Category Archives: 2022

2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Branches of Power: Using Drama to Communicate Understanding 

Wendy Tolbert, 2nd Grade, Starmount Academy of Excellence

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: This unit was a struggle to teach second graders in the past. I found an innovative and exciting way to bring this unit to life. Drama allows students to move, retain details, and be engaged all at once. The unit introduces the students to how it feels to be under Great Britain’s rule. They are forced to give up their goods and pay taxes. Then they go to war with Great Britain. Students show this by posing in a still moment using a tableau to retell history. This leads us to the discussion of the Declaration of Independence, the document that allows the colonist to separate from the king’s rule. The United States Constitution is a document that is the foundation of our democracy that states “it’s for the people by the people.” The constitution consists of three branches of power, the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. In addition, students use a reader’s theatre to act out each branch. They will show their understanding by creating a triarama. The tableaux vivant demonstrates and interprets the three branches of government. 

2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

 Reading and Moving: Integrating Movement to Improve Comprehension by Focusing on Text Structure

Sonia Stahl, 2nd Grade French Immersion, North Academy of World Languages

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: In this curriculum unit students will dive into the process of using different strategies to develop better comprehension when reading. The students will read two stories and will learn to answer basic questions about the stories (such as what, when, who etc.), analyze different characters and compare and contrast. All these will be supported by the addition of movement in order to address different learning styles and bring alive the text by involving the body. Creating a dance about the two stories and the main characters will be a new element and experience for my students. The purpose is for students to learn to think about the stories in more imaginative ways. These movement experiences will help the students better perform the tasks of compare and contrast, an abstract concept that is often difficult for them to understand. 

2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Shaping the Moment

Katelyn Gardepe, 4th Grade, Selwyn Elementary School

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: This unit is based on the idea that movement in the classroom needs to be a vital part of our everyday lesson planning. Throughout this unit, students will experience a variety of activities that allow them to not only access the grade level content standards, but also to get their blood flowing and help their brain become activated for the day’s lesson. A menu-like option of lessons allows for teachers to pick and choose from the lessons provided to supplement the current curriculum with what their students may need. In addition, these lessons are also great replacements for indoor recess or can be shared with your special area teachers for a content-focused lesson! 

The lessons within this unit focus on key geometry skills such as: 

● building and identifying 2D and 3D shapes 

● identifying lines, line segments, points, rays, and angles 

● utilizing attributes of quadrilaterals, triangles, and three-dimensional shapes to describe geometric figures 

2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Moving to Learn: The Embodied Teen through Social-Emotional Learning 

Judy Duren, Exceptional Children, Mallard Creek High School

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: This curriculum unit will make a significant contribution to educators seeking strategies that contribute to the well-being of their students. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made strengthening mental health support and resources a priority for school systems throughout the country and should not be underestimated. In this unit, students will focus on body-mind awareness skills and strategies that will embody lifelong social-emotional learning (SEL) skills through movement and expression. Students will develop the five pillars of social-emotional learning: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making through engagement and movement in and out of the classroom. In addition, this unit will support teachers in restoring balance to the classroom through design and structure. As I have utilized SEL strategies in the classroom with my students we have begun to build stronger relationships through trust. 

2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Displaying Understanding Through Dance Integration: Connecting the Mind and Body in the ELA Classroom

Danica Wolfe, 5th Grade, Oakhurst STEAM Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: The goal of this unit is to teach 5th grade students the basics of dance elements and sequenced movement series so that they can create a dance that reflects their understanding and analysis of a fictional character in a class novel study. Over the course of the first five lessons, students will learn about the elements of body shape, action, space, time, energy. They will also learn how to sequence short series of movements. The next six lessons ask students to apply their knowledge of creative dance sequences to generate series of movements that reflect their understanding of a character’s perspective in a particular event in a literary plotline. These lessons coincide with the 5th grade literacy curriculum for our district. The final three lessons allow students to put finishing touches on their efforts by identifying music that fits their piece, putting on a performance for their peers, and reflecting on their learning through dance integration. This unit also serves as a starting point for teachers to build their capacity to use dance in the literacy classroom as a strategy to make comprehension of text visible through embodiment. The instructional strategies included in this unit would be useful in any literacy classroom and can be modified to meet the needs of a variety of ages and units of instruction. 

2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

KUMA: A Learning Tool for Problem-Solving Engagement

Dominic Dial, Math, Cochrane Collegiate Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: The problem-solving and critical thinking is the heart of mathematics. But unfortunately, the learners are struggling with how to deal with these matters. Hence, this curriculum helps you see that there is a holistic and scientific approach to assist you and your learners solve the problem-solving dilemma. This curriculum presents KUMA. It is an abbreviation for Known, Unknown, Methods, and Answers. In this curriculum, you will be guided on how to teach and integrate problem-solving in class and solve it using different problem-solving strategies. It has varieties of problem-solving where students act, draw, illustrate, move, talk and explain ideas. 

