TACKLE Thursdays: Thinking Across the Curriculum by Shannon Moyano, Heather Plaisance

T.A.C.K.L.E. Thursdays

Thinking Across the Curriculum, Kicking Up Leveled Education

Creating a life-long love of learning

This rich resource for grades 3-8 was designed to encourage student enthusiasm towards challenging work. It has tiered instruction, independent study, student choice, and variety of activities for all students as well as gifted learners.  It incorporates in-depth studies to take the students to new heights of learning.

T.A.C.K.L.E was developed out of the necessity to service gifted learners in a classroom that was not homogeneous.

For elementary and middle schools preparing their students to excel in the 21st century, the fourteen units cover mathematics, science, social studies and English language arts content, technology, hands-on group work, individualized projects and more.

The authors concentrate on differentiation of instruction using rubrics so each child is clear on what is expected of him or her, and they use frequent fun assessments to keep interest high.

 The authors write: "Together we designed this curriculum using various resources in our classroom and aligned it with the state objectives to ensure mastery of state requirements while extending students' knowledge beyond basic skills. The themes we have selected are of high interest to the students due to real-life applications. They have really enjoyed T.A.C.K.L.E. and engagement has grown.  They like being able to make choices, present to their peers and community, and feel a sense of accomplishment for the work they have done. We truly believe that T.A.C.K.L.E. is creating a lifelong love of learning."

There are reproducible worksheets, rubrics and assessments.

Sample pages, pdfs: pages 5-6  / page 8 /  pages 94-97

Download: New English/ Language Arts
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
for T.A.C.K.L.E. for 2009-2010 school year