A thematic unit plan covers multiple content areas. The unit is designed to thematically teach and/or offer practice in skills from all subject areas. For instance, a thematic unit on sea turtles could have students reading an article or short story about turtles and answering comprehension questions for language arts; graphing the population of sea turtles and figuring the differences in numbers from year to year for math; mapping their locations around the world for geography and learning about the sea turtle life cycle for science. Thematic units are generally developed around high-interest topics, but most any theme can work.
As a benefit for students, thematic units help demonstrate how learning is interrelated. Math, science, reading and social studies are not just independent classes; instead, they are dependent upon each other to create a holistic learning experience. For teachers, thematic units allow a larger number of standards to be covered in less time. Their structure calls for more integration of technology and they serve as good examples of inquiry-based research, a process often difficult to teach students.
Thematic units can be implemented in several ways. Individual activities can be completed in their corresponding classes; for instance, the math assignment is done in math class and the science activity done in science. Another option for implementation is to set up the unit in learning centers placed around the room. This works well in an elementary setting, where students are fairly stationary throughout the day, by having students rotate to the different activities. A third option, suited for junior high and high school students, is to complete the unit as learning centers in the language arts classroom only. Especially when the unit is based around a piece of literature, the other content activities can be done in relation to that reading.
Thematic units do not lend themselves well to objective testing, as they are teaching skills that must be applied, rather than simply facts to be questioned upon. Instead, projects and presentations are better ways to assess student learning in thematic units. Slide shows, speeches, essays, posters and journals offer truer assessments of what students learn when working thematically.