Curriculum Overview
One of my ultimate goals is to design a cohesive curriculum that helps students make deep connections across content areas. (See the link to my ASCD blog post below for more on how I arrived at this conclusion.) I strive to weave together experiences to help students develop a deeper understanding of the world, rather than teach in disparate content areas, and I err on the side of "an inch wide and a mile deep," rather than "a mile wide and an inch deep." Because of my philosophy, I have chosen to call our math and literacy blocks "foundations" times - times when we are building our foundational skills so that we can explore the world. I call our science and social studies blocks "explorations" - a time when our foundational skills help us discover, connect, explore, question, and learn about the world. Our year-long essential question is Where does it come from? Where does it go? By returning to this question over and over through the course of the school year, I aim to help students develop into systems-thinkers who understand interdependence. This is an "essential" question because it can be applied to almost anything- thus drawing connections for students. That said, I will outline my curriculum here through the more traditional content areas, noting some of the connections I am trying to make across disciplines. All of the third grade curriculum is aligned to standards, including the Common Core State Standards (for Math and Literacy), the Next Generation Science Standards, and the Vermont Standards (Social Studies and Vital Results). Most importantly, our curriculum is expected to change over the course of the year, due to students' interests, areas of need, and time constraints. Curriculum Philosophy At the heart of my work is education for sustainability – education that seeks to prepare learners with the knowledge, skills, and understanding necessary to meet the challenges of the future. Education for sustainability (EFS) is a lens that considers environmental & ecological integrity, economic vitality, and social justice/equity. Building upon big ideas, such as systems-thinking, interdependence, and community, EFS uses place-based education as the context, service-learning as a major strategy, and sustainable communities as the goal. To read more, check out my blog post on the ASCD In Service/Whole Child Blog. In Vermont, we are lucky to have both sustainability and place embedded in the Vital Results section of the Vermont Framework of Standards: 3. 9 Sustainability Students make decisions that demonstrate understanding of natural and human communities, the ecological, economic, political, or social systems within them, and awareness of how their personal and collective actions affect the sustainability of these interrelated systems. 4.6 Understanding Place Students demonstrate understanding of the relationship between their local environment and community heritage and how each shapes their lives. |
Mathematics
All students in grades K-5 across the Addison Central Supervisory Union are using the Bridges 2.0 Mathematics Curriculum. More information can be found here. This program focuses on helping students gain a deep understanding of mathematical concepts, and pushes students to think about multiple strategies rather than simply finding the answer. Each time we begin a new unit a Family Overview will be sent home explaining the content. We'll begin the year reviewing addition and subtraction strategies, then move into an exploration of multiplication. Students will then revisit addition and subtraction by focusing on multi-digit numbers. Later, students will explore measurement and fractions, and move into studies of area as it relates to multiplication and division, and we'll wrap up the year with geometry. As this is the first year of the Bridges 2.0 version, errors are occasionally found in things like homework sheets - if you notice an error let me know, I can report them to the Math Learning Center. In third grade, we spend 60 minutes each morning on math, and an additional 1 1/2 to 2 hours on Number Corner each week. Math is also woven into our Explorations curriculum when appropriate, such as applying our explorations of area and perimeter to planning our school garden plots. Literacy Our year will begin by establishing our Reader's & Writer's Workshop - a time when students are reading a "just right chapter book" of their choice, and engaging in mini-lessons and writing about reading. Students will meet with me regularly to check in about their reading and to set goals for themselves, in the areas of reading habits, fluency, and comprehension. Later in the year we will move into book projects, reading groups, and exploring literary elements. Our word work is currently focusing on spelling and vocabulary development, as well as punctuation. Students are also developing more stamina as writers and moving into writing longer pieces. Literacy will also be integrated into our Explorations curriculum on a regular basis, providing a relevant, real-world context for these communication skills. Students will be producing writing connecting to these thematic explorations. For example, in our Biography Unit students will study notable historical figures, and prepare a monologue written from that person's point of view that will be shared during our Wax Museum performance. Explorations Our Explorations time is when our curriculum really comes alive. Here social studies, arts, and science are interwoven with literacy and mathematics. Our year begins with our Notice, Wonder, Focus Unit, where students begin to build stamina as outdoor learners, start exploring the practice of paying attention and are introduced to our MindUP curriculum, and develop and practice classroom routines and expectations. This curriculum thread will continue all year, as students find a Sit Spot on the school campus and visit and observe it over time, continue to develop their mindfulness skills, and engage in continuous reflection about our learning community. Another year-long thread is our support for the school-wide Harvest of the Month program. Students will use this calendar of local foods to explore media literacy, nutrition, climate, and geography. Beyond these initial units, there is a tentative plan for the of the year as a whole, but it is highly likely to shift somewhat due to a variety of factors including student interest, community partnerships, and general interests. This fall we are partnering with the Vermont Energy Education Project (VEEP) to pilot a new unit on energy (covering the traditional batteries & bulbs as well as photovoltaic cells). Later this year we may look at the concepts of population and water on a global scale, and we may partner with the Vermont Folklife Center on an ethnography project, or explore economics. We will also explore US geography and the 50 states. I hope to cap the year with an integrated study of our schoolyard habitat, garden-based learning, and perhaps a study of pollinators. |