The Big Idea for Thematic Units

Thematic units are no doubt a wonderful strategy to use when teaching in today's classroom. Students want the material they are learning to be relevant to their lives. One such way to make sure this is happening is to 'show' students how Native Americans, for example, can be discovered in any subject area. This undoubtedly requires strenuous planning on the teachers part and even takes some practice on the students part, but when implemented correctly will prove to be an amazing learning experience for all individuals involved. When planning my upcoming thematic unit I plan to use the information in the topics, themes, concepts, and big ideas advice found on pages 75-87 in Teaching Social Studies authored by Schell and Fischer (2007). The text states that when beginning a thematic unit you must first state the topic, this makes perfect sense- let the children know what they are going to learn. We must take the guessing game out of learning. During the planning process the teacher will first find common themes amongst the material that is going to be taught. The culminating activity will be the final implementation step in threading the theme together and making a connection among all subject areas.