by Sarah Major, M.Ed
It would be amazing to take a protracted field trip and visit schoolrooms across the nation. Doubtless what we would witness would be incredibly varied. We would see everything from rooms in which children are engaged, participating, and energized, to rooms in which children are passive, indifferent, and checked out. In some of these latter rooms, behaviors are out of control, while in others, students are silent.
What makes the difference in classrooms? I have a theory: if we access each child’s area of giftedness, we will turn them on to learning. In reality, the brain is already wired to learn. What remains is for us to figure out how to create a learning environment in which brains can learn, want to learn, and can do so without a ton of effort on our part as teachers.
How can we do this? Some ideas need to be in place before successfully designing units of instruction that engage children and access their best abilities. We should assume that:
• All children are gifted in varying ways.
• Children don’t all learn the same way.
• The ultimate best means of conveying what they have learned will vary from child to child.
• Lecture/verbal instruction is the least effective way to teach very young children.
• Listening to verbal instruction is the least effective way for young children to learn.
• Children can perform far beyond what we view as their ability level.
• Children rise to the occasion when they are given control over their own learning.
• Children don’t always learn concepts in the order we view as “the correct order,” be it sight words or math facts.
• Most children learn by sorting through a wealth of ideas and making order out of them in their own minds.
Now let’s apply these principles to planning a unit. As an example, let’s use the topic of European influences on the settlement of North America – 6th grade level. The unit includes the history of the first European visitors and settlers to America as well as what animals and plants were introduced from Europe. Decide ahead of time exactly what you want all the children to come away knowing and understanding, and be prepared to share this with them.
Prepare your unit in ways that speak to the modalities of the children. It is not the time to say “read pages 225-228 and answer the questions at the end of the unit.” Speaking to the modalities of the children means that you will show more than you will tell. As you are sharing the food stuffs that originated in Europe, create a huge map (on the whiteboard or poster) showing images of the various foods/animals; use arrows or put the items in little ships that are headed towards the new world. Use rhyme and color-coding. Encourage the children to use their hands to reflect the lessons you are presenting, even if it is to draw the map in their notebook and draw or cut out images of the influences from Europe.
At the end of the unit, share that you want to find out what they each understand. There will not be a test to study for or a certain way for them to show you what they know. Each of the children will be able to choose a way to share what they have learned with you and the others.
Give each child the list of concepts or questions you want them to be able to respond to. At the same time, give them some ideas for options they can choose from just to prime the pump.
1. Verbally gifted children could choose to do a TV news report or write an article.
2. Interpersonally gifted children could do a TV or radio interview, do a game show where the host asks questions and the contestants answer the questions, etc.
3. Intrapersonally gifted children might choose to create a diary from the point of view of a young person traveling over to the colonies for the first time, recounting their experiences. Or, they might choose to make a scrapbook with cut outs illustrating their entries.
4. Visually gifted children might choose to collaborate on a mural/map complete with key, illustrations, etc. They might elect to create a product using color-coding to show source countries of different plants and animals or customs.
5. Rhythmically gifted children might make up a song, chant, poem, or ditty about various aspects of the lesson.
6. Kinesthetically gifted children might create a choreographed play and act out the content of the unit.
7. Logically/Mathematically gifted children might recount the events, focusing on the challenges of the expansion into the Americas and the way these challenges were overcome. They might be interested in the data and numbers surrounding this period in our history. They might create graphs and other numerical charts as a way of sharing data.
Make sure that your rubric does not focus not on the means of conveying learning but on whether the substance of the unit was understood and communicated. Did each student show they understood the unit? Did they convey the concepts that were central to the unit?
If you’re teaching multiple children, consider creating a simple rubric for the children to use to rate each presentation, prepping them ahead of time to focus on content more than on the means of presentation. Have the rubric include the major concepts and have a place for rating maybe from 1-4 the excellence of communicating each concept. The student rubric should be simpler and focus on the main elements and the extent to which they were communicated.
As you teach more and more frequently using this model and if you’re teaching multiple children, encourage your children to learn all they can from each other about what each child finds easiest to do. Encourage collaboration, not by grouping children yourself, but instead by giving the children the liberty of planning future presentations drawing on the skills and gifts of children who are different from themselves. For instance, a visual spatial child could team with a verbally gifted child to create a presentation that showcased both of their abilities. The mathematically gifted child might team with a body/kinesthetically gifted child. The resulting projects would be so diverse and amazing for the others to enjoy as their learning and their understanding expands with each new presentation.
What is the result of this type of learning? Your children will love learning. I can guarantee it!
Sarah Major, CEO of Child1st Publications, grew up on the mission field with her four siblings, all of whom her mother homeschooled. As an adult, Sarah has homeschooled a small group of children in collaboration with their parents, and has taught from preschool age to adult. Sarah has been the Title 1 director and program developer for grades K-7, an ESOL teacher, and a classroom teacher. As an undergraduate student, Sarah attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. and then received her M.Ed. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2006 Sarah resigned from fulltime teaching in order to devote more time to Child1st, publisher of the best-selling SnapWords™ stylized sight word cards. In her spare time Sarah enjoys gardening, cooking, pottery, quilting, and spending time with her family.
