A comprehensive exploration of the Theseus and Minotaur myth, covering historical origins, narrative structure, and character archetypes.

A week-long exploration of literary elements using fables, myths, and realistic fiction. Students act as 'Story Architects' to deconstruct plot, character, theme, and setting.

A vocabulary-building journey where students master academic language by framing word acquisition as magical alchemy and linguistic experimentation.

An 8-day intensive unit titled 'The Architecture of Voice.' Students analyze four diverse mentor texts—Hurston, de Vaca, Tan, and Cofer—to understand how craft elements like figurative language, imagery, syntax, and diction shape an author's tone and perspective. For each text, students produce a structured paragraph, culminating in a comprehensive autobiographical essay that explores the various forces (culture, challenges, people, and places) that have shaped their own voices.

A unit focused on teaching middle school students how to identify and evaluate the strongest textual evidence to support claims. Students transition from simply finding any evidence to selecting the most relevant and specific details from high-interest short stories.