2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Science and Relationships: Bridging the Gap 

Antiona Green, 4th Grade, Oakhurst STEAM Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: In this unit students will apply concepts of movement and the body to understand the interactions among organisms within an environment. This unit focuses on the essential question, “ On an ever-changing planet, what things need to be in place to enable living organisms to survive?” Using project-based learning through the 5E Instructional Model, concepts of Tableaux and dance, students will be able to explain how different organisms satisfy their needs in the environment in which they are typically found. Each component builds on the previous one to ensure students truly grasp the significance of animals and their role within their community. The elements of body, action, and relationship will serve as the pillars of this unit. Hands on activities and group dialogue enables teachers to cultivate a positive classroom environment where students work to exist within shared spaces. Giving students the opportunity to influence how and what they learn can greatly affect their effort, performance, and the degree of how much information is retained. At the end of the unit, students apply what they have learned to create a Tableaux incorporating concepts learned throughout the unit. 

2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Exploring Memory through Movement 

Andrea Calderon, 3rd Grade, Starmount Academy of Excellence

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: This curriculum unit (CU) will focus on the essential question: How are memories made? Throughout the course of this seven-lesson unit, third-grade scientists will expand upon their knowledge of the Human Body and the Central Nervous System. Scientists will focus on the brain and the three different types of memory: Sensory Memory, Short-term Memory, and Long-Term Memory. Students will gain insight into the world of dance by learning some foundational skills regarding dance composition and tools used to communicate within the dance community. For the culminating project, students will integrate their knowledge of the brain and memory with their knowledge of dance to create a dance composition to demonstrate how memory is made. 

2022 Vol 6: Carolina Cuisine: History and Science of Food

The Food Dilemma in The Carolinas

Wyounda Horton, 8th Grade English Language Arts, Druid Hills Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: Students will explore food justice and availability as it relates to their communities. They will research different topics that impact access to healthy food, write expository essays that lead them to write an argumentative essay, and conduct debates in front of an audience, about the food choices they think would benefit their community the best. Using the anchor text “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan, watching video clips on the related topics, listening to podcasts, and their own independent research findings, students evaluate the authors’ motives, purposes and points of view, before choosing their stance for their claim. Examining food choices, availability and where our food comes from, will help students make informed decisions to present their argument effectively. This unit aligns with the North Carolina English Language Arts standards to delineate and evaluate the argument and claims in a text, and support claims with relevant evidence and clear reasoning. The summative assessment requires students to conduct short research projects to answer the question “What does food justice and availability mean to them and their communities,” and defend their stance during a debate. Writing essays, and participating in a debate, while drawing from several sources, and generating additional related focused questions, students will have multiple avenues of inquiry for extended learning beyond what we do in the classroom.

2022 Vol 6: Carolina Cuisine: History and Science of Food

The Rediscovering of the Gullah Geechee Culture Through Its Cuisine! 

Roshan Varghese, American History, Butler High School

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: In its pursuit of development and progress, American history has disregarded the impact and influence of various minority groups and cultures. One of those groups that has suffered at the hands of time has been the Gullah Geechee culture of the lowcountry of the Southern United States. It is a hybrid culture developed by the enslaved peoples of West Africa brought to colonial America, by the tragic effects of the Triangular Trade and the Middle Passage. In an effort to communicate with each other, despite varying cultural backgrounds, along with the desire to disguise communications from slaveholders, the Gullah language mixed West African creole with English. However, the common denominator that bridged the Geeche people was food. Food has always been the link between generations, and within generations. And for the Gullah Geechee people, as their people have lost land and traditions to development and progress, it is their food that connects them to their past. From their origins of being expert cultivators of rice, to their foundations of cajun cuisine and “soul food”, the Gullah Geechee people have a proud and noble heritage. In this Curriculum Unit, our goal is to expose our students to the forgotten culture of the Gullah Geechee people, providing a powerful reflection of African-American culture that nearly all Americans, including many African-Americans are completely unaware of. Through resources such as the 1990s Nickelodeon’s family television series, “Gullah Gullah Island” and Padma Lakshmi’s “Taste the Nation” episode of “The Gullah Way”, we want to give insights into Gullah language, the Gullah food, and more than anything, the Gullah people. And if we are able to do that, we will be able to expose our students to the beauty of an important culture in the development of American history. 

2022 Vol 6: Carolina Cuisine: History and Science of Food

Ecology and Biodiversity: How and What Do I Feed My Neighbor? 

