Steal Me

Good plans are worth their weight in gold, and most of mine are stolen from one source or another. It is almost impossible to lift another teacher’s plans and implement them wholesale, but starting with the germ of someone else’s thinking is so much better than starting from scratch.

1. Every year one of my students asks, “Who invented school, anyway?” so Weber and I wrote this unit to answer that question. It is a non-fiction research unit designed for 8th graders, and is New York-centric. It goes into the history of public

The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 by James Anderson

schooling in the US, with a focus on Massachusetts common schools and the grassroots efforts of former slaves during Reconstruction. There’s a little bit of early 20th century curriculum theory (Dewey vs. Bobbitt) followed by a good chunk on contemporary ed reform debates (featuring Kozol, the NCLB, Rhee, Weingarten). If I were going to expand it now, I would definitely add in the infamous “Pineapples don’t have sleeves” incident.

Help yourself to anything that might be useful. I miss you, Weber!

1. Research Notice Wonder

2. Origin of Public School

3. Dewey vs Bobbitt

4. Research Editorial Weingarten

Co-teacher, portrait by a devoted student

5. Kozol Group Reading Project

6. Scan Annotate Rhee

7. NCLB Group Reading Project

8. Outline

9. Drafting

11. Revising Run-ons

12. Bibliographies

School Unit Research Organizer

School Unit Study Guide and Quiz 1