.html -  A list of links with a brief summary of each.

Thematic Units for Primary Grades  http://www.libsci.sc.edu/miller/Unitlink.htm -   Each unit is based on appropriate children's literature and addresses an across-the-curriculum approach.

Thematic Units  http://www.sycamores.org/schooldaze/page4.htm -  This site was designed specifically for the Education Staff at The Sycamores Non-Public School in order to provide easy, well-organized access to valuable curriculum resources on the World Wide Web (WWW) for both teacher information as well as for student use.

WebRing Navigation  http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=themeteam;list -  WebRings are collections of sites around a specific topic.

Sample Units 

Bats http://intergate.cccoe.k12.ca.us/bats/welcome.html

Chocolate http://explorer.scrtec.org/explorer/explorer-db/html/827532906-81ED7D4C.html

Dear Mr. Blueberry http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/dearmr/dearmrtg.html

Pat's Cats http://www.mania.com.au/~pshaw/

Patchwork of Cultures http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/Patch/patchtg.html

Whales  http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/Whales/Contents.HTML

 

Name _______________________________________  Date ______________________________

 

Creating Cross-Curricular Thematic Lessons

 

As you design a thematic unit, take the time to assess its structure based on the following rubric. This will help you to produce quality instructional units designed to thoroughly integrate learning and meet the needs of your students.

 

Thematic Unit Rubric

 

Title of Unit                                                                                              

 

Team Members                                                                                           

 

 

Beginning

1

Developing

2

Accomplished

3

Exemplary

4

Score

Theme

·         no theme evident

·         purpose is unclear

·         some attempt at a theme is evident bust mostly unclear

·         various discipline connections are weak

·         theme is evident

·         most disciplines are included

·         them is clear;

·         purpose of unit is clear

 

Focus

Question

·         no focus question

·         focus question is too specific

·         focus question oriented to one discipline

·         focus question is broad but not necessarily real-world oriented

·         focus question is broad, global

·         focus question encourages exploration

·         focus question applies to real-world issues

 

Instructional

Objectives

·         no goals or objectives listed

·         unit not age appropriate

·         goals and objectives lack inter-discipline approach

·         activities are age appropriate

·         goals and objectives based on standards

·         objectives written in measurable terms

·         objectives integrate all disciplines

·         objectives encourage higher order thinking skills

 

Materials & Resources

·         textbooks serve as sole resource

·         a variety of print sources are made available to students

·         inclusion of non-print resources is encouraged

·         coordination among team members allocates resources effectively

·         students are encouraged to locate resources independently

·         use of web resources is appropriate and effective

 

Activities

·         activities are not clearly defined

·         students are required to simply restate facts

·         activities focus on knowledge level of Bloom’s Taxonomy

·         students are not provided a choice in activities

·         activities are project oriented

·         activities draw upon several disciplines

·         activities provide for multiple intelligences

·         activities encourage creative expression and problem solving

·         activities can be student originated

 

Evaluation

·         no evidence of evaluation for students or for the unit

·         assessment is conducted only at the culmination of the unit

·         assessment focuses on student performance

·         assessment is a continuous processes throughout the unit

·         assessment criteria developed with student input

·         assessment correlates with unit objectives

·         students are encouraged to self-assess their participation and performance in the unit

·         peer assessment is utilized with group activities

·         team members share perceptions throughout the unit and modify as necessary

 

 

Information obtained from “Creating Cross-Curricular Thematic Units” by Patricia J. Terry

 

 

 

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