First off, I am making a conscious effort to blog more. Hence the uptick in posts. Yesterday I mentioned how I was moving towards a narrative writing project with my kiddos as they've been reading about geographic features of the US. As I think ahead to tomorrow, and likely next week, I can't help but think about last year.
At this point last year I was keeping my head above water. While I felt highly capable, I was also trying to adjust to the way 5th graders work and new curricular materials. This year is an entirely different feel. Probably most striking is the fact that I am seeing the cross-curricular connections, and the integration is relatively seamless. As I look across the content area objectives, I am looking at how to teach it as a reading text. What reading standards will I hit, and what questions will help my kids get there? Additionally, I'm consistently thinking about how I can be less helpful. What I mean by that is I want to move the intellectual heavy lifting onto my kids' backs. Instead of asking kids content area questions with guideposts, I'll ask them questions like what is the main idea of a particular section and why is it important? Last year I would have led them along to the concept of importance, creating a less dynamic environment comparatively.
Back to tomorrow. We're going to integrate more explicit writing instruction into social studies. Last year it was more of an afterthought. They had a task to accomplish, and I was focused on the utilization of content. Instead we are actually going to focus on how to write a small moment, narrated as though we had experienced it. It will dovetail off of some of their favorite social studies experiences: 4th grade's Lewis and Clark work. Totally different feel in year two.
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