Child1st Publications, LLC
www.child1st.com
800-881-0912
PO Box 150226
Grand Rapids, MI 49515
It would be amazing to take a protracted field trip and visit schoolrooms across the nation. Doubtless what we would witness would be incredibly varied. We would see everything from rooms in which children are engaged, participating, and energized, to rooms in which children are passive, indifferent, and checked out. In some of these latter rooms, behaviors are out of control, while in others, students are silent.
What makes the difference in classrooms? I have a theory: if we access each child’s area of giftedness, we will turn them on to learning. In reality, the brain is already wired to learn. What remains is for us to figure out how to create a learning environment in which brains can learn, want to learn, and can do so without a ton of effort on our part as teachers.
How can we do this? Some ideas need to be in place before successfully designing units of instruction that engage children and access their best abilities. We should assume that:
• All children are gifted in varying ways.
• Children don’t all learn the same way.
• The ultimate best means of conveying what they have learned will vary from child to child.
• Lecture/verbal instruction is the least effective way to teach very young children.
• Listening to verbal instruction is the least effective way for young children to learn.
• Children can perform far beyond what we view as their ability level.
• Children rise to the occasion when they are given control over their own learning.
• Children don’t always learn concepts in the order we view as “the correct order,” be it sight words or math facts.
• Most children learn by sorting through a wealth of ideas and making order out of them in their own minds.
Now let’s apply these principles to planning a unit. As an example, let’s use the topic of European influences on the settlement of North America – 6th grade level. The unit includes the history of the first European visitors and settlers to America as well as what animals and plants were introduced from Europe. Decide ahead of time exactly what you want all the children to come away knowing and understanding, and be prepared to share this with them.
Prepare your unit in ways that speak to the modalities of the children. It is not the time to say “read pages 225-228 and answer the questions at the end of the unit.” Speaking to the modalities of the children means that you will show more than you will tell. As you are sharing the food stuffs that originated in Europe, create a huge map (on the whiteboard or poster) showing images of the various foods/animals; use arrows or put the items in little ships that are headed towards the new world. Use rhyme and color-coding. Encourage the children to use their hands to reflect the lessons you are presenting, even if it is to draw the map in their notebook and draw or cut out images of the influences from Europe.
At the end of the unit, share that you want to find out what they each understand. There will not be a test to study for or a certain way for them to show you what they know. Each of the children will be able to choose a way to share what they have learned with you and the others.
Give each child the list of concepts or questions you want them to be able to respond to. At the same time, give them some ideas for options they can choose from just to prime the pump.
1. Verbally gifted children could choose to do a TV news report or write an article.
2. Interpersonally gifted children could do a TV or radio interview, do a game show where the host asks questions and the contestants answer the questions, etc.
3. Intrapersonally gifted children might choose to create a diary from the point of view of a young person traveling over to the colonies for the first time, recounting their experiences. Or, they might choose to make a scrapbook with cut outs illustrating their entries.
4. Visually gifted children might choose to collaborate on a mural/map complete with key, illustrations, etc. They might elect to create a product using color-coding to show source countries of different plants and animals or customs.
5. Rhythmically gifted children might make up a song, chant, poem, or ditty about various aspects of the lesson.
6. Kinesthetically gifted children might create a choreographed play and act out the content of the unit.
7. Logically/Mathematically gifted children might recount the events, focusing on the challenges of the expansion into the Americas and the way these challenges were overcome. They might be interested in the data and numbers surrounding this period in our history. They might create graphs and other numerical charts as a way of sharing data.
Make sure that your rubric does not focus not on the means of conveying learning but on whether the substance of the unit was understood and communicated. Did each student show they understood the unit? Did they convey the concepts that were central to the unit?
If you’re teaching multiple children, consider creating a simple rubric for the children to use to rate each presentation, prepping them ahead of time to focus on content more than on the means of presentation. Have the rubric include the major concepts and have a place for rating maybe from 1-4 the excellence of communicating each concept. The student rubric should be simpler and focus on the main elements and the extent to which they were communicated.
As you teach more and more frequently using this model and if you’re teaching multiple children, encourage your children to learn all they can from each other about what each child finds easiest to do. Encourage collaboration, not by grouping children yourself, but instead by giving the children the liberty of planning future presentations drawing on the skills and gifts of children who are different from themselves. For instance, a visual spatial child could team with a verbally gifted child to create a presentation that showcased both of their abilities. The mathematically gifted child might team with a body/kinesthetically gifted child. The resulting projects would be so diverse and amazing for the others to enjoy as their learning and their understanding expands with each new presentation.
What is the result of this type of learning? Your children will love learning. I can guarantee it!
Sarah Major, CEO of Child1st Publications, grew up on the mission field with her four siblings, all of whom her mother homeschooled. As an adult, Sarah has homeschooled a small group of children in collaboration with their parents, and has taught from preschool age to adult. Sarah has been the Title 1 director and program developer for grades K-7, an ESOL teacher, and a classroom teacher. As an undergraduate student, Sarah attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. and then received her M.Ed. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2006 Sarah resigned from fulltime teaching in order to devote more time to Child1st, publisher of the best-selling SnapWords™ stylized sight word cards. In her spare time Sarah enjoys gardening, cooking, pottery, quilting, and spending time with her family.
Child1st Publications, LLC
www.child1st.com
800-881-0912
PO Box 150226
Grand Rapids, MI 49515
