Authentic Experiences

Reading about authentic experiences in the classroom really got me reflecting on this past year. I think I there were times when the students definitely has some authentic experiences, but there were also some times where I failed them in this area. I am still trying to figure out a way to turn learning multiplication into an authentic learning experience! Still have quite a lot of thinking to do on this one!

Greek Art in the Classroom

Third graders in Virginia study 3 ancient civilizations: Greece, Rome and Mali. From my one experience of teaching these topics the students really love to learn about the Olympics, the gladiators and the gold. But one aspect that they sort of struggle with is the art. Mainly the different types of art and architecture that the different civilizations contributed. With that said, I have chosen a piece of art from Ancient Greece that I believe will help engage the students in the art lesson and leave them with a better understanding and respect for not only ancient art, but art in general.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/14.30.9

Prior to the lesson being taught the teacher should display a picture of the ancient Greece pitcher and allow students to have time to brainstorm what it is and what it may have been used for. After a lesson on ancient Greece and the students have a better understanding of the culture the teacher should display the picture again and have the students discuss what they think the pitcher was used for. The responses this time around should include more intelligent responses such as used for pouring wine, pouring olive oil, mixing spices, etc.
The 'big idea' behind this lesson is that through helping the students see how they are better able to analyze art after they have a better grasp on the history of the civilization they will be more interested in the art that will be presented later in lessons to follow. By inviting the students to make a connection to the art they will be apt to use critical thinking skills later when analyzing future pieces.

Teaching map skills across the curriculum

The following information was obtained based on a lesson from:
Melber & Hunter (2010) Integrating language arts and social studies (48-54)

Map skills are one part of the social studies standards in Virginia. There are many ways to teach such a lesson, but one way that I never considered was to integrate the lesson with language arts. The lesson could start in language arts with a read aloud about maps and then continue with the students manipulating an Atlas, globe, map, etc. The teacher could have the students compare and contrast the different manipulatives and then create a writing piece that discussed which object would be the most helpful in planning a trip. During the social studies portion of the lesson the teacher may choose to take the students on a walk around the community or school grounds. At this time the student would be responsible for creating a map of the area around which they are walking. Accomodations for special needs children would be a map template that they would fill in with the objects of their choice. As a challenge the students would use a compass rose to label the cardinal directions of the map. For ESL students the teacher could go prior to the walk and label the objects in thier native language. ESL and special needs students would also need to be provided with a copy of the read aloud.

The Big Idea for Thematic Units

Thematic units are no doubt a wonderful strategy to use when teaching in today's classroom. Students want the material they are learning to be relevant to their lives. One such way to make sure this is happening is to 'show' students how Native Americans, for example, can be discovered in any subject area. This undoubtedly requires strenuous planning on the teachers part and even takes some practice on the students part, but when implemented correctly will prove to be an amazing learning experience for all individuals involved. When planning my upcoming thematic unit I plan to use the information in the topics, themes, concepts, and big ideas advice found on pages 75-87 in Teaching Social Studies authored by Schell and Fischer (2007). The text states that when beginning a thematic unit you must first state the topic, this makes perfect sense- let the children know what they are going to learn. We must take the guessing game out of learning. During the planning process the teacher will first find common themes amongst the material that is going to be taught. The culminating activity will be the final implementation step in threading the theme together and making a connection among all subject areas.

At the end of the school year....

As we come to the end of the school year I am finding myself anxious for the next year to begin! I am pretty sure that I will be teaching the same class in the same room and this makes me excited. Now that I have a pretty good handle on the content and how the mechanics of the school run I can already see that next year I will be able to create an environment that is more creative and will allow the child to flourish even more than they did this year. Also, I am anxious to get my SOL scores back from this year so that I will be able to see how my students, and how I, did this year.
Happy Summer All!!