Zachary Powers Curriculum Context and Rationale Context School: PennAlexander Grade: 3rd The population of the Penn

Alexander catchment, is by majority rich in cultural and economic capital, sometimes both This population is relati!ely new to the area, ha!in" become a majority within the last #$%#& years Social and economics ine'uities still exist at the school, but aren(t to my )nowled"e a "eneral issue in my classroom That said, there are se!eral non%white children who come from wor)in" class families and ha!e a harder time with academic material and social norms in the classroom *e ha!e one boy with an +,P, who is on the autistic spectrum and reads at a second "rade readin" le!el There are three or four students who ha!e a mar)edly harder time stayin" on tas) than others but do not ha!e an +,P *ithin that "roup, the students display !aryin" le!els of performance in class There is also a "roup of students who perform !ery well in math and readin" and show well de!eloped meta%co"niti!e s)ills To my )nowled"e none of them ha!e an +,P for bein" "ifted, but their abilities in the "eneral classroom mar)edly exceed those of other students The rest of the children are all en"a"ed in classroom and indi!idual acti!ities, with !aryin" stren"ths As a class, the students are "enerally supporti!e of one another and -rs .ohnson has created an en!ironment where students can help peers and as) for help from peers with comfort Those who often act as helpers ha!e a clear sense of what 'ualifies as constructi!e help and what would be just tellin" their peers what to do Those who as) for help /includin" those fre'uent helpers0 pay close attention to help "i!en and, "enerally, are open to constructi!e su""estions and 'uestionin" -any students are articulate and able to en"a"e in elaborated con!ersation on an academic topic, explainin" their thin)in" and as)in" clear 'uestions Their written wor), "enerally, is less de!eloped +n direct instruction, !isual and auditory aids are often necessary to hold their attention 1re'uent pair or "roup discussions also wor) to brea) up direct instruction for them and hold their attention for lon"er Students best en"a"e with new topics when ideas are related to their prior academic experience and for many, their personal li!es The challen"e + want to focus on in sculptin" these lessons, and in teachin" as + approach the two wee) ta)e o!er, is to find a way to best instruct and assess those students who lie outside the mainstream of the class + ha!e confidence with my ability to differentiate within that "roup, and for the hi"her performin" students 2et, because the students who lie outside of the mainstream ha!e mar)edly different academic ability, +

ha!e not had as much time to focus in on them indi!idually As + plan these units, + want to ta)e out time specifically to thin) of ways to accommodate these students and brin" them into the classroom con!ersation + thin) they are all capable with enou"h support Rationale -y 3i"hts and 3esistance curriculum comes as students be"in to explore the historic aspect of social studies education This curriculum, split into three units, is meant to be an introduction to historical thin)in", connectin" the history of the 4i!il 3i"hts -o!ement with their own li!es, and framin" the students themsel!es as a"ents in history The units to"ether create a pro"ression towards the "oal of students understandin" that re"ular people li)e themsel!es as shapers of history and historic chan"e The first unit focuses on introducin" students to historical thin)in" s)ills throu"h an in'uiry into family history The second loo)s at the 4i!il 3i"hts -o!ement from the perspecti!e of ordinary people, framin" perspecti!es on the era and explorin" ways that people responded to power and fou"ht for their ri"hts The third unit will be a Social 3esponsibility wor)shop, in which students, "rouped by interest, wor) on a project to support a cause they are interested in The content focus for this third unit will be Sustainability +ssues around sustainability, alon" with perspecti!es and acti!ism around the issues, will be introduced and explored durin" 5nit 6 in brief, current e!ents acti!ities *e chose the 4i!il 3i"hts -o!ement for our 5nit 6 focus because the ri"hts at sta)e /and the prejudices at issue0 are !ery concrete for third "raders *ithin the mo!ement, there are many different types of resistance to draw on and explore, "i!in" a !ariety of an"les to explore the idea of resistance 7ein" a people(s mo!ement, the 43also clearly demonstrates how ordinary people can brin" about chan"e +n addition, the opposition to social chan"e was also a people(s mo!ement ,xplorin" resistance carried out by those opposed to chan"e pro!ides depth in the exploration of the moral dimensions of resistance and an opportunity to explore the perspecti!es of all people in!ol!ed +t will be important, in this particular case, not to put students in a place where they feel pressured to identify with people who they find morally repu"nant 8onetheless, there should be space for explorin" the !iews of at least some opposed to "i!in" ci!il liberties to African Americans in order to better define why ci!il ri"hts are important + chose Sustainability for my 5nit 3 /two wee) ta)eo!er0 focus because it is similarly broad *ithin the wor)shop model, + wanted students to ha!e the opportunity to pic) an issue they are personally interested in to explore and wor) for 8onetheless, + felt that it mi"ht belie by "oals if students were "i!en too much freedom in choosin" a topic As + ha!e experienced with their +nformational *ritin" 5nit, my third "raders are not fully prepared to deal with total freedom of chose +n the writin" unit, they ha!e had a difficult time stic)in" with topics and particular modes of presentation for their topic

/e!en within the format of an informational boo) 0 + also feel that, within our 4urrent ,!ents time, it would be better to expose them to a topic we can explore in depth, rather than exposin" them to many different issues in brief Sustainability is well defined enou"h for students to see it as a sin"le issue9 the "oal of sustainability, broadly, is to li!e in harmony with the en!ironment *ithin the domain of sustainability, howe!er, there are many different issues to address This dimension of choice, + hope, will pro!ide space for "enuine en"a"ement of indi!idual interests as students apply the ideas they ha!e learned studyin" the 4i!il 3i"hts -o!ement to the present moment Two themes of the 3rd Grade social studies curriculum are community and local history +n wor)in" with the 4i!il 3i"hts -o!ement and Sustainability, + want to show students how these issues ha!e been and are currently rele!ant in Philadelphia ,xtendin" my "oal of framin" history with in a personal and popular context, + hope this local focus will help students to further understand history as somethin" that is rele!ant to them and their family