Integration in Year Two

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.

Where social studies and literacy meet

This week we are making a transition from the social studies text to the basal reader. The goal is to intentionally integrate the basal into our social studies block, and primarily focus on reading comprehension skills. While I think I can integrate those skills into the social studies text, I've struggled getting that going. Why? Largely because of the content we've been reading. The first section was laden with vocabulary, setting the stage for the chapters to come. Instead of thinking about reasons for migration, or tensions between colonies (etc), we were developing geography skills.

You might wonder where we're going next... We are going to launch the reader with the theme "Nature's Fury." The focus is on nature's impact on humans, using realistic fiction as the vehicle moving kids along. How I will mesh geography into this is through adding some articles on earthquakes (the first selection), and using our knowledge of maps to identify where earthquake faults are and how that relates to where people are located (we have started using population density maps a bit). We'll be working on predicting/inferring, as well as sequencing. I have high hopes...

On another note, I'm still in the beginning stages of getting a blog up and running for the classroom. But I do have designs on some wiki work- collaborative research, as well as some podcasting. It will all come together... hopefully sooner rather than later.

Chunky Chunky Chunky

Everything feels chunky right now. My instruction doesn't seem to have much flow to it, and the content seems to be blocked out instead of fluid and integrated. Compounding the issue is having two different curricular materials to utilize from two different curricular areas. I am using a social studies text as well as a reading text (basal reader), not to mention my plan to integrate some realistic fiction and primary sources. As a whole, that leaves me with a big mess to make sense of.

Where am I at? Well I am finishing an initial social studies unit on geography (maps, landforms, nonfiction features). After this I will use the reading text for some reading comprehension strategies, with the first "theme" (re: story and accompanying supplements) is Nature's Fury. The story is earthquakes, and we'll be able to look at where these events happen (I think later themes, stories involve volcanoes and tornadoes). They don't flow effortlessly, and I have been unable to really use both texts simultaneously (perhaps a social studies center as well as running reading centers, that sort of thing).

I need to figure it out, and soon. We have curriculum night on Thursday. I'm excited to talk about what we are doing, and what we will be doing. In the broader context, we'll be learning about early American settlements, the American Revolution, and American Government. What the sequence is, and how the reading comprehension is integrated (and when) is a little up in the air right now.... but at least my projector and Activeboard are now wall/ceiling mounted!