Tamra Stambaugh – författare

Winner of the 2017 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award

Space, Structure, and Story integrates Earth and space science with science fiction and nonfiction texts, poetry, and art. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth, is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Students explore advanced science and ELA content through the lens of structure—its parts, purpose, and function.

Mobius strips, the hero''s journey, dystopian fiction, black holes, Einstein''s relativity, stars, and moons are just a few of the captivating in-depth topics explored through accelerated content, engaging activities, and differentiated tasks.

Ideal for gifted classrooms or gifted pull-out groups, the unit features poetry from Carl Sandburg, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and C. S. Lewis; art from M. C. Escher, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Salvador Dali; a novel study featuring A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L''Engle; short stories from Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury; speeches from President John F. Kennedy and President Barack Obama; and informational texts about gravity, orbits, and black holes.

Grades 4-6

A Teacher’s Guide to Curriculum Design for Gifted and Advanced Learners provides educators with models and strategies they can easily use to create appropriately complex differentiated lessons, questions, tasks, and projects. This must-have resource for both gifted and regular education teachers:

The models have been vetted by content experts in the relevant disciplines and were designed to guide students to develop expertise within a discipline. Definitions of widely used terms, such as depth, complexity, and abstractness, are explained and linked to models within specific content areas to support common understanding and application of schoolwide differentiation strategies.

Transformations in Stories and Arguments explores essential questions, such as "How does the development of a character build the reader''s understanding? How do the actions of others change the world? How do words and images impact our thinking?" This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth, is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and features accelerated content, creative products, differentiated tasks, engaging activities, and the use of in-depth analysis models to develop sophisticated skills in the language arts.

Through the lens of transformation, students will examine narrative and persuasive elements essential to the analysis of short stories, advertisements, visual art, scientific argumentation, and their own writing. Students will discover transformations in themselves and their written work as they craft and revise narrative and persuasive pieces, realizing their own voice in the process.

Ideal for gifted classrooms or gifted pull-out groups, the unit features stories by Dan Santat, Fiona Roberton, Jannell Cannon, Christopher Myers, Maurice Sendak, Daniel Manus Pinkwater, Jane Yolen, and Patricia Polacco; poetry by Carl Sandburg; sculptures by Arturo Di Modica and Kristen Visbal; a viewing of Pixar''s short film Lou and a variety of commercials; and engaging short nonfiction readings.

Winner of the 2015 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award

Grades 2-4

Winner of NAGC''s 2021 Book of the Year Award

This edited book, written by authors with extensive experience in working with gifted students from low-income households, focuses on ways to translate the latest research and theory into evidence-supported practices that impact how schools identify and serve these students. Readers will:

Unlocking Potential is the go-to resource for an up-to-date overview of best practices in identification, curriculum, instruction, community support, and program design for gifted learners from low-income households.

Encounters With Archetypes integrates the study of archetypes with the concept of encounters. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth, is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and features accelerated content, creative products, differentiated tasks, engaging activities, and the use of in-depth analysis models to develop sophisticated skills in the language arts.

Through the lens of encounter, students will examine the patterns, symbols, and motifs associated with common archetypes by analyzing fictional and informational texts, speeches, and visual media. Students will follow various archetype encounters with conflicts and challenges to explore questions such as “How do archetypes reflect the human experience?” and “How do archetypes reveal human strengths and weaknesses?"

Ideal for gifted classrooms or gifted pull-out groups, the unit features texts from Sandra Cisneros, Louis Untermeyer, Rudyard Kipling, Emily Dickinson, and Maya Angelou; biographies of Oprah Winfrey, Mother Teresa, Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride, and Lin-Manuel Miranda; a speech from President Ronald Reagan; a novel study featuring Wonder by R. J. Palacio and/or Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan; and art from Pieter Bruegel.

Grades 4-5

Finding Freedom invites students to follow America''s journey toward finding freedom by examining multiple perspectives, conflicts, ideas, and challenges through seminal historical texts. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), features close readings of some of the most famous American political speeches from notable Americans, presidents, and minority voices.

