Tamra Stambaugh

Emily Mofield

Winner of the 2015 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award Perspectives of Power explores the nature of power in literature, historical documents, poetry, and art. Lessons include a major focus on rigorous evidence-based discourse through the study of common themes and content-rich, challenging nonfiction and fictional texts. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University's Programs for Talented Youth and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), guides students to explore the power of oppression; the power of the past, present, and future; and the power of personal response by engaging in simulations, skits, creative projects, literary analyses, Socratic seminars, and debates. Texts illuminate content extensions that interest many high-ability students including bystander effect, social class structure, game theory, the use and abuse of technology, cultural conflict, the butterfly effect, women's suffrage, and surrealism as each relates to power. Lessons include close readings with text-dependent questions, choice-based differentiated products, rubrics, formative assessments, and ELA writing tasks that require students to analyze texts for rhetorical features, literary elements, and themes through argument, explanatory, and/or prose-constructed writing. Ideal for pre-AP and honors courses, the unit features texts from Emily Dickinson, William B. Yeats, and Charles Perrault; art from Moyo Okediji and Salvador Dali; and speeches by Elie Wiesel, Susan B. Anthony, and John F. Kennedy. As a result from the learning in the unit, students will be able to examine powerful influences in their own lives and identify their own power in personal responsibility. Grades 6-8

ELA Lessons for Gifted and Advanced Learners in Grades 6-8

Perspectives of Power

Eric Fecht

Winner of the 2015 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award Interactions in Ecology and Literature integrates ecology with the concept of interactions and the reading of fictional and informational texts. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University's Programs for Talented Youth, is aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Next Generation Science Standards. Students will research questions such as "Should animals be kept in zoos?" and "Should humans intervene to control overpopulation of species?" They will examine relationships among living things and the environment as well as relationships between literary elements in texts through accelerated content, engaging activities, and differentiated tasks. Ideal for gifted classrooms or gifted pull-out groups, the unit features fictional texts from Lynne Cherry, Katherine Applegate, and Jacqueline Woodson; art from Mark Rothko and Georges Seurat; informational texts about deforestation and a variety of animals; biographies about Michael Jordan, J. K. Rowling, and Walt Disney; and videos about food chains, food webs, and more. Grades 2-3

Integrated Science and ELA Lessons for Gifted and Advanced Learners in Grades 2-3

Interactions in Ecology and Literature

I, Me, You, We: Individuality Versus Conformity encourages students to ask themselves: Who am I? Where do I belong? What are the consequences of conforming to a group? When does social conformity go too far? In this unit, developed by Vanderbilt University's Programs for Talented Youth, students will explore texts related to belongingness, community, civil disobedience, self-reliance, and questioning the status quo. Students will tackle the fine line of individuality versus conformity through the close-reading of short stories, poems, and primary source documents and engaging in creative activities, writing, discussions, and debates. The unit features short stories from Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury, poetry from Emily Dickinson and Maya Angelou, art by MC Escher and Picasso, and primary source documents from Plato, Eleanor D. Roosevelt, William Bradford, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau.

Common Core Ela Lessons for Gifted and Advanced Learners in Grades 6-8

I, Me, You, We: Individuality Versus Conformity

Finding Freedom invites students to follow America's journey toward finding freedom by examining multiple perspectives, conflicts, ideas, and challenges through seminal historical texts. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University's Programs for Talented Youth and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), features close readings of some of the most famous American political speeches from notable Americans, presidents, and minority voices. To sharpen historical thinking, students analyze arguments for freedom, examine dissenting perspectives, and reason through multiple viewpoints of historical issues through debates and interactive activities. To develop advanced literacy skills, students evaluate effective rhetorical appeals, claims, supporting evidence, and techniques that advance arguments. Students synthesize their learning by comparing speeches to each other, relating texts to contemporary issues of today, and making interdisciplinary connections. Lessons include close readings with text-dependent questions, choice-based differentiated products, rubrics, formative assessments, social studies content connections, and ELA tasks that require argument and explanatory writing. Ideal for pre-AP and honors courses, the unit features speeches from Patrick Henry, Frederick Douglass, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lincoln, Kennedy, Johnson, George W. Bush, Obama, and others. Grades 6-8

Finding Freedom

Kim Knauss

Encounters With Archetypes integrates the study of archetypes with the concept of encounters. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University's Programs for Talented Youth, is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and features accelerated content, creative products, differentiated tasks, engaging activities, and the use of in-depth analysis models to develop sophisticated skills in the language arts. Through the lens of encounter, students will examine the patterns, symbols, and motifs associated with common archetypes by analyzing fictional and informational texts, speeches, and visual media. Students will follow various archetype encounters with conflicts and challenges to explore questions such as “How do archetypes reflect the human experience?” and “How do archetypes reveal human strengths and weaknesses?" Ideal for gifted classrooms or gifted pull-out groups, the unit features texts from Sandra Cisneros, Louis Untermeyer, Rudyard Kipling, Emily Dickinson, and Maya Angelou; biographies of Oprah Winfrey, Mother Teresa, Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride, and Lin-Manuel Miranda; a speech from President Ronald Reagan; a novel study featuring Wonder by R. J. Palacio and/or Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan; and art from Pieter Bruegel. Grades 4-5

Integrated ELA Lessons for Gifted and Advanced Learners in Grades 4-5

Encounters With Archetypes

Winner of the 2012 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award In the Mind's Eye: Truth Versus Perception invites students on a philosophical exploration of the themes of truth and perception. Lessons include a major emphasis on rigorous evidence-based discourse through the study of common themes and content-rich, challenging informational and fictional texts. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University's Programs for Talented Youth and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), applies concepts from Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" to guide students to discover how reality is presented and interpreted in fiction, nonfiction, art, and media. Students engage in activities such as Socratic seminars, literary analyses, skits, and art projects, and creative writing to understand differing perceptions of reality. Lessons include close readings with text-dependent questions, choice-based differentiated products, rubrics, formative assessments, and ELA tasks that require students to analyze texts for rhetorical features, literary elements, and themes through argument, explanatory, and prose-constructed writing. Ideal for pre-AP and honors courses, the unit features art from M.C. Escher and Vincent Van Gogh, short stories from Guy de Maupassant and Shirley Jackson, longer texts by Daniel Keyes and Ray Bradbury, and informational texts related to sociology, Nazi propaganda, and Christopher Columbus. This unit encourages students to translate learning to real-life contexts and problems by exploring themes of disillusionment, social deception, and the power of perception. Grades 6-8

Truth Versus Perception, ELA Lessons for Gifted and Advanced Learners in Grades 6-8

In the Mind's Eye

Finding Freedom invites students to follow America's journey in defining how freedom has evolved from multiple perspectives, conflicts, ideas, and challenges. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University's Programs for Talented Youth, features close readings of some of the most famous American political speeches from presidents and notable Americans, who make arguments for personal freedom, freedom for all, and protecting freedom. Students will learn to evaluate speeches for effective rhetorical techniques and analyze how the writer develops his or her argument through claims, supporting evidence, techniques, and appeals. Lessons provide opportunities for students to make interdisciplinary connections and sharpen their historical thinking skills. Students synthesize their learning by comparing speeches to each other and to contemporary issues today. The unit features speeches from Patrick Henry, Frederick Douglass, and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lincoln, Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, George W. Bush, Obama, and others.

Emily Mofield

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