Colors of the Centennial State

As I consider the push in education toward best practices, and the need to give children a framework from which to connect facts, skills, and content from subject to subject in a coherent way, I think about the thematic units that will do just that for AACL students.

We are privileged to have input from a high school history teacher who has worked for District 11 and a local private school for 25-30 years and has taught numerous AP history courses, a high school history teacher from the Denver Public school system who has recently written curriculum for national publication, and an instructor in the history department at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs who are willing to look through our social studies units and help us create exactly this framework- a framework based on Colorado State Standards that enables students to meet and explore the people and places of the past that have created so many situations for us in the present.

I am excited to think about our students studying social studies through the big ideas of globalization, exploration, transportation & technology, culture & conflict, and democracy & citizenship. I am looking forward to units such as Colors of the Centennial State as students dig into Colorado history, Diversity of the Rainforest as students consider environmental changes, or Legacies from Colonial America as students consider the role of culture and the impact that previous ideas have upon today’s society- and the way some ideas stay, and some change.

I’m also intrigued by the way that these thematic units will be utilized in every subject area so that students can view the facets of an idea from the perspective of an artist, a musician, a scientist, a writer, et cetera. Consider the article on ArtScience at http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/imagine/200904/artscience-is-big-idea for some other ways to consider the need for creative people in all disciplines.

Nikki