To sharpen historical thinking, students analyze arguments for freedom, examine dissenting perspectives, and reason through multiple viewpoints of historical issues through debates and interactive activities. To develop advanced literacy skills, students evaluate effective rhetorical appeals, claims, supporting evidence, and techniques that advance arguments. Students synthesize their learning by comparing speeches to each other, relating texts to contemporary issues of today, and making interdisciplinary connections. Lessons include close readings with text-dependent questions, choice-based differentiated products, rubrics, formative assessments, social studies content connections, and ELA tasks that require argument and explanatory writing.

Ideal for pre-AP and honors courses, the unit features speeches from Patrick Henry, Frederick Douglass, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lincoln, Kennedy, Johnson, George W. Bush, Obama, and others.

Grades 6-8

Winner of the 2016 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award

In I, Me, You, We: Individuality Versus Conformity, students explore essential questions such as “How does our environment shape our identity? What are the consequences of conforming to a group? When does social conformity go too far?” This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University’s Programs for Talented Youth and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), includes a major emphasis on rigorous evidence-based discourse through the study of common themes across rich, challenging nonfiction and fictional texts.

The unit guides students to examine the fine line of individuality versus conformity through the related concepts of belongingness, community, civil disobedience, questioning the status quo, and self-reliance by engaging in creative activities, Socratic seminars, literary analyses, and debates. Lessons include close-readings with text-dependent questions, choice-based differentiated products, rubrics, formative assessments, and ELA tasks that require students to analyze texts for rhetorical features, literary elements, and themes through argument, explanatory, and prose-constructed writing.

Ideal for pre-AP and honors courses, the unit features short stories from Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury, poetry from Emily Dickinson and Maya Angelou, art by M. C. Escher and Pablo Picasso, and primary source documents from Plato, Eleanor D. Roosevelt, William Bradford, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau.

Grades 6-8

Winner of the 2012 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award

In the Mind''s Eye: Truth Versus Perception invites students on a philosophical exploration of the themes of truth and perception. Lessons include a major emphasis on rigorous evidence-based discourse through the study of common themes and content-rich, challenging informational and fictional texts. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), applies concepts from Plato''s "Allegory of the Cave" to guide students to discover how reality is presented and interpreted in fiction, nonfiction, art, and media.

Students engage in activities such as Socratic seminars, literary analyses, skits, and art projects, and creative writing to understand differing perceptions of reality. Lessons include close readings with text-dependent questions, choice-based differentiated products, rubrics, formative assessments, and ELA tasks that require students to analyze texts for rhetorical features, literary elements, and themes through argument, explanatory, and prose-constructed writing.

Ideal for pre-AP and honors courses, the unit features art from M.C. Escher and Vincent Van Gogh, short stories from Guy de Maupassant and Shirley Jackson, longer texts by Daniel Keyes and Ray Bradbury, and informational texts related to sociology, Nazi propaganda, and Christopher Columbus. This unit encourages students to translate learning to real-life contexts and problems by exploring themes of disillusionment, social deception, and the power of perception.

Grades 6-8

Winner of the 2015 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award

Interactions in Ecology and Literature integrates ecology with the concept of interactions and the reading of fictional and informational texts. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth, is aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Next Generation Science Standards.

Students will research questions such as "Should animals be kept in zoos?" and "Should humans intervene to control overpopulation of species?" They will examine relationships among living things and the environment as well as relationships between literary elements in texts through accelerated content, engaging activities, and differentiated tasks.

Ideal for gifted classrooms or gifted pull-out groups, the unit features fictional texts from Lynne Cherry, Katherine Applegate, and Jacqueline Woodson; art from Mark Rothko and Georges Seurat; informational texts about deforestation and a variety of animals; biographies about Michael Jordan, J. K. Rowling, and Walt Disney; and videos about food chains, food webs, and more.

Grades 2-3

The Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts, using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary. Students in grades 1-2 will learn to comprehend and analyze any reading passage after completing the activities in Jacob''s Ladder, Grades 1-2 (2nd ed.).

Geared for students in grades 1-2, this book, a revision of the Primary Level 2 book, includes stories and ladder tasks carefully selected for young children to develop oral communication and listening skills in addition to the other ladder goals. This book provides stories focused on picture analysis, read alouds, classics, and original works.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Poetry and Picture Books and Short Stories (Parts 1 and 2). The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.