Pia Townes, Earth and Enivronmental Science, Harding University High School

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: This unit helps students understand and master content knowledge regarding the Biosphere with special attention to human population, growth, food, and health. As students learn about the biosphere and human impact on Earth, they should be able to use the steps of the Scientific Method (observe, research, hypothesize, experiment, analyze data, and conclude) and critical thinking skills to solve 21st century problems. During each class, students will use the inquiry-based thinking graphic organizer I SEE, I THINK, I WONDER to analyze their community’s haves, needs, and wants in order to solve community issues such as food inequality and promote better emotional, mental, and physical health. When discussing food inequality, scholars study the availability of Food Stores and Food Service Places within their community answering the questions, “What do we feed a growing population, and Do they have access to food?” Other learning during this unit includes weekly global issues featuring CNN10 and the scholar’s ability to connect the four spheres and discuss how they interact with one another. At the end of class, students share reflections on their conclusions and solutions in the Discussion Board on Canvas and receive feedback from classmates. 

2022 Vol 6: Carolina Cuisine: History and Science of Food

Amazing Maize: Authentic Foodways in the World Languages Classroom 

Matt Kelly, Spanish, Independence High School

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: As explained by Elizabeth Engelhardt, foodways is a term for thinking about food in a holistic perspective that considers not foodstuffs, but the social, cultural, and economic context in which our food is produced and consumed. Foodways encompass not only what we eat, but how we prepare it, who produced it, who taught us to produce it, with whom we eat it and with whom we do not eat it.(Edge et al.) In this unit I will connect student’s prior knowledge of foods using nixtamalized corn (hominy grits and Mexican style totopos, or tortilla chips) with Mexican and Central American traditions such as tamales. Students will also learn about the cultural continuity in indigenous communities in the processing and consumption of corn between Mexico and the United States. Students will learn about the commonalities and differences between Mexican and Salvadoran tamales and related foods such as Navajo tamales and Cherokee bean bread. Students will learn how the European appropriation of maize corn divorced from its traditional processing (soaking in an alkali solution) led to widespread disease, disability and death in the American South in the first part of the twentieth century. 

2022 Vol 6: Carolina Cuisine: History and Science of Food

 What Has Biotechnology Done For You Lately? 

Krystal Dehaney, Science, Wilson STEM Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: In this unit students will be able to make real world connections to biotechnology. The information published here goes from the basics of biotechnology which is an 8th grade standard but also dives deeper. Students will learn about the ethical issues that biotechnology creates as well as the lives that it supports. There will be some cross curricular learning as students learn about the history of North Carolina through agriculture. Many different cultures are included in this journey historically and present day. A lesson is included that allows students to talk about careers in the stem world that biotechnology has opened up and the significant implications to our everyday lives. This curriculum unit is meant to be taught across several standards which will then also assist students in understanding how multiple scientific disciplines lend themselves to one another. Scholars also get an introduction to agriculture and marketing as they build their own businesses to showcase local North Carolina agricultural products. 

2022 Vol 6: Carolina Cuisine: History and Science of Food

The Use and Abuse of the Haber-Bosch Process 

Jessica Young, 7th Grade Social Studies, Cochrane Collegiate Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: Scientific discoveries are neither positive nor negative. Most scientists, in fact, set out to help the world. However, with every new discovery comes a new risk. Technological advances can be utilized for good or evil, depending on who is in charge. The Haber-Bosch reaction, discovered and refined before World War I, is one such example. Haber, a Jewish scientist, set out to make nitrogen from the air useful as a fertilizer. Without his invention, the world would have starved within 30 years. Bosch, another Jewish scientist, engineered a way to produce ammonia, the usable form of nitrogen, in mass quantities. However, at the start of World War I their process was used to produce explosives. The labs they led researched synthetic rubber and gasoline. Haber, a nationalist, discovered and weaponized deadly mustard gas. And, to bring it back around, elements in mustard gas were found to eliminate white blood cell cancers. So, throughout history, have scientific advances helped or harmed the world? Do they promote equality, or just bolster those in power? Using an inquiry-based model, students will analyze the benefits and consequences of the Haber-Bosch process. Students will use a variety of readings about the process, World War I, and current events to answer the data-based question. 

2022 Vol 6: Carolina Cuisine: History and Science of Food

The Women’s Suffrage Movement and the Quiet Power Women Yielded Through Their Kitchens

Jashonai Payne, 4th Grade, Clear Creek Elementary School

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

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Synopsis: Looking to enhance the EL Curriculum’s Module Four on Women’s Suffrage? Well, this is the unit for you! This unit creates opportunities for students to talk with the women in their family through an interview to see how being a woman or a girl growing up may have affected how they were treated in their families, as well as the chores or responsibilities they may been given. This unit also delves into how some women used their limited power and abilities in the 1920s by wielding their influence and voices through their kitchens and cooking. There are various activities that one can complete with their students that focus on the Module’s spotlighted novel, The Hope Chest by Karen Schwabach. This includes an anticipatory set of questions, vocabulary charts, internet research on key figures of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, foods of the time, and comprehension questions to get teachers started on the first several chapters of this amazing book.