African/American
Students
Copy - original available
Keiller Middle School
7270 Lisbon
San Diego, CA 92114
1 April 1998
To Whom It May Concern
In the Summer of 1997 I attended a workshop run by Joyce and David Mollet
of Wide-horizon Education Resources. The workshop was about the teaching
of the Ancient Civilizations to middle school students. As a teacher
of predominantly African-American students I was interested in finding
material which they could relate to. I was delighted to find exactly
the right material I was looking for. Not only did I find material that
would relate to the mindset of students but I also found extensive coverage
of the ancient African civilization of Kush.
The material is not only a history/social studies program but also a
language arts program as well. A great deal of information is transmitted
through stories and dramas as well as information sheets. The vast majority
of stories are accompanied by Guided Reading assignments.
Joyce and David have devised a program whereby it is very easy to teach
basic skills to the students even though they learn them in a very enjoyable
way. The Guided Reading Activity Sheets contain a variety of assignments
gently guiding the student from simple literal memory recall to complex
comprehension tasks. My students responded very positively to these
assignments with a corresponding improvement in their literacy skills.
Most of all I was delighted to find extensive coverage of the ancient
African civilization of Kush. I believe, just as coauthors Joyce and
David Mollet do, that all students, but particularly those of African
heritage, should study Africa’s oldest interior civilization. Despite
considerable research on my part I had failed to find the content I
wanted on Kush. I was, therefore, delighted to find their teaching pack
on Kush. In this respect the material is unique and I would recommend
every middle grade teacher should teach Kush to their students. We shall
certainly be availing ourselves of the free workshop on Kush in which
teachers are shown on how to best use the teaching pack and also how
to meet performance standards and teach basic skills.
Thank you Joyce and David for providing us with material whereby students
find learning enjoyable, where basic history and literacy skills are
developed, and where African-American students can relate to part of
their heritage, a major ancient civilization. I haven’t doubt that in
the years to come the teaching pack on Kush (and even perhaps the whole
series) will become standard works for teachers wanting students to
learn about their heritage.
Sincerely,
Vince Riveroll, Grade 6 Teacher/Site Teacher of the Year
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| Mainstream Students
Lewis Middle School
5170 Greenbrier Street
San Diego, CA 92120
23 April 1998
To Whom It May Concern:
In the summer of 1997, I attended a workshop which introduced the Wide-horizon Education
Resources Ancient Civilizations units. As a 6th grade social studies teacher of both
gifted and regular education students, I was interested in curriculum for both types
of classes. I was also looking for material on some of the lesser known civilizations
such as India and Israelites.
I knew my gifted students would do well since the activities are open-ended and have
the potential for students to really take off in their learning and investigations.
However, I was quite pleased to see how my regular education students thrived and
blossomed with many of these activities, Instead of just reading a text and then
answering a few questions or outlining the chapter in a traditional way, each lesson
has lots of exciting alternative activities to reinforce the Student Information
Sheets. One of the best comments I received was when a student said “Last year Social
Studies was really boring, but this is fun!”
The Units are well organized and easy to follow. There are either information sheets
or stories or Readers Theatre to teach students the information. The regular students
really enjoyed the different styles of presentation. I liked the way special vocabulary
words were placed here and there to enhance learning. The activities reinforced many
basic skills that are taught in Language Arts and Math, such as sequencing, cause-and-effect,
measurement and floor plans, and grammar.
Regular education students often had trouble reading the textbook, but I found the
Wide-horizon student reference books to be more readable and understandable for a
majority of the students, They were able to immediately give feedback of information
with an understanding. This rarely happened with the textbook.
I particularly enjoyed the India and Israelites units because there is not a lot
of enrichment information and ideas currently available. These units gave me some
outstanding ideas to extend the lessons and the students responded well to them.
I would recommend any of the units as a welcome addition to any teacher’s curriculum.
Sincerely,
Janis Cadwallader
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| Gate Students
Copy - original available
Marston Middle School
3799 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, California 92117
June 10, 1997
Dear David and Joyce:
Thank you so much for the opportunity to pilot your excellent Social Studies program!
As teachers of Intellectually Gifted students, we are always looking for an exceptional
curriculum that will lend itself to both whole-class instruction as well as individualized
instruction. This curriculum was well suited for both instructional strategies. Often
the curriculum that is available is inaccessible to students because it is either
too difficult, or not challenging enough for the gifted child.
Through use of guided reading and related activities, the content of Wide-horizons
Educational Resources is accessible for even the lowest 6th grader at our school,
while staying interesting for the brightest students.
As teachers of gifted students, we are very accustomed to supplementing the units
that are considered "standard." With the wealth of options available through
your program, we had to 'pick-and-choose' or be overwhelmed with the various activities
available. Using this program, we were actually able to customize our teaching to
the needs and interests of our students.
We also had the opportunity to work with other teachers using your program at our
site. Each teacher was enthusiastically supportive of the use of your program next
year. We would recommend the use of WER units by any district wishing to align student
outcomes to Standard-based education.
We would be happy to be used as a reference for your excellent program.
Sincerely,
Tricia Smith, 6th Grade teacher-Gitied/Department Chair
Lana Sedgwick, 6th Grade teacher-Gifted
Marston Middle School
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| ESL Students
Copy - original available
Roy K. Jones III
9054 Kirby Court
San Diego, CA 92126
(619) 689 9880
March 23, 1998
To Whom It May Concern,
During the summer of 1997 I had the opportunity to attend a workshop in which the
Wide-horizon Ancient Civilizations curriculum was presented. Being a sixth grade
Sheltered Social Studies teacher I was looking for something that I could use with
my second language students that would be both interesting and understandable. I
liked what I saw in the material developed by co-authors David and Joyce Mollet and
decided to purchase the Early Humankind unit with my own resources.
At first I was a little hesitant to use the material thinking that it might be too
advanced for my students. Once we actually got into the unit things went very well,
and based on the results my students were very successful with the material. My students
were able to read and understand the text and able to complete the assignments actually
learning something as they went along.
The material is very well put together and the assignments can be used as provided
or modified to meet your needs. The text is very well prepared and actually flows
in a logical sequence building the students knowledge and understanding as they progress.
The program as presented would provide, in my opinion, an outstanding base from which
to develop a complete Humanities program. From my observations it can be used, as
I did, for Sheltered Social Studies up to GATE students.
I recommend the program to any teacher who is looking for an exciting and worth while
program for their sixth grade Social Studies or Humanities classes. My only regret
is that I can’t afford, at this point, to purchase the entire program for my students.
A very satisfied teacher,
Roy K. Jones III
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©WER 1999
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