Grades 1-2

The Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts, using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary. Students in grades 6-7 will learn to comprehend and analyze any reading passage after completing the activities in Jacob''s Ladder, Grades 6-7 (2nd ed., previously published as Level 4).

Using skill ladders connected to short stories, poetry, essays, and nonfiction, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. The ladders include multiple skills necessary for academic success, covering language arts standards such as sequencing, determining cause and effect, classifying, making inferences, and recognizing main ideas, themes, and concepts. The second edition of the book builds off the previous Level 4 edition, including new readings and ladders for student use.

This book provides teachers with an explanation of the nature of supplementary tasks that scaffold reading comprehension. Also included is an overview of the goals and objectives of the Jacob''s Ladder tasks and suggestions for implementation, giving every teacher the tools needed to promote successful reading comprehension.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Poetry, Short Stories, and Biographies. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.

Grades 6-7

The Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts, using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary. Students in grades 7-8 will learn to comprehend and analyze any reading passage after completing the activities in Jacob''s Ladder, Grades 7-8 (2nd ed., previously published as Level 5).

Using skill ladders connected to short stories, poetry, essays, and nonfiction, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. The ladders include multiple skills necessary for academic success, covering language arts standards such as sequencing, determining cause and effect, classifying, making inferences, and recognizing main ideas, themes, and concepts. The second edition of the book builds off the previous Level 5 edition, including new readings and ladders for student use.

This book provides teachers with an explanation of the nature of supplementary tasks that scaffold reading comprehension. Also included is an overview of the goals and objectives of the Jacob''s Ladder tasks and suggestions for implementation, giving every teacher the tools needed to promote successful reading comprehension.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Poetry, Short Stories, and Biographies. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.

Grades 7-8

The Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts, using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary. Students in grades K-1 will learn to comprehend and analyze any reading passage after completing the activities in Jacob''s Ladder, Grades K-1 (2nd ed.).Geared for students in grades K-1, this book, a revision of the Primary Level 1 book, includes stories and ladder tasks carefully selected for young children to develop oral communication and listening skills in addition to the other ladder goals. This book provides stories focused on picture analysis, read alouds, classics, and original works.Optional Student Workbook PacksIn addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Grades K-1

The Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program: Nonfiction targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary. Students in grade 3 will be able to comprehend and analyze any nonfiction reading passage after completing the activities in this book.

Using skill ladders connected to individual readings related to essays, articles, comparison documents, infographics, and other nonfiction texts, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. All of the books, geared to increasing grade levels, include high-interest readings, ladders to increase reading skill development, and easy-to-implement instructions. The ladders include multiple skills necessary for academic success, covering language arts standards such as sequencing, cause and effect, classification, making generalizations, inference, understanding emotion, using and thinking about words, and recognizing themes and concepts.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Science and Math, Social Studies, and Fiction/Nonfiction Comparisons. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.

Grade 3

The Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program: Nonfiction targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary. Students in grade 4 will be able to comprehend and analyze any nonfiction reading passage after completing the activities in this book.

Using skill ladders connected to individual readings related to essays, articles, comparison documents, infographics, and other nonfiction texts, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. All of the books, geared to increasing grade levels, include high-interest readings, ladders to increase reading skill development, and easy-to-implement instructions. The ladders include multiple skills necessary for academic success, covering language arts standards such as sequencing, cause and effect, classification, making generalizations, inference, understanding emotion, using and thinking about words, and recognizing themes and concepts.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Science and Math, Social Studies, and Fiction/Nonfiction Comparisons. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.Grade 4

The Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program: Nonfiction targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary. Students in grade 5 will be able to comprehend and analyze any nonfiction reading passage after completing the activities in this book.

