UNIT PLANS

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This culturally relevant and responsive unit of study responds to the various civil rights crises faced by marginalized groups in the United States. Building upon the foundation of what is typically taught in K-12 schools, students will begin by exploring the historical context surrounding the African-American struggle for Civil Rights, with a focus on Jim Crow segregation and systemic racism. Then, by including the stories of individuals and groups that are sometimes lesser-known due to their more “controversial” beliefs and actions, students will examine the Civil Rights Movement from different perspectives. Students will evaluate the success of the movement by weighing the victories against the systemic issues that continue today. Having taken a deeper look at this movement, students will compare and contrast it to movements started by other marginalized groups. In the performance task, students will identify a marginalized group and a civil rights issue that the group is experiencing today, and research and reflect upon the historical context as well as the solutions/actions that are being taken to resolve this issue.

In this unit of study, students continue to think about proportional relationships by extending their thinking to the real life context of percentages. This DE version of the unit will be shorter than a face-to-face version and has yet to be condensed. In face-to-face instruction most learning experiences take us two days. In DE versions, we are finding a learning experience takes four days. We utilize DESMOS as a technology tool to engage students in the work and to see their thinking in real time. Because we are virtual now, when we do the performance assessment, we anticipate advantages to using technology. For example, students can invite their hero or present their proposal to their hero in Screencastify.

This research project is the culminating assessment for senior Journalism students. It directly follows a unit about understanding the nature of a complex issue (world poverty) and analyzing it from various perspectives. This project requires students to select a local or hyperlocal issue about which they care deeply and feel that a change would improve the lives of those in our community. The project combines the Solutions Journalism model and Connected Learning principles to allow students to research and examine what solutions have already been tried in our community and in other parts of the country, evaluate their effectiveness, and propose an appropriate course of action for ameliorating the problem in our community. Through use of powerful online digital literacies, scholars will take their message to a wider audience by writing, presenting, recording, and posting a TED Talk style presentation on our school YouTube channel in order to further the conversation in the community. The aim for the project is to empower students to use their voices to create lasting, meaningful change around issues they feel are worthy of their advocacy.
Liz Conroy, 2019

This research project is the culminating assessment for senior journalism students. It directly follows a unit about understanding the nature of a complex issue (world poverty) and analyzing it from various perspectives. This project requires students to select a local or hyperlocal issue about which they care deeply and feel that a change would improve the lives of those in our community. The project combines the Solutions Journalism model and Connected Learning principles to allow students to research and examine what solutions have already been tried in our community and in other parts of the country, evaluate their effectiveness, and propose an appropriate course of action for ameliorating the problem in our community. Through use of powerful online digital literacies, scholars will take their message to a wider audience by writing, presenting, recording, and posting a TED Talk style presentation on our school YouTube channel in order to further the conversation in the community. The aim for the project is to empower students to use their voices to create lasting, meaningful change around issues they feel are worthy of their advocacy.
Liz Conroy, 2019

In this Participation in Government (12th grade course) unit, students will understand that Civil Rights should provide equal protection and opportunity under the law for ALL Americans, even when some groups resist. The unit culminates with a research project on civil rights movements (BLM, Equal Work, Equal Pay, Latinex, LBGTQ, Chicanos', Women, Transgender, Native American, and Disability groups, or another of students' choice).

Scholars are paired with a Gateways musician who plays the same instrument as them to learn about the musician's path to becoming a professional musician.

Scholars are paired with a Gateways musician who plays the same instrument as them to learn about the musician's path to becoming a professional musician.

Black and White Portrait of an inspirational historical figure- drawn using the “grid method” and shaded using drawing pencils of a historical figure that the student finds inspirational. Students will self assess work using the project rubric to reflect on final work and practice drawings created throughout the unit.

The Get Real! Science Collective is a group of educators, medical professionals, and community members who in response to the COVID-19 pandemic co-designed a science unit that aims to be responsive to the needs of the community during and after the pandemic. We are a group committed to culturally sustaining, anti-racist, and ambitious science teaching & learning in order to best serve the needs of students, teachers, and community members. We hope to address how science is cultural and intersects The main question driving this unit is “Why do different communities experience COVID-19 differently?”. We explore how our identity and context informs how we have experienced the pandemic. We aim to use youth voice to understand the different challenges that urban, suburban, and rural communities face in regards to the pandemic, and what we share in common across our region. By the end of the unit, students are asked to construct an explanation and design a solution to a challenge facing our community related to COVID-19. Lastly, this unit serves as an improved Scientific Methods Unit by having students employ the Next Generation Science Standards Science (NGSS) / New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS) Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) as tools for them to respond to our rapidly changing world.

Scholars are paired with a Gateways musician who plays the same instrument as them to learn about the musician's path to becoming a professional musician.