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Curriculum and Teaching Methods

Social Studies and Science:

• Non-fiction books and National Geographic KIDS using Comprehension strategies.
• Cooperative learning and hands-on opportunities to construct knowledge. Examples: A unit on sound would consist of experiments with various tools to observe, manipulate and take notes on. (musical instruments, glass bottles of water, stethoscope, etc).
• Character Counts-A framework for teaching character education based on basic values called the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Examples of how I teach the Six Pillars of Character in my classroom:
• Trust-We read about and discuss what it means to be honest and to do what you will say you do. I try and catch students being trustworthy and then reward them with positive reinforcement. “Wow, you sure did a great job cleaning up your table spot just now. I know I can count on you to do your job!”
• Respect-We have a community circle each morning which gives my students the opportunity to practice respect as we take turns talking about a topic or cooperate together to play a game.
• Responsibility-I have created enough classroom jobs for every student to have one. We rotate jobs daily and the expectation is that each student will be responsible for doing his or her job. Each student also has basic responsibilities they are accountable for each day such as stacking their chair at the end of the day, cleaning up after themselves, etc.
• Fairness-On a daily basis I rotate classroom jobs so each student has a fair chance to participate. In the same way I rotate which table group gets to line up first and which students get to pick first for free choice on a daily basis. This gives the students a structured way to practice being fair by taking turns. I also offer opportunities daily for students to practice in unstructured ways, for example, choosing who they want to sit by for lunch. We have a lot of conversations about taking turns and being fair to our friends in our classroom.
• Caring- I use social stories and activities to teach what it means to be caring and we talk about how it feels to need help (oops, I spilled my crayons) and how it feels to be a nice friend. We also practice being appreciative by saying thank you at every opportunity (to the lunch staff as we get our lunch; to the person that brought snack; to someone that does something nice or helpful for us, etc.)
• Citizenship- When I catch someone doing something kind for another person or helpful in the classroom I stop the class and we all give that student an appreciation. We talk about the things that good citizens do (following school rules, being a good friend, helping to clean up a mess you didn’t make, etc.). I make sure to make the most of teachable moments!

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