Entry # 15: Creating a
"need-to-know" environment
"I love this project!"
This, overheard, as Tina left my classroom Thursday morning. I am thankful
to know that I'm on the right track.
We have moved on to the Cinderella project this week. On Monday and Tuesday,
my students worked alone, in pairs, or at the listening center to read the
Walt Disney version of Cinderella and complete a story map. As students
conferenced with me about their story maps, I learned a lot about their
thinking. I saw that many of them did not see the events in the story sequentially,
and they did not understand what "main events" as related to the
story were.
I had the opportunity to dialogue with them one-on-one to correct misconceptions
and explain parts of the story map in as many ways as necessary until I
saw the "A-ha" in their eyes. I have to make time to conference
more often. I learned a lot from those interactions.
On Wednesday, we charted our results from the story map on a class chart
that includes spaces for the five other versions of Cinderella they began
reading on Thursday. My students engaged in a lively discussion as they
debated about whether the mice were "important" characters or
not -- or if they should include the clock striking midnight as a major
event in the story. Eventually we reached a consensus, and we moved on to
the current phase of our project.
My students have chosen new groups to join, and each one of them is responsible
for reading one of five different versions of the Cinderella story: The
Egyptian Cinderella, The Korean Cinderella, The Persian Cinderella, The
Irish Cinderlad, and "Sootface," an Ojibwa Cinderella story. Each
group is charged with reading the story, creating a story map, and then
presenting their information to the class.
The requirements of the presentation are that the information from the story
map is shared, all group members have a part, information is correct, and
students use correct grammar. One group came to me to ask if they could
present their information as a play; another asked if they could create
a diorama; still another wants to make a poster. As I looked around the
room, I saw all students engaged in learning, helping their group members
out with unknown words or explanations of parts of the story they didn't
understand. The group that has decided to put on a play has made a list
of props that each member must bring.
It was after this part of the project that Tina left my room with such an
enthusiastic comment.
I have enjoyed this project immensely, and I am looking forward to the next
phase.
After my students give their presentations, we will fill in the empty spaces
on our class story map. I will give them all miniature versions of the class
map, then I'll jigsaw the groups again. This time they will have to decide
what all six of the Cinderella stories have in common so they can accurately
define what a "Cinderella story" is. We will use that information
to create the scoring guide for their final project; they will be writing
their own Cinderella stories or plays set in more modern times.
The benefits of delving deeper
I am seeing the great benefits of delving deeper and deeper into one topic
or area of study. I know teachers who fear they will not be able to cover
their curriculum if they spend too much time on one topic, and I must confess
that when I first began learning about inquiry I had some of the same concerns.
However, as I have actually become involved in inquiry and constructivism,
I have found that belief to be untrue.
I think the more time we spend on a topic, the better our students really
understand it. More connections to prior knowledge are made as our students
ask questions and explore. What our students learn becomes more a part of
them as they take ownership and responsibility for their own learning. I
think their learning becomes more permanent as all of our content is set
into meaningful frameworks.
It has just occurred to me that much of learning is affective. We certainly
have many cognitive opportunities on a daily basis, but how many of them
do we honestly pursue? Only the ones that have meaning or purpose to us.
Today my husband learned how to fix a toilet because ours was broken. I
can say with all truth that had our toilet not been broken, he would have
never investigated the fine art of toilet repair.
Creating a "need-to-know" environment
It is not enough for us to tell children, "Because you will need this
when you grow up," or "Because it is good for you," in response
to their question, "Why do I have to learn this?" In fact, perhaps
our true goal as educators is to create a need-to-know environment where
that question is never even asked.
Since I've started this project, I have not had one child ask me why we
were doing any of the activities we have done. I think I have successfully
tapped into that affective domain by honoring their interests, allowing
them choices, and creating challenging tasks.
Some may say, "But you will have spent a month on fairy tales by the
end of this project. When will you have time to cover everything else?"
In this month I am covering a large portion of my curriculum including essay
writing, speaking and listening skills, research skills, reading comprehension,
elements of a story, and using the text to defend an argument. Best of all,
my students are working at the higher end of Bloom's Taxonomy where real
meaning-making takes place.
Not too shabby, eh? Score one for the teacher. However, I cannot rest on
my laurels for too long. The challenge of creating another unit around what
I have learned from this one awaits.
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