Since we're posting about homework, I guess I'll share what I've been working on today. It's got nothing to do with Nietzche or Orientalism.

I have an assignment for my Curriculum class to design a Thematic Unit (actually, just part of one...most Thematic Units are much longer and could take a couple of months to complete), a week's worth of lesson plans (20 in all: 1 each day for math, science, language arts and social studies), all centered around a theme. I've chosen to do Pioneer American Life, and to use Little House on the Prairie as the basis for my lessons. Jonathan and I have been reading this book together lately. He helps me with my homework. Anyway, today I created a sort of skeleton for the Thematic Unit. I don't have any of the actual lessons written yet, but I've got a good start. This is what it looks like:

Pioneer American Life
Grade 3

Language Arts (Little House on the Prairie)
1. Ch. 1-3; Pretend you're the Ingalls' dog, Jack: write the story of crossing the creek from your perspective.
2. Ch. 4-6; Venn Diagram: Compare/Contrast life then with life now.
3. Ch. 7-8; Word Choice Activity
4. Ch. 9-11; Write an alternative ending to chapter 11. What would have happened if...
5. Ch. 12-14; Class discussion: Compare Mary/Laura, Pa/Mr. Edwards

Social Studies
1. Review map skills and geographical terms
2. Geography of the states that the Ingalls travelled through
3. Discuss the meaning of the term "Indian Territory"
4. Introduce the various North American Indian tribes
5. Have students choose a tribe that they'll write a one-page report on

Math (measurement)
1. Instruments of measurement
2. Measuring to build (a log cabin)
3. Measuring distance (of travel, for example)
4. Measuring to cook
5. Measuring to dig (a well)

Science
1. What is a prairie?
2. Variety of life on the prairie (begin putting things in broad categories)
3. Birds on the prairie
4. Small mammals on the prairie
5. Large mammals on the prairie

So, that's it! I'm having fun designing it, and I think it'll be fun to dig deeper into each lesson as well.