Teaching Strategies
When I begin to unpack how I want to teach any unit, I ask myself “how will I get my students attention?” This unit will allow me to expand my different teaching strategies and try some different approaches. Many of the skills I will focus on are skills that apply to every ELA lesson I teach, however with the focus on community, it will also have a link to the Social Standards. First, students will be given the opportunity to ask and answer questions about the stories we read. They will need to focus on the key ideas and details from the texts. The students will work to integrate their knowledge or ideas to compare the narrative elements of familiar stories and the retelling of those stories. Many of these opportunities will lead to a focus on speaking and listening which is a major foundation of kindergarten.
In addition, I will use visualization using art and music to allow the students to refocus and prepare for the day’s instruction. The students will also use their visual journals to make notes or create their own form of art in response to what they see and hear. As I always include in my instruction, I will provide differentiated instruction. The students will use a variety of approaches, whether working in individually or small groups. The pacing and support provided will be adjusted to ensure that all students are engaged and actively participating throughout the learning. Students will be given opportunities to work in cooperative groups to complete assignments and activities. This will allow students to work together taking on various roles based on the lessons with a focus on success for all.
Unit Overview
Prior to the beginning of this unit, the students will have already read and learned that most of the stories taught will show characters, setting, and have a beginning, middle and end. Once the students have become proficient at being able to identify those pieces. We will expand their critical thinking skills to be able to compare and contrast different stories that have a similar story but are written in different languages or cultures. Using the knowledge, the students have about different fairy tales will allow them to further explore how each of these stories address morality and storytelling.
In this unit, we will start by reading, Red Riding Hood by James Marshall. The students and I will examine the story and identify the parts of the story. We will then read additional stories that are similar to Red Riding Hood from other areas. The students will look for the similarities and the differences. After seeing the basic differences between cultures and their story telling, I will then introduce additional pieces of literature that allow the students to see a different perspective of life. Using books such as My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey, we will explore the stories offering the students an unique opportunity to learn and discuss experiences of racism and visions of racial justice and to learn how important it is to not just tolerate other races but understand and show how essential these stories are to our society.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to speak about specific experiences of race and racism and have a better understanding and be able to share their knowledge with those that are around them. The students will walk out of my classroom with a head full of knowledge and the ability to access that knowledge to apply to the rest of their schooling and life. One day I hope they see how this unit and units similar to this are beneficial to the world we live in. They will be able to share their love for all literature with everyone they encounter. This unit is designed to integrate social studies concepts with the reading standards that are required for all teachers to use in their classroom. By using these standards, it creates a cross-curricular unit plan. With little to no specific instruction around our social studies, this will create a true cross-curricular unit for Kindergarten. This unit will create curriculum that has never been available for the students. The unit will incorporate activities for the students as well as assessments that will benefit the students in kindergarten.
This unit will create an engaging experience for the students that not only incorporates basic writing and reading skills as well as develop critical thinking skills. This unit will include scaffolding as the students’ progress which allows the students to learn on their level. My goal is to create a unit is to not just support the current standards within my classroom but to help students to be able to disrupt the norms in their experiences. Ultimately, this unit will help to shape and have a positive effect on consciences. I will spend my time working through this unit and the rest of my curriculum to ensure that the lessons I am teaching are not exclusionary and allow all students to be heard. My goal is to have a classroom environment and pedagogy that can liberate, transform, and empower my students.
Changes in the Classroom Environment
In the struggle to create an environment that does not continue to focus on the colonial standard that most of us are comfortable with, where can we start? The idea that we must decolonize our library and not just our readings, while focusing on expanding our reading practices. Literature is designed to shape the cultural meaning and identity. It is the product of the knowledge of ourselves. The expansion of our reading repertoire must extend to realizing that there is not one voice to share their experiences of their community but taking many voices to see how each is impacted and part of the community.
In addition, we must analyze the items we bring into our classroom for use with our students. As we work to create an environment that is beneficial for all our students, it is important that we take the opportunity to expose the students to many different artists, musicians, and ways of thinking. It takes more than a simple modification to one lesson in our history unit to allow to change how we approach an Anti-Racist classroom.
An example of this could look like this: when students enter the classroom, music from the different genres and artists like A Tribe Called Red or La Santa Cecilia will allow the students to hear music that may not be familiar to them and will allow them to challenge their own sense of music norms. My goal is for the students to explore their knowledge of music and see how music can relate to all facets of their life. Students may start their morning writing in their visual journal about a piece of art that is projected onto the whiteboard from the artists Ramiro Gomez or Titus Kaphar that gives them access to a different understanding of art. Using that piece of music or art to further the understanding that we must look past the basic idea and look for the deeper-rooted ideals in everything we do. The use of music and art not only allows students to begin their day thinking outside of the typical language arts lesson but also is a great way to get the students hooked into the lesson. It can also help students to be more excited about learning in the classroom.
Comments: