You are probably well aware that the 3rd graders at HHAI are given lots of opportunities to make choices. Last week, we took the idea of choice to a whole new level, introducing what is called "academic choice." Academic choice is a teaching strategy that comes from Responsive Classroom. You can learn more about it here. Basically, the idea is that the teacher decides what she wants her students to learn, and the students get to decide how they learn it. When students get to direct their own learning, they intrinsically become more motivated learners. The learning becomes a part of their identity. They retain the information better and gain confidence in the process. Inspired by this idea, I decided to infuse academic choice into our current unit about civics and government. In the past, the 3rd graders learned about two points in history where people fought for their rights: the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Suffrage Movement. This year, I decided I would let each child choose to either learn about one or the other. No matter which topic they chose, I knew they would come out with an understanding of what it means to fight for one's rights. After they decided on their topic of study, the students were given a task sheet that looked sort of like a grid. Each square had a resource to read, watch, or look at along with a simple task such as a question to answer or a poster to make. Each task was given a point value based on the degree of difficulty or the depth of understanding it required. As a way of differentiating, each student was given a different goal they had to reach. Goals ranged from 80 points to 140 points, depending on the student's reading fluency, average work pace, and other factors. Differentiated point expectations, along with the freedom to choose which tasks to do to earn the points, made for a learning process tailored to each student's needs, abilities, and interests. Once they were given this task sheet, the learning was put in their hands. Day after day, they decided what to work on and did so at their own individual pace. Ms. Silverman and I circulated the room, offering support when needed. From the start, the positive effects of this type of learning were clear. The room was quiet, but alive with the buzz of learning. The information they were learning felt like treasures they had discovered, and their excitement was evident in their eagerness to share what they'd learned with their peers and with me. Stay tuned to read about the exciting Makerspace project they are working on to show what they learned during independent learning!
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3rd GradeLittle people, big minds. Archives
May 2019
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