The EXPO curriculum includes TEKS from English Language Arts/Reading, as well as the Denton ISD Gifted and Talented Standards Scope and Sequence (critical thinking, logical thinking, dimensions of depth and complexity, creative thinking, research skills, research products, etc.). Additional information can be found at the district website http://www.dentonisd.org/expo.
Leadership- Using your gifts and talents to make a positive difference
7th grade units include:
Giftedness - A Study of Leadership- Students will be able to recognize and develop their own unique gifts and talents to make responsible decisions and collaborate/communicate with peers/teachers/community leaders. Students will read a novel, Ender’s Game, to identify different leadership attributes. This serves as a catalyst to encourage discussions of their own leadership abilities. Writing will be integrated into this unit by using the novel as a mentor text. Students will reflect on the author's writing craft, writing elements like the use of internal and external conflicts, and character traits.
Public Speaking- EXPO students will develop public speaking and research skills throughout their middle school experience. Students will grow in the art of public speaking as they gain skills from informal class discussions to more formal professional presentations to share new learning.
Human Struggle - The students will contemplate human struggle through the reading of two classics, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and a graphic novel,The Odyssey, to analyze how struggling with challenges develops character, grit, and leadership.
Research- The students will practice reading fluency as we enjoy the reader’s theater play, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The study focuses on how the author creates tone and mood. At the conclusion of the reading, they will research Victorian Era culture and present their findings creatively to the class. This will be another opportunity for students to practice public speaking.
Global Issues
The units include:
Giftedness - A Study of Global Issues- Students will develop their own unique gifts and talents to make responsible decisions and collaborate/communicate with peers/teachers/community/national and world leaders. Students will identify global challenges through the study and discussion of current events. They will examine both sides of an issue and take a stance while also being open to other perspectives. Students will analyze personal/societal stereotypes and prejudices in global leadership.
Public Speaking/Research- EXPO students will develop public speaking and research skills throughout their middle school experience. Students will grow in the art of public speaking as they gain skills. This begins with informal book talks to the class and will continue to be developed as students create TED Talk style presentations.
Dystopian Book Clubs - The students will choose a dystopian novel and participate in a book club. They will be discussing archetypes, settings, conflicts and subplots of their novels. The unit will conclude with students writing an original dystopian short story and critiquing a classmate's story.
Investigative Journalism- Students will learn to look closely at the world around them and illuminate social issues in newscasts and investigative reports. They will craft narrative nonfiction to stir their readers to shared concerns. The focus will be on style, tone and the content of journalism.
Social and Ethical Change -This unit begins with an introduction to the 1940’s, a decade of change. The students will explore WWII from a worldly perspective. Through an anthology of short stories, biographies, poems, essays and diary entries, students will synthesize the voices of the Holocaust.
Position Papers- Students will select a topic and a debatable question to research and develop a complex argument. The focus will be on claims, evidence, and rebuttals.