For several weeks now our first graders have been practicing the continents and oceans (in Spanish). Our master teacher loves geography. What I love about geography is how it blends so many disciplines together. Take a look at this picture one of her students drew for her:
This social studies lesson not only teaches art it also teaches literacy. The children in her class already incorporate favorite words into their writing and can recognize large words. These words probably come from their family life – a favorite sports team, a country of origin, or a musical word. Teaching the continents and oceans provides a wealth of knowledge for children to build upon. Just imagine a seven year old writing about her trip to the ocean. Now she can say the Pacific Ocean. She could even start to imagine what is on the other side? Wait, she already knows – Australia and Asia.
To teach the continents and oceans, the teacher uses repetition, sight, hearing, and kinesthetic learning. They hear the words over and over as they watch the teacher and others move the words to the correct place on the smart board. Thursday was their assessment. They had to cut out the words and paste them in the right spot on the map. If they could not read the word, the teacher helped them. I was surprised to see that one of the students who struggles with reading, writing, and math aced the test. The teacher helped him read each of the words, and he was able to put them in the right spot. This spatial and visual exercise helped the child succeed. He needs this success and more success to help him cross the threshold of literacy.
The fact that your teacher incorporates a variety of teaching methods is wonderful! I'm glad that students who have a hard time with reading and writing were able to find success with this activity. This is just one more example that solidifies the idea that reading, saying, hearing, writing, and visually placing the words all contribute to students' building of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI'm also glad to see that your teacher focuses on what the students can do with help (good scaffolding), and not count their inability to do the activity on their own as a failure. Your students must enjoy learning in a positive environment like that!