Okay, I just can't resist. I have to tell you one of my favorite "theme" stories which illustrates that the connections have to be made within each kid's head even when the teacher knows what's she teaching and fully understands the essential questions and enduring understandings, etc.
A teacher was teaching on a Native American reservation one year and as kind of a culminating "theme" they studied The Races of Man (first grade). She had all her objectives and all our other fancy words we've been using down pat and had webbed and mapped and.... She had trade books and DVDs and models and posters and.... They made an amazing HUGE bulletin board from floor to ceiling on one wall with lifesize children's body shapes (think gingerbread men basically) that were in all the colors of mankind--black, white (flesh), etc. arranged in a rainbow, with each color being a stripe of the rainbow. (You've probably seen little people in Lakeshore, etc.) Then, in the open space of the rainbow, the teacher had used people-colored letters and spelled out The Races of Man. (You know where this is going...) So anyway, it was after school one of the last days of school and a little guy who had missed the bus was helping her out. He also happened to be the brightest student she had that year. She was humming away and they were dismantling the bulletin board (think the strains of It's a Small, Small World or something here). She was SO PROUD of how well her pet theme ended the year. Until--the little guy looked up and said, "You know, I've been meaning to ask you, Mrs. Jones--whoever did win that race?" On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 9:28 AM, thomas <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Joy, Beverlee, etc. > > I got some of my ideas about developing inquiry yes from Harste, Burke and > Barbara Flores and others from that wonderful connected group of educators > many of whom are directly connected to the Goodmans and each other(thinking > here there were some great articles in the Whole Language Catalog)...But I > also got ideas from Coalition of Essential Schools and maybe they were > influenced also by the above. Whatever, a useful way to think about > themes....especially those that lead to an inquiry stance is to ask > "essential questions." Find the overarching question (or several > interrelated questions) that is rich and authentic, keeping in mind the > interests and developmental levels of your children and yes, sometimes, > even > the expected "curriculum" at your grade level. In other words you gain > little by working against the science or social studies focus of your grade > level per your particular state. (Some would differ with me here and its > not like sometimes I didn't ignore that as well) > > It would sometimes take me weeks to figure out what the big question was, > one that would include the concepts and strategies and knowledge that I > wanted to cover. Phrasing it as a question I think automatically turns it > to a sentence rather than a simple topic. Even if you start with a topic, > if you turn into a question it pushes you on that inquiry journey and to > deeper thinking about the topic. For example, your students would like to > study horses. Ask why do horses play such a central role in the life of > some Native American nations? Remember our Mosaic work and how learning to > ask good questions is more important than giving right answers?? > > Next I think through the concepts(deeper understandings) I expect children > to learn through this inquiry. Then I figure out the critical knowledge > that they'll work with. Yes, knowing "some" stuff, some facts is > important. > But this forces me to narrow this down to pivotal knowledge, not just > collections of facts, dates etc. that could be tested on a multiple choice > test! > > Then I think through the skills and strategies they'll use to accomplish > their inquiry - group and individual. > > Then and possibly throughout I consider the underlying values and > assumptions underlying my plan and consider how they might emerge in the > children's work. I always ask myself the social justice, fairness kind of > questions here. How will different perspectives be privileged in this > work? > How will I respect the diverse children in my class and so on? > > Then I figure out how I will assess how we are accomplishing, whether we > did > accomplish (formative and summative assessment) and I run that back through > All of the above to add, delete, refine etc. > > Then I begin work on resources and particular ways to begin the unit and so > on. In some ways, this last step is where I used to start my planning. > But > doing all the other thinking above results in much better teaching and > learning I think. It is open to emerging understandings and information > because I start with the stance that the question is a real one for me, not > just the children. > > Gosh, sorry if I've gone on to long. It just always help to think through > what we're doing and I love it that the whole question > of themes has emerged here. > > Sally > > > > > On 6/19/09 3:50 AM, "Joy" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Beverlee, > > If there is a group that can help me push my thinking, this is it. I'm > > pondering your suggestion that sentences are needed to describe themes. > That > > is an interesting idea. Does the sentence narrow the concept, or does it > > broaden it? > > > > I wonder if I struggle with this because our standards are given to us in > bits > > or because I am not thinking globally? I always thought I was a big > picture > > kind of person, maybe I'm mistaken. I can see how things tie together, > and > > have developed projects that are integrated, but struggle with the label. > > > > > > > > Joy/NC/4 > > > > How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and > content go > > hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Mosaic mailing list > > [email protected] > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. 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