The Betsy Ross Arts Magnet Schools (BRAMS) is a middle school that draws its population from the entire city through a lottery system. The students attending are not required to be gifted in the arts, but must express an interest in the field. Admittance is not predicated on any specific academic criteria. As a result, students who attend BRAMS are from every part of the city, from various socio-economic backgrounds, and with a wide range of academic abilities.
My current assignment is to teach social studies and language arts to the middle school student. I have many students for both subjects. Therefore, I can overlap both subject areas. This will allow for more effective teaching of the unit which fuses the two subject areas and gives the children, through the reading of stories, an understanding of the similarities and differences among people. These differences can enrich us rather than divide us.
