STUDENT LED
Learning
Student led learning encourages children to think for themselves, which in turn maintains many of the skills that students need in order to be successful, including critical thinking and problem solving. In implementing lessons in which students take charge, I am facilitating student practice in leadership as well as demonstrating and allowing the practice of expectations of collaborating with others: two skills that will only become more important as children grow.
*Hover over this image to learn more
Students as Teachers
For the culmination of our Figurative Language Unit, students transformed into the teacher when they created and taught figurative language through presentations. In having students act as the teacher, I ensured that students were engaged in and critically thinking about, their own work and the work of others. On more than one occasion, an example was questioned by another student, and the "teacher" was then forced to reflect on their own examples and either argue for it or identify what they did wrong and change it. When students are able to stand in front of their peers and explain the definition of each kind of figurative language, they develop deeper understandings of the content. This was also a fun activity, and ended with more than one student asking me "when are we gonna do that again?!"
In addition to ensuring accountability through the presentations, I also explained the expectations of not only being a good presenter, but also being a respectful and attentive audience member. Below are three examples of the rubric that students were given after presentations finished, hover over each to see a breakdown of their scores.
This pair was only able to create six slides out of the eight required, and therefore only received 12 out of 16 points for their slides. They were respectful audience members and only needed to work on projecting their voices.
This pair was only missing one slide in their presentation, and met all other expectations. Due to this, they received 22 out of 24 points.
This pair met all expectations in regards to their own presentation, but were a bit chatty while others were presenting, resulting in one point being taken off for their respectful audience member score.
Collaborative Learning through Homework Review
During our daily homework review, students are expected to practice fluency by reading the homework passage to each other. Students then spend one minute discussing their answers to the comprehension questions below the passage and analyzing discrepancies in answers. Maintaining this practice ensures that students work together and are held accountable for their own learning.
This is an example of a daily homework assignment, and is what students in the video are reviewing. It includes a fifth grade level passage, as well as five multiple choice comprehension questions.
For the first two months of the school year, I go over the passage and questions with students after they practice with the aforementioned fluency work. Once November begins, however, students take on my role in reviewing the homework. This builds public speaking skills that will be beneficial for my students to practice and apply before heading on to middle school. See below for one of our first days practicing this without much support from me!
Think-Pair-Share
Students in my classroom practice speaking collaboratively every day during our think-pair-share (TPS) activity.
Many of my students are often unsure of their answers initially when I pose questions. Giving them extra time to discuss their answers with a partner allows them to practice speaking in front of a less intimidating audience than the whole class. Once students speak with their TPS partners, they are much more confident in their answers and more apt to share openly to the entire class. In this picture, students are answering our Essential Question: Why do people use figurative language?
Once students have paired and shared with their partners, they utilize information gathered from the discussion to craft their own answers to the Essential Question. By having students talk to their partners before writing their answers down, I am ensuring that students have proper think time and that those who have difficulty coming up with ideas now have the ideas of their partners to add to their own knowledge. The images below are some answers to the Essential Question for the figurative language unit.
Academic Discourse
One of my favorite aspects of teaching is witnessing students leading academic and socratic discussions and changing the minds of others using reasoning and evidence. When students are able to have academic discussions with others, they practice critical thinking skills, as well as an ability to analyze information from various points of view. In our point of view unit, students participated in one of these discussions while answering the essential question: what did the founding fathers mean when they said that all men are created equal? Below are some examples of the culminating discussions.
Pair One
This student is very opinionated about our essential question. She has expressed on more than one occasion that the founders of our country were not as kind and just as they have been made out to be. Her partner, whose work is to the right, isn't as vocal about his ideas.
This student began the lesson taking the statement that I gave them, all men are created equal, at face value and explained to his partner that he felt this way. Once they participated in this discussion, she convinced him that our founding fathers might not have meant exactly what they said. Both students were able to analyze how the perspective of a text impacts the way the story is told.
Pair Two
This student, like the one above, came into the discussion with background knowledge about the founding fathers and the racist ideals in which our country was founded. She was able to change her partner's mind during the discussion, and both in turn were able to demonstrate their understanding of how the perspective of a text impacts the information within it.
Initially, this student answered the essential question by saying that the founding fathers meant that all people are equal. After participating in a discussion with his partner, he changed his mind and adjusted his answer to the essential question accordingly.
IN
Summation
By implementing a variety of lessons in which students take control, I am providing them with the opportunity to take accountability and responsibility for their own learning. In doing so, I am exposing them to strategies that will enable them to seek out and take advantage of resources and opportunities in academia and elsewhere that they may not have sought out initially. These lessons also enhance student confidence, ability to work with others, and ability to empathize with other people. These skills will not only ensure that my students are good pupils in the future, but that they are good people as well.