Topic > Language Arts: Practice Models by Gail Tompkins

This approach combines all the different subjects into one lesson. The student learns how to relate language arts to every other school subject. This approach gives students the freedom to choose what they want to read, it could be magazines, non-fiction books or poetry. Language arts is the main focus, but they begin to understand how that topic relates to their daily lives. The teacher is very involved in this approach by writing their own lesson plans and giving the lesson organization but creativity at the same time. Flexibility is one of the biggest advantages of a thematic unit because the teacher is able to change the lesson if he sees that it is too easy or too difficult for the class. Additionally, students still have some choice in reading to become interactive with the text. This also allows the student to become more creative by creating Venn diagrams, T-charts, and visualizations. The main form of assessment for this approach is projects, which make the student more involved in their projects