Beyond the Classroom Walls...and then some
as we were wrapping up our character unit in reading and fiction story writing in writing, i began to think about what unit to move into next...
naturally i would move into non-fiction and then "strategery," which is just a loaded way to say test-prep blitz. i guess with all the weight i observed my students carrying around, be it from classes/school or social/homes, i wanted to provide an opportunity where they were making the calls.
naturally an inquiry project allows students to do that, and i thought i would even extend it so that the entire 8th grade weren't confined to a general "topic." i decided to have my students extract topics from their current independent reading novels...
i.e. my example, using "The Hunger Games" included topics such as:
1. Topic - Poverty
Evidence - Katniss lives in the Seam in District 12 where there is often a shortage of food. One time Katniss and her family ate boiled water with mint leaves for three days because they did not have money or food. Katniss dug in the garbage cans to look for food.
2. Topic - Violence
Evidence - The Districts are forced to choose a girl and a boy every year to compete in the Hunger Games where the kids have to kill each other to survive. Only one person lives, which means 23 kids die every year by acts of violence.
The idea was for students to hopefully be curious readers who wanted to learn more about topics or issues, big or small, that are presented in their novels. From this students, students create a question and research it.
From conferencing with students, there was really cool topics/questions that have materialized: Gender equality in China, Impact on families of murderers, Monsters that existed during the dinosaur era, etc.
During these conferences, the main thing that i discussed with a lot of my students was the importance to choose something that matters to them. and figuring out what it means for something to matter. not to merely choose something that will be perceived as a strong topic or will be easy to carry through...i mean there are logical things to consider, such as whether research is even available, but the harder thing to grasp was a "rationale" for them.
this process (as we have begun) almost mirrors my process with my action research! well, slightly... :)
anyway, having guided my students through the topic and question steps, i realized this...(and this is something i have been thinking through but it became even more clear)...this idea of VOICE is begin redefined. not by me, but by my students. and i cant limit my research to the kind of "voice" i was hoping to "get" or achieve. in fact, that is an error i made as a researcher going into this, almost imposing this idea rather than letting it develop organically. i think it was necessary for me to have some idea of voice going into it, but i need to be open to the changing face of it as my students develop and grow. (more on this in another entry...i shall title it: Redefining Voice).
As for this project, i am hoping that students will want to share their knowledge and findings through a larger platform (we took a step by sharing fiction stories with the entire 8th grade class...) i am hoping we may reach out to the school community and the neighborhood as well. i understand this is more structured but i think for now my students need to see a structured way that their voice can be extended beyond the classroom so that they might be willing to do it on their own as well...
just some thoughts...
naturally i would move into non-fiction and then "strategery," which is just a loaded way to say test-prep blitz. i guess with all the weight i observed my students carrying around, be it from classes/school or social/homes, i wanted to provide an opportunity where they were making the calls.
naturally an inquiry project allows students to do that, and i thought i would even extend it so that the entire 8th grade weren't confined to a general "topic." i decided to have my students extract topics from their current independent reading novels...
i.e. my example, using "The Hunger Games" included topics such as:
1. Topic - Poverty
Evidence - Katniss lives in the Seam in District 12 where there is often a shortage of food. One time Katniss and her family ate boiled water with mint leaves for three days because they did not have money or food. Katniss dug in the garbage cans to look for food.
2. Topic - Violence
Evidence - The Districts are forced to choose a girl and a boy every year to compete in the Hunger Games where the kids have to kill each other to survive. Only one person lives, which means 23 kids die every year by acts of violence.
The idea was for students to hopefully be curious readers who wanted to learn more about topics or issues, big or small, that are presented in their novels. From this students, students create a question and research it.
From conferencing with students, there was really cool topics/questions that have materialized: Gender equality in China, Impact on families of murderers, Monsters that existed during the dinosaur era, etc.
During these conferences, the main thing that i discussed with a lot of my students was the importance to choose something that matters to them. and figuring out what it means for something to matter. not to merely choose something that will be perceived as a strong topic or will be easy to carry through...i mean there are logical things to consider, such as whether research is even available, but the harder thing to grasp was a "rationale" for them.
this process (as we have begun) almost mirrors my process with my action research! well, slightly... :)
anyway, having guided my students through the topic and question steps, i realized this...(and this is something i have been thinking through but it became even more clear)...this idea of VOICE is begin redefined. not by me, but by my students. and i cant limit my research to the kind of "voice" i was hoping to "get" or achieve. in fact, that is an error i made as a researcher going into this, almost imposing this idea rather than letting it develop organically. i think it was necessary for me to have some idea of voice going into it, but i need to be open to the changing face of it as my students develop and grow. (more on this in another entry...i shall title it: Redefining Voice).
As for this project, i am hoping that students will want to share their knowledge and findings through a larger platform (we took a step by sharing fiction stories with the entire 8th grade class...) i am hoping we may reach out to the school community and the neighborhood as well. i understand this is more structured but i think for now my students need to see a structured way that their voice can be extended beyond the classroom so that they might be willing to do it on their own as well...
just some thoughts...
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