The Class Couple
  • HOME
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Read
  • Our Home
  • Shop

No more stinky salmon

8/5/2014

1 Comment

 
Greg again. I hope everyone splurged on the recent TPT sale and got what they needed for the beginning of the year!
Picture
I want to share a project completed by my AP US History students this past fall (2013). One of the major elements of the course is the integration of primary source documents. I will spare most of the details (you can read more here), but the final product was a fully-researched non-fiction children's story. 
Picture
Story cover artwork created by the 3-D design students
One of the biggest goals in my classroom is to make the learning as authentic as possible. I want the students to know that their work doesn't end with me - the world is their audience. As they developed their children's stories, I worked to pull in English teachers and professionals to help them improve their work.

After the second draft, however, I wanted them to hear a different perspective on their story. I teamed up with Mrs. Musone's third grade class to be our top secret, surprise editors (my students knew they were being read by "professionals", but they didn't know who it was going to be.) When my students finally received their edited drafts, they were overwhelmed by the attention and focus demonstrated by the third graders.

Picture

Picture

Picture

Picture

In the end, my students were able to understand which words or phrases worked for their target audience, how to tie together story elements with facts (so that they made sense), and how to add author's notes. 

This small collaboration was a meaningful and important addition to the project. For Mrs. Musone's third graders, they received a lesson in editing, primary source integration, