Back Initial Development My goals during the practicum experience were to develop three concept-based units for gifted third graders. I began by selecting three existing units, and then adjusting them using H. Lynn Erikson's concept-based framework. I filled out the concept-based worksheets from her book, Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul. I also referred to materials from International Baccaleurate's Middle Years Programme. It was very challenging at first to select the concepts; I found that I did not fully understand the concept-based curriculum as well as I thought that I did, so I had to do a lot more reading and research before I could really delve in. I had already planned a lot of the content, but my goal was to incorporate creative teaching strategies and other gifted teaching methods that I had learned through my coursework. All of the units that I developed for the practicum are based on Florida's standards for social studies or literature. There is certain content I am required to cover; this made developing the units challenging. Some of the standards are very content-heavy, and I sought to avoid presenting lists of facts to the students. Holidays Around the World I put most of my focus on the Holidays Around the World unit, because it was the only one I teach this semester; the other two units will be implemented next semester. I had most of the content planned, but I didn't have time to teach the unit with fidelity last year. I decided to teach the unit through the conceptual lens of culture and similarity. I aimed to accomplish this through discussion questions based on culture, asking students to self-reflect and compare cultures to each other and to their own culture, and by teaching culturally-sensitive lessons based on a multicultural curriculum. Economics In planning the economics unit, I decided to focus on needs and wants. I wanted to make sure that the content was authentic, so I planned a case study of Ben & Jerry's ice cream company to show how an idea becomes a business, and how production, marketing, and sales all come together. I also introduced the concept of barter using a classroom barter simulation using pencils and erasers. Again, the concept-based curriculum really helped focus my lesson planning, because I kept relating content and activities back to "needs and wants," describing a driving force for the entire economy. The unit culminates in an economics fair, in which students create, market, and sell their own product. Greek Mythology The Greek mythology unit will focus on culture and literary connections. The unit focuses on aspects of Greek culture, but what is also very important is connecting Greek myths to modern culture, and connecting Greek mythology as a literary concept to other literary concepts like the origin myth. As a culminating project, I have the students plan a Greek festival day, including food, entertainment, and mock Olympics. We have class discussions to discuss how all of the ancient concepts we've learned about can be brought into the modern world. When I taught the unit last year, the students decided that instead of actual wrestling, we would do thumb wrestling instead, for example. The students develop a list of activities and materials needed. The entertainment planned includes brief plays based on the Greek myths. Proudest Accomplishment I was most proud of my work on my Christmas in Kenya lesson for my Holidays Around the World unit. This summer, I took Multicultural Gifted Education with Dr. Grantham, and I also attended a 10-day social studies institute offered by the University of Florida. During the institute, we were introduced to Teaching Tolerance, a website that discusses culturally-sensitive teaching. As a result of an article I read on that website, coupled with the information I learned in Dr. Grantham's class, I decided that it was important for me to teach a lesson on Christmas in Africa. Following the article's advice, I honed in on one specific country to avoid talking about Africa as a homogenous land mass. I also avoided the use of stereotypical language such as "huts" instead of "homes," and made sure to highlight to the students that Kenyans have to travel to nature preserves to see wild animals like elephants or lions. I showed them pictures of Nairobi, shopping malls, and churches. I showed the students traditional Kenyan meals, and their corresponding recipes. A lot of the food that I showed the students wwas similar in ingredients to food we eat here (milk, cornmeal, collarad greens, etc.) Finally, I showed them an Kenyan newscast that described Christmas celebrations throughout Kenya that year. I thought it was beneficial for the students to see what everyday Kenyan life looked like, and to appreciate that there are amusement parks, news channels, dance clubs, etc. in Africa. After the lesson, we talked about what was surprising or interesting. The students were surprised that there were skyscrapers in Kenya, and that their food was so similar to ours. In teaching the lesson through a similarities and differences/culture lens, I felt that I was able to really focus my content to achieve my concept-based learning goals. If I hadn't taken that approach, I wouldn't have looked for the recipes to compare their ingredients, for example, and I feel like that was a really impactful part of the lesson. United States Government I have taught this unit before; however, I wanted to make the unit more engaging and concept-based. In order to do this, I added simulations that would allow the students to fully participate in government. I focused on the concepts of citizenship, civic duty, and government powers as I created the unit. United States Regions I taught this unit earlier in the school year as a traditional unit, but wanted to decrease the focus on the content and increase students' understanding of regions. For example, I wanted the students to understand that the regions of the United States share certain geographical and cultural characteristics; I also wanted students to be able to compare regions, or make a judgment about something (food, house, weather pattern, etc.) as being indicative of a particular region. Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean This unit focuses on the other countries in North America. As with the U.S. Regions unit, I wanted to focus on similarities and differences between the regions, and help students understand how physical environment affects how people live, manifested in their food, culture, architecture, etc. Proudest Accomplishment Last semester, I created the economics unit, and this semester, I implemented the unit. I was very proud of the discussions and debates that I developed for my economics unit. The students engaged in very thought-provoking discussions about value and starting businesses. Through the discussions, I was able to elicit many economics concepts from the students. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of thinking that the students were able to engage in, and I was happy that I chose to present the information in a concept-based way rather than just giving them the content explicitly. Resources IB Middle Years Programme Teaching Tolerance: I Didn't Know There Were Cities in Africa H. Lynn Erikson's Books