Children in Grades 3-5 are at a wonderful stage in their education. Now able to read and write independently, they are fearless. The materials here rely on this boldness and willingness to take risks and engage with the world around them. They are able to integrate ideas and information in creative and ambitious ways. Here you will find activities, lesson plans, and curriculum units that integrate geography and math, Language Arts and Social Studies. They draw on children’s curiosity about their world and increasing self-awareness. Watch them explore their world—from the classroom to the universe!!
Overview 6-8The Middle School years are “the best of times and the worst of times.” Students challenge everything. The curriculum materials you will find here help them navigate their world in ways they will find engaging. They offer opportunity to reflect and expand upon their world view and perhaps even revisit some of their assumptions. The Activities, Lesson Plans and Curriculum Units are designed to to foster questioning. They will certainly serve as guides on their journey towards exploration of themselves and their world, near and far.
Overview 9-12High School Curriculum is driven by content but much of what you will you will find here incorporates other disciplines as well. Lesson Plans, Curriculum Units and entire Courses are rich in literacy, writing and performance assessment. They all develop critical thinking skills in students and use visual documents and other primary source material in creative and engaging ways. They require students to produce work that is innovative and reflective of their own interests and interpretations. Learning is differentiated organically and effectively, allowing students to approach tasks in ways that work best for them.
Overview K-2Students in Grades K-2 are at a crucial stage of their learning, often able to understand without being able to articulate their process of engagement.
The curriculum materials here delight in their power of observation, willingness to take risks, and the inherently interdisciplinary nature of how young children process information. These are the foundational years, where the seeds of concepts are planted, often harvested in later years, but no less crucial is the need to introduce sophisticated ideas and means to navigate the world they encounter.
Three Resources to Use to Explore Current Issues around Racial InjusticeThe Racial Dot Map of the United States shows current racial segregation in American cities
The Mapping Police Violence project identifies the extent to which Black people bear a disproportionate share of harm from police violence
Closer to home, the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission’s State of Equity report maps patterns of racialized inequality in the Boston region
Thank you to our friends at the Leventhal Map Center, https://www.leventhalmap.org/ for bringing these to my attention.
Workshop Overview
People go into education because they love learning themselves, and this truth is at the core of all our PD experiences. Whether a few hours or several days, participants will gain practical applications of both time honored and innovative techniques.
Once you sign up for a workshop, you will receive a password that will give you access to all workshop materials–power points, curriculum materials, readings, and links to videos and primary sources. During the workshop, this accessibility will enable the participants to work together easily.
Click on one of the titles to the left to learn about a specific workshop. In addition to those listed here, we are happy to customize the experience.
Please contact us and let us know how we can learn together.
Writing Overview
The materials here are intended to support the Curriculum and Workshop portions of the site. They cover contemporary and historic topics, written on a range of Grade levels, noted on the overview page of each article. Each piece is there for you and/or your students to provide context and background.
Relevant curriculum is noted on the overview page of each article. We have provided direct links to materials.