Presents guidelines for developing thematic units for primary students (pick broad-based themes, gather resources, avoid time traps, let student interests guide the themes, create interactive bulletin boards, and organize materials). The article offers ideas, activities, and experiences for beginning a color unit and maintaining thematic teaching…

Describes an integrated thematic unit designed for readers in grades 8 to 10. Contains a four- to six-week plan that encompasses reading strategies, inquiry projects, and assessment tools and includes an activity map (based on Jennifer Armstrong's "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the…

Noting the need for children's librarians, preschool teachers, and storytellers to keep their programs interesting and fresh, this guide is comprised of 48 theme-based units for preschool-level programs in libraries, early childhood settings, or at home. The guide is presented in two parts. Part 1 contains tips for theme-based program planning and…

This paper explores the use of conceptual themes as a framework for interdisciplinary studies with gifted students. Describes sample themes and suggested student products, as well as guidelines for brainstorming, planning activities, facilitating production, and evaluating student products. (PB)

Describes a thematic unit of study, carried out in a kindergarten class, on traditional aspects of Mexican life. Describes class activities, unit objectives, and student responses in the unit involving geography, art, literacy, and Mexican culture. (SR)

Written for teachers who are interested in learning how to use literature to enhance emergent literacy growth, this handbook, in two volumes, focuses on how to implement integrated, literature-based, thematic units that stress the development of effective strategies required of independent, self-directed competent readers and writers. The first…

Discusses getting started, organizing a thematic unit, developing a unit around classroom concerns, and skills students need. Discusses creating a thematic unit in American literature focused on Henry David Thoreau. Presents a series of nine questions for teachers to ask themselves when selecting a novel for use in a thematic unit with middle or…

This book is part of a series of books presenting ready-to-use instructional units on themes typically taught in the primary grades. The topics focus on science, math, social studies or literature, but use language arts skills consistently in each unit. Each book in the series also uses as many frames of mind or intelligences as possible. Within a…

Noting the importance of whole concept learning as opposed to fragmented non-meaningful facts, this paper presents a unit of study on animal habitats that is geared for a first-grade whole-language classroom in the later stages of the year. The major objective of the unit presented in the paper is for students to be able to identify the habitats…

With this book as a guide, elementary school teachers can build classroom themes that offer students substantive encounters with knowledge, literature, and language. The book discusses a rationale for theme teaching; an explanation of the different kinds of themes; a variety of ways in which themes can be treated in the classroom; a detailed…

One of the major problems with the English curriculum is that literature, language, and composition, the three major strands of the curriculum, have been separated rather than integrated within the curriculum. This inservice program, which was given for English teachers at Niles High School in Skokie, Illinois, advocates the use of conceptual or…

This thematic unit for teaching descriptive writing is organized around 10 days of lesson plans. The unit begins by asking key questions about descriptive writing and providing information on grade level, ability level, number of lessons and length of classes, and prior knowledge students should have. It also offers a unit rationale and key…

Outlines general steps in designing a literature-based thematic unit: selecting a theme, determining unit length, identifying concepts, locating resources, brainstorming and sequencing class activities, and planning for evaluation. Presents a planning chart and a sample unit for elementary grades developed around the theme of life in the rural…

This book is part of a series of books presenting ready-to-use instructional units on themes typically taught in the primary grades. The topics focus on science, math, social studies or literature, but use language arts skills consistently in each unit. Each book in the series also uses as many frames of mind or intelligences as possible. Within a…

A useful framework for literature-based instruction is the curriculum related literature unit which provides a total resource for content area teaching. Such a unit could be based on the science curriculum, "Exploring the Solar System," and could be developed thematically through topics of space or the solar system. The teacher's initial…