Using skill ladders connected to individual readings related to essays, articles, comparison documents, infographics, and other nonfiction texts, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. All of the books, geared to increasing grade levels, include high-interest readings, ladders to increase reading skill development, and easy-to-implement instructions. The ladders include multiple skills necessary for academic success, covering language arts standards such as sequencing, cause and effect, classification, making generalizations, inference, understanding emotion, using and thinking about words, and recognizing themes and concepts.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Science and Math, Social Studies, and Fiction/Nonfiction Comparisons. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.Grade 5

The Affective Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program uses a models approach to scaffold student learning and promote inquiry-based discussions of texts. This series of Jacob''s Ladder:

New ladders were specially designed for this series and derived from relevant theories about empathy, risk and resilience, achievement motivation, and mindsets and practices for cultivating talent. The Affective Jacob''s Ladder guides provide teachers with an explanation of the nature and substance of the theoretical constructs for each ladder. Also included are an overview of the goals and objectives of each ladder and suggestions for how to implement the ladders in the classroom in a way that supports students'' academic and social-emotional needs at the same time.

Optional Student Workbooks

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Picture Books, Short Stories and Media, and Poetry and Biographies. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.

The Affective Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program uses a models approach to scaffold student learning and promote inquiry-based discussions of texts. This series of Jacob''s Ladder:

New ladders were specially designed for this series and derived from relevant theories about empathy, risk and resilience, achievement motivation, and mindsets and practices for cultivating talent. The Affective Jacob''s Ladder guides provide teachers with an explanation of the nature and substance of the theoretical constructs for each ladder. Also included are an overview of the goals and objectives of each ladder and suggestions for how to implement the ladders in the classroom in a way that supports students'' academic and social-emotional needs at the same time.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Picture Books, Short Stories and Media, and Poetry and Biographies. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.

The Affective Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program uses a models approach to scaffold student learning and promote inquiry-based discussions of texts. This series of Jacob''s Ladder:

New ladders were specially designed for this series and derived from relevant theories about empathy, risk and resilience, achievement motivation, and mindsets and practices for cultivating talent. The Affective Jacob''s Ladder guides provide teachers with an explanation of the nature and substance of the theoretical constructs for each ladder. Also included are an overview of the goals and objectives of each ladder and suggestions for how to implement the ladders in the classroom in a way that supports students'' academic and social-emotional needs at the same time.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Short Stories and Media, Poetry, and Biographies, Essays and Speeches. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.

The Affective Jacob''s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program uses a models approach to scaffold student learning and promote inquiry-based discussions of texts. This series of Jacob''s Ladder:

New ladders were specially designed for this series and derived from relevant theories about empathy, risk and resilience, achievement motivation, and mindsets and practices for cultivating talent. The Affective Jacob''s Ladder guides provide teachers with an explanation of the nature and substance of the theoretical constructs for each ladder. Also included are an overview of the goals and objectives of each ladder and suggestions for how to implement the ladders in the classroom in a way that supports students'' academic and social-emotional needs at the same time.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher''s guide, companion student workbooks are available for Short Stories and Media, Poetry and Song Lyrics, and Biographies, Essays, and Speeches. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.

Winner of the 2015 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award

Perspectives of Power explores the nature of power in literature, historical documents, poetry, and art. Lessons include a major focus on rigorous evidence-based discourse through the study of common themes and content-rich, challenging nonfiction and fictional texts. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), guides students to explore the power of oppression; the power of the past, present, and future; and the power of personal response by engaging in simulations, skits, creative projects, literary analyses, Socratic seminars, and debates.

Texts illuminate content extensions that interest many high-ability students including bystander effect, social class structure, game theory, the use and abuse of technology, cultural conflict, the butterfly effect, women''s suffrage, and surrealism as each relates to power. Lessons include close readings with text-dependent questions, choice-based differentiated products, rubrics, formative assessments, and ELA writing tasks that require students to analyze texts for rhetorical features, literary elements, and themes through argument, explanatory, and/or prose-constructed writing.

Ideal for pre-AP and honors courses, the unit features texts from Emily Dickinson, William B. Yeats, and Charles Perrault; art from Moyo Okediji and Salvador Dali; and speeches by Elie Wiesel, Susan B. Anthony, and John F. Kennedy. As a result from the learning in the unit, students will be able to examine powerful influences in their own lives and identify their own power in personal responsibility.

