The Ricks Center for Gifted Children at the University of Denver is pleased to present a series of integrated curriculum units designed for teachers of gifted elementary and middle school students. The units are intended to provide rich, in-depth experiences for learners by focusing on a particular topic.
An integrated curriculum is an instructional approach that connects the disciplines to an underlying theme or topic. Immersing students in an integrated-thematic unit provides the backdrop for experiences to occur across the disciplines. Shaping coursework around integrated themes is especially appropriate for gifted students, however using an integrated-thematic curriculum is appropriate for all learners as it develops students' abilities to make connections, to solve problems by looking at multiple perspectives, and to integrate information from different fields of experience. An integrated-thematic curriculum permits students to be active participants in their own learning as they design their own explorations and take ownership of their achievements. Students become active, enthusiastic, life-long learners.
This series may be cited at: https://doi.org/10.56902/RicksCU.0
-
Circus: An Integrated Curriculum Unit
Institute for the Development of Gifted Education, Ricks Center for Gifted Children, University of Denver
An integrated curriculum is an instructional approach that connects the disciplines to an underlying theme or topic. Immersing students in an integrated-thematic unit provides the backdrop for experiences to occur across the disciplines. Shaping coursework around integrated themes is especially appropriate for gifted students, however using an integrated-thematic curriculum is appropriate for all learners as it develops students' abilities to make connections, to solve problems by looking at multiple perspectives, and to integrate information from different fields of experience. An integrated-thematic curriculum permits students to be active participants in their own learning as they design their own explorations and take ownership of their achievements. Students become active, enthusiastic, life-long learners.
In the Circus Unit, students are exposed to concepts such as human-animal relationships, animal ethics, world cultures, circus culture, advertisement and marketing, and the science of circus acts.
-
Maya: An Integrated Curriculum Unit
Institute for the Development of Gifted Education, Ricks Center for Gifted Children, University of Denver
An integrated curriculum is an instructional approach that connects the disciplines to an underlying theme or topic. Immersing students in an integrated-thematic unit provides the backdrop for experiences to occur across the disciplines. Shaping coursework around integrated themes is especially appropriate for gifted students, however using an integrated-thematic curriculum is appropriate for all learners as it develops students' abilities to make connections, to solve problems by looking at multiple perspectives, and to integrate information from different fields of experience. An integrated-thematic curriculum permits students to be active participants in their own learning as they design their own explorations and take ownership of their achievements. Students become active, enthusiastic, life-long learners.
In the Maya Unit, students are exposed to concepts such as how geographic isolation, exploration and European settlement and rule affected an indigenous cultural group.
-
Mosaic: Exploring Patterns in Literature: Volume 2: Virtual Voyages
Institute for the Development of Gifted Education, Ricks Center for Gifted Children, University of Denver
Virtual Voyages is an integrated thematic unit developed to weave together the academic strands of geography and literature into a single curriculum that fosters appreciation, awareness, and understanding of cultures around the world. The individualized research format meets the needs of gifted students to work within a particular area of passion, to work at an individualized pace, and to work with depth and breadth on projects that especially engage their interests.
-
Mosaic: Exploring Patterns in Literature: Volume 1: Faerie Tales
Institute for the Development of Gifted Education, Ricks Center for Gifted Children, University of Denver
This curriculum was born from a true love of the magic of words and the passion that gifted students display for exploring the wondrous world of fantasy. The reading was designed to highlight the elements of traditional faerie tales in stories that engage students and inspire them to create their own miraculous stories. Each literature project was specially created to motivate students to demonstrate in-depth understanding of these specific novels and to facilitate their perception of the elements of faerie tales as a distinct genre. The writer's guide directs students through the steps of composing an original faerie tale.
-
United Nations: A Social Studies and Literature Simulation
Institute for the Development of Gifted Education, Ricks Center for Gifted Children, University of Denver
So much of education is about inspiration. As teachers and learners, all things poetic, justified, important and meaningful inspire us to be the best people we can be, active and fair in a world changing at awesome speeds and in sometimes, unimaginable ways. This curriculum for gifted learners' grade 5-8, was designed out of a sense of authentic inspiration around just the conceptual magnitude of the phrase, United Nations. Also written about, around, and in response to the events of September 11, 2001, this curriculum reflects only one of the ways in which the field of education has responded to this and other times of tragedy and conflict.
The unit is interdisciplinary, providing learners with a holistic and meaningful experience. It was written with great consideration for the disciplines with topics and lessons enmeshed from the fields of social psychology, sociology, political science and human communications, to name but a few.
-
Natural Disasters: An Integrated Curriculum Unit, Grades 3-5
Institute for the Development of Gifted Education, Ricks Center for Gifted Children, University of Denver
An integrated curriculum is an instructional approach that connects the disciplines to an underlying theme or topic. Immersing students in an integrated-thematic unit provides the backdrop for experiences to occur across the disciplines. Shaping coursework around integrated themes is especially appropriate for gifted students, however using an integrated-thematic curriculum is appropriate for all learners as it develops students' abilities to make connections, to solve problems by looking at multiple perspectives, and to integrate information from different fields of experience. An integrated-thematic curriculum permits students to be active participants in their own learning as they design their own explorations and take ownership of their achievements. Students become active, enthusiastic, life-long learners.
In the Natural Disasters Unit, students are exposed to concepts such as the interrelationships between natural phenomena, human impact and living things, ever-changing climatic patterns and storm systems, effects of technology on weather prediction, and community response to disaster.