UK College of Education students present ‘unit day’ at local elementary schools

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 19, 2024) — In one University of Kentucky course, the final exam takes place in local elementary schools. The project is known to elementary education majors as “unit day,” and faculty say it is an ideal way for aspiring teachers to show their ability to put what they have learned into practice. 

Last week, UK elementary education senior Brooklyn Buboltz led second graders in learning activities at Breckinridge Elementary School, along with her group of UK classmates. 

“We have been working on this project all semester in our practicum course at UK,” Buboltz said. “We were excited to get to come here and do our activities in person and have them come to life with all the second-grade classes.” 

Unit day takes place during students’ practicum semester, just prior to their student teaching placement.  

“Every semester, I say unit day is my favorite day,” said Joni Meade, UK College of Education clinical instructor. “I love seeing it click for my students. They do four rotations to different classrooms in the schools, and I can see how they adjust and improve with each rotation.” 

For unit day, UK students learn to develop activities for an interdisciplinary unit that includes literacy, along with social studies or science. It is part of a literacy methods course required for elementary majors in the UK College of Education. 

“We were told what the second graders at Breckinridge were currently learning in their science curriculum, and we created fun, engaging lessons with hands-on activities they could work with to enrich their knowledge of the topics,” said UK elementary education senior Elli Keefer. 

Meade said UK College of Education faculty are intentional about helping the practicum students select topics that align with what the elementary students are learning. 

“We use the Fayette County pacing guide, and the teachers and administrators at the schools we go into send us the Kentucky Academic Standards they want us to cover. We go over these with our students and they design units to reinforce the content. It is important that what we do is aligned with the state standards and pacing guide the district is using.” 

UK senior Midori Dotson said the experience was rewarding. 

“These students have worked so hard all year on the science concepts, and now we are extending them and giving them enrichment,” Doston said. “They are so engaged and so excited for us to be here.” 

Dotson said participating in unit day was a good opportunity to practice connecting with students. 

“Being able to come here and work with these students and figure out how to differentiate our content and instruction has really helped me in becoming a future teacher,” she said. 

Completing his final exam in a school was important to UK elementary education senior Pablo Fedriani-Barragan. 

“If we did it in front of people our age, it would be great practice, but I think it’s way better if we are actually doing it with students,” he said. “It’s closer to reality, and we have many situations take place that wouldn’t happen in our (college) classroom, so it’s just a great way to get practice.” 

UK College of Education assistant professor Ozge Yalciner, Ph.D., took her section of the course to Cassidy Elementary School.  

“Our students gained great experience teaching their units at Cassidy,” she said. “The practicum semester is the first time elementary majors create a unit, and they do so with a group of peers. The groups create a unit that spans five days, with one being put into practice on unit day in a school. The activities are sequential and build each day.  On their own, students create units twice during student teaching. There are many layers that go into units, so it is an intricate, detailed project.”  

The literacy methods course faculty members ask their students to talk with social studies and science methods professors about the interdisciplinary units, making sure they clearly understand the standards being taught. One of the units at Breckinridge related to weather and fast changes, so the practicum students created activities on events such as landslides and hurricanes — learning how they occur and how to stay safe. 

UK elementary education senior Kimberly Caudill’s group presented a unit on volcanoes to the Breckinridge second graders  

“This was a great way to wrap up our practicum semester, and we are so excited for student teaching,” Caudill said.