I am privileged to be one of the “Fabulous Five” who are working with DPI to create a unit for ELA with Common Core standards. My unit will be for eighth grade and be part of a the year-long theme for students entitled: This I Believe.  Throughout the course of the year, the students examine: their world in and out of school, the founding culture and core beliefs of our country, how people respond to crisis, the culture behind genocide and the links to bullying, the Civil Rights movement through the 20th century to today.  The culminating experience is to formulate and express their own beliefs as they get ready to head to high school.

The unit that I will be developing through this Fellowship is titled: Superstition and Tradition.  It examines Puritan New England and specifically the Salem witch craft trials.

I am excited to be working with my Kenan teammates: Kimberly Sanderlin, Kelly Hines, Jennie McGuire, and Patricia Coldren.  Kimberly and I are working to create units for the middle school level and have already been well-supported by Anna Frost and Julie Joslin at NCDPI.

A second component of our work will be to create a webinar that supports other middle school teachers as they build Common Core units and to facilitate a professional development seminar through our region’s RESA.