Curriculum Units

A French-Language Perspective of Human Skeletal and Social Evolution

In this unit on human skeletal and social evolution, students will explore the unique biological and cultural characteristics that distinguish Homo sapiens from four other related species.  Students will accomplish this goal by learning the names of both human and hominin body parts and their comparative features of anatomy in the French language. …Continue Reading A French-Language Perspective of Human Skeletal and Social Evolution

Monsters, Transformations, and Annihilations: Atwood, Garland, Kafka, Ishiguro, Okorafor, Shakespeare

This unit asks students to engage with real and imagined transformations, monstrous and otherwise, and in so doing to master state-mandated learning objectives in literacy, as well as the use of modern communications technology. Students will create research projects that analyze and critique past, present, and future events that may have engendered unfairness and inequality, in order to become agents of progress and change….Continue Reading Monsters, Transformations, and Annihilations: Atwood, Garland, Kafka, Ishiguro, Okorafor, Shakespeare

Aya: Poetry as a System of Resistance

Shaunteka L. Curry Introduction and Rationale  Poetry has long been a vessel for resistance, survival and liberation–especially within Black literary traditions. From the griots of West Africa, who served as communal historians and storytellers, to contemporary poets, oral and written traditions have carried forward knowledge, memory and legacy. This unit responds to a question raised…Continue Reading Aya: Poetry as a System of Resistance

Predictive Biological Anthropology: Looking Around to Look Forward

This unit is designed for middle school Gifted and Talented students to explore the ways humans have physically adapted and acclimatized to their environments over time. By examining real-world examples from different cultures and climates, students will learn how various environmental pressures shape the human body. Once students understand these connections, they’ll apply their understanding by predicting how humans might adapt to hypothetical but plausible future environmental changes….Continue Reading Predictive Biological Anthropology: Looking Around to Look Forward

Making Faces: Anthropological Identification and Re-Creation

Students will investigate facial features in artistic portraits and sculptures to better understand what different ethnicities and species look like and how their proportions vary. They will then set up still lifes with skulls to represent individuals or groups of people, e.g., a housewife, a ballerina, a football player, Vikings, or pirates, and then sketch them. Finally, students will illustrate and model their understanding of what they have learned with an original art piece….Continue Reading Making Faces: Anthropological Identification and Re-Creation

Amid Poetry: A Path to Discuss Diversity, Experiences, and Culture

John Osborne Anderson Introduction Poetry embodies imagination, awareness, and emotion, capturing life’s encounters through language, sound, and rhythm. Through the Poetry Out Loud program, poetry reaches 4.4 million students, 85,000 teachers, and 21,000 schools nationwide (1). Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) envisions a student-centered community of learners, contributors, and designers who engage joyfully with complex ideas,…Continue Reading Amid Poetry: A Path to Discuss Diversity, Experiences, and Culture

An approach to teaching the Inca Empire: Quipus and other cultural manifestations

Using engaging teaching strategies such as Jigsaw, Gallery Walk and KWL (Know-Want-Learned), this unit explores some specific topics about the Incas: Machu Picchu, the location where they lived; what their religion was and their gods; quipus, a particular system to gather data; and generally, about their daily life……Continue Reading An approach to teaching the Inca Empire: Quipus and other cultural manifestations