What will my "big picture" be this year?
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Too often we give our children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. ~Roger Lewin
When someone asks you what your kids will be learning this year do you start to list standards? Do you speak in terms of mastering concepts and moving through a pre-assigned curriculum? Most of us do.
Now, take a second and ask yourself: Is the stuff my kids have to learn this year interesting?
It's perfectly socially acceptable to say no. In fact, it's quite common to hear parents and teachers alike telling kids they have to learn this material "for their own good," whether it's interesting or not. Like unpleasant medicine we ask students to plug their noses and swallow hard. This is unfortunate because it doesn't have to be this way. So how about trying something different this year?
Instead of teaching textbook chapters and standards, consider teaching themes and fitting the standards and textbook elements in to a "bigger picture." You can frame this picture in terms of an essential question (How do you make peace?), a current event topic (Presidential Race 2008), or a thought-provoking concept (Control vs. Freedom).
Here's an example:
Imagine that you're a 5th grade teacher and your big picture for the year is framed by the essential question "How does my life impact the environment?" A theme like that leaves ample room to explore pretty much every academic standard out there. For instance:
- You can teach writing in the context of composing letters to city officials about water conservation.
- You can teach math through calculations of things like population growth, waste production, or the length of time it takes to reforest in logging areas.
- You can teach science by studying the components and effects of acid rain, the water cycle, or the role of plants in creating clean air.
You might choose one "big picture" for the whole year, or a few smaller ones to explore by quarter. If you've never done something like this before, consider starting with a "big picture" for the first few months and use this summer to plan ahead so you can give it a try.
Creating such a
context for the learning in your classroom all but guarantees that what
you teach will be more interesting than when you teach separate
standards or concepts in isolation. "My kids are going to learn about gentrification in DC" sounds a whole lot more interesting than "my kids are going to learn how to write a research report" and yet they can actually do both at the same time!
Exposing your students to this
kind of learning shows them that there can be a direct connection
between what they experience in school and what they experience in life
outside of school. Check out the links below to learn more about how you might begin planning for such an endeavor.
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Planning Tips for a "Big Picture" Approach
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If you going to try the "big picture" approach out this year, here are a few things to keep in mind as you start planning for the adventure ahead.
Click here to learn more.
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Project-Based Learning
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When you're teaching through "big picture" themes it's harder to use pre-fab tests to assess student learning. You can still use them to measure students' grasp of particular academic concepts, but to see if they're putting all the different ideas you explore together you're going to have to go beyond the multiple choice exam. These are some steps to bear in mind when using project-based learning in your classroom.
Click here to learn more.
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Teacher Resources: Big Picture Teaching
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Project Based Learning
This page contains definitions of project based learning as well as many links to sites on the topic.
Essential Questions
Check this out for some pointers on how to craft effective essential questions and links to sites with many examples.
Active Learning Practice for Schools
This website from Harvard's Project Zero provides an online community and many resources for creating thoughtful student-centered classrooms. Registration for the site is free and gives you access to: instructional tools and resources; model lessons, projects, and activities; interactive conferences, on-line workshops, forums; on-line and downloadable curriculum design tools; and interactive forums for teachers who want to collaborate on projects.
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