Strategies
The strategies that I will implement facilitate numerous opportunities for my students to observe, think and communicate, for example, See Think Wonder. Wondering promotes independent thinking and creativity, two qualities that I foster with my teaching. Working with very young children, some of them English learners, I always look for engaging activities that involve the use of appealing visuals, hands-on-experiences, technology, realia, Spanish vocabulary, videos and active communication.
Another strategy that I have successfully used in the past on many occasions is implementing different graphic organizers, especially Venn diagrams and map concepts. These diagrams help my students to focus their attention on specific details, and apply higher-thinking skills. I frequently notice that most of my students come to first grade with a very rudimentary understanding of what is similar among two or three items. It seems to be easier for them to notice differences, but finding common characteristics between two objects or concepts has always been more difficult for my children. Since this unit will help my students to focus their attention on cultural similarities between murals painted in Mexico, and the ones in the city of Richmond, I believe it is important for the children to use simple but effective diagrams to organize and record their thoughts.
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