Grades 6-8

A cooperative publication of the National Association for Gifted Children and Prufrock Press, Serving Gifted Students in Rural Settings provides a framework for educating the gifted in rural settings. The book outlines practical, theoretical, and evidence-supported approaches for understanding, teaching, and leading programs for this unique population. Case study vignettes and practical ideas for administrators and teachers are combined with theoretical applications.The first of three sections in the book outlines the various philosophies and current status of rural education. The second section focuses on practical strategies and evidence-supported approaches for identifying and serving rural gifted students based on their unique geography. Section three highlights support structures that are necessary for leading and supporting gifted education in rural schools. This book helps bridge the gap existing between rural education and accessible, effective gifted education.

Winner of NAGC''s 2021 Book of the Year Award

This edited book, written by authors with extensive experience in working with gifted students from low-income households, focuses on ways to translate the latest research and theory into evidence-supported practices that impact how schools identify and serve these students. Readers will:

Unlocking Potential is the go-to resource for an up-to-date overview of best practices in identification, curriculum, instruction, community support, and program design for gifted learners from low-income households.

Transformations in Stories and Arguments explores essential questions, such as "How does the development of a character build the reader''s understanding? How do the actions of others change the world? How do words and images impact our thinking?" This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth, is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and features accelerated content, creative products, differentiated tasks, engaging activities, and the use of in-depth analysis models to develop sophisticated skills in the language arts.

Through the lens of transformation, students will examine narrative and persuasive elements essential to the analysis of short stories, advertisements, visual art, scientific argumentation, and their own writing. Students will discover transformations in themselves and their written work as they craft and revise narrative and persuasive pieces, realizing their own voice in the process.

Ideal for gifted classrooms or gifted pull-out groups, the unit features stories by Dan Santat, Fiona Roberton, Jannell Cannon, Christopher Myers, Maurice Sendak, Daniel Manus Pinkwater, Jane Yolen, and Patricia Polacco; poetry by Carl Sandburg; sculptures by Arturo Di Modica and Kristen Visbal; a viewing of Pixar''s short film Lou and a variety of commercials; and engaging short nonfiction readings.

Winner of the 2015 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award

Grades 2-4

Encounters With Archetypes integrates the study of archetypes with the concept of encounters. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth, is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and features accelerated content, creative products, differentiated tasks, engaging activities, and the use of in-depth analysis models to develop sophisticated skills in the language arts.

Through the lens of encounter, students will examine the patterns, symbols, and motifs associated with common archetypes by analyzing fictional and informational texts, speeches, and visual media. Students will follow various archetype encounters with conflicts and challenges to explore questions such as “How do archetypes reflect the human experience?” and “How do archetypes reveal human strengths and weaknesses?"

Ideal for gifted classrooms or gifted pull-out groups, the unit features texts from Sandra Cisneros, Louis Untermeyer, Rudyard Kipling, Emily Dickinson, and Maya Angelou; biographies of Oprah Winfrey, Mother Teresa, Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride, and Lin-Manuel Miranda; a speech from President Ronald Reagan; a novel study featuring Wonder by R. J. Palacio and/or Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan; and art from Pieter Bruegel.

Grades 4-5

Finding Freedom invites students to follow America''s journey toward finding freedom by examining multiple perspectives, conflicts, ideas, and challenges through seminal historical texts. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University''s Programs for Talented Youth and aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), features close readings of some of the most famous American political speeches from notable Americans, presidents, and minority voices.

To sharpen historical thinking, students analyze arguments for freedom, examine dissenting perspectives, and reason through multiple viewpoints of historical issues through debates and interactive activities. To develop advanced literacy skills, students evaluate effective rhetorical appeals, claims, supporting evidence, and techniques that advance arguments. Students synthesize their learning by comparing speeches to each other, relating texts to contemporary issues of today, and making interdisciplinary connections. Lessons include close readings with text-dependent questions, choice-based differentiated products, rubrics, formative assessments, social studies content connections, and ELA tasks that require argument and explanatory writing.

Ideal for pre-AP and honors courses, the unit features speeches from Patrick Henry, Frederick Douglass, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lincoln, Kennedy, Johnson, George W. Bush, Obama, and others.

Grades 6-8