Introduction
We live in a world of patterns. They are all around us in everyday life, something that my first grade students notice and comment on quite frequently. When they recognize a pattern, or at least a perceived pattern by their definition, they become excited for successfully noticing a repeating motif or design. They will notice a red car go by, then a second red car, and then a blue car, and proudly say "It's a pattern, red, red, blue!" As a teacher, I am eager to harness this natural interest and excitement and use it as a teachable foundation. What comes next? How do you know that? Vocabulary and strategies for working with patterns will give my students greater ability to understand what they are already observing around them.
Edgewood Magnet School in New Haven, Connecticut is an arts magnet school, integrating the arts across the curriculum. Students in this environment are encouraged to use the strategies of observation, interpretation, and analysis to increase their thinking skills for every subject. Given this mission, the teachers and students in our school use unique and exciting approaches to "the basics" and work together to ensure that all students are included and learning. This educational approach supports the multiple intelligence theory and uses arts education as a means to assist students in improving their academic performance and enriching the lives.
I teach in a self-contained first grade classroom of about 25 students. Although these students come from various parts of the city, Edgewood is primarily a neighborhood school with a diverse population in grades kindergarten through the eighth grade. The students have a wide range of ethnicities, economical strata, and varying levels of academic and emotional strengths and weaknesses. The school has an enrollment of about 450 students with approximately 60% African-American, 12% Hispanic, and the remaining 29% Caucasian and Asian. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Edgewood takes pride in a very high average daily attendance rate of 96%. This unit will align with the philosophy of our school.
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