- Fenway Park before the game. The hot dogs were great , company was fun, and the Sox won!
Last summer I went to Boston along with about 30 other teachers on a Teaching American History grant. At that time, I posted these blog entries on another site. Since I just this summer have returned from the second year of the Teaching American history grant trip, I decided to repost last year’s and then add this year’s. Enjoy!
It’s been fun telling my friends and family about the trip. In an attempt to not see their eyes glaze over with boredom, I have had to filter what I relate, and let the cream rise to the top. Plimoth Plantation, Concord and Lexington, and the Boston Historical Society day have been the top three experiences I’ve talked about. It’s been fun to step outside myself as I am telling someone about the trip and hear the excitement and passion in my own voice as I talk. My sister said to me that she hoped I was writing all this down so I wouldn’t forget it. (Don’t worry, I’m not really from a family who walks around with a notebook all the time!) I laughed at her suggestion, telling her that I will write it all down, but probably in lesson plan form! I can’t wait to share what I now know with kids.
I’ve been sifting through all the notes, the brochures and pamphlets I picked up on the trip. Add the books I bought. Mix in the lesson plans and primary documents we’ve accumulated. Gradually add in all the pictures I took and what I have is a terrific beginning ‘dough’ for next year. I’ve set a goal to work at least three hours a week for the rest of the summer doing lesson planning.
In the elementary classroom, one of the jobs is to figure out how to teach all that we are responsible for. With the content GVCs including the new Language Arts GVC and the Basic Lit Framework and Thinking Strategies we are taking on, elementary teachers are mandated minutes per day for language arts and for math. When all the minutes are added up, it leaves a bit less than 90 minutes a day to teach science, social studies, the bullying curriculum, Accelerated math and reading (which my school mandates at 30 minutes each), plus a 30 minute intervention time daily. When the rubber meets the road, science and social studies end up taking a back seat. It doesn’t matter how important we all know history is, it isn’t state tested at 5th grade level, so it is deemed by many as a waste of time. (I really have had colleagues say those words to me!) I’m not a whiner, and I love a good challenge, so the trick is to see how to fit it all in with quality and meaningful instruction for my students.
What I have in mind is this: We are on a five day rotation – which means that in essence we have A,B,C,D, and E day schedules. I am going to choose one of those days to teach primary documents during at least 60 minutes of my reading time. The benefits will be two-fold. First, I will be teaching the thinking strategies and reading using non-fiction texts as a whole class lesson once every five days. The other four days the kids will be doing workshop and small group (guided reading) instruction using other fiction and non-fiction texts. Second, I will be teaching social studies using DBQ strategies so that reading and history will merge. Add that with the 30 minutes I will eke out for history and I should have a viable way to teach both at the same time.
For secondary teachers, this won’t sound very important or enlightened, but for me at the elementary level, I see it as a great way to do double duty.
I am looking forward to the week in July – to see what other great tools I am going to be provided. In the meantime, I will continue to talk to friends and family about my trip, work on lesson plans and ideas for next year, and let this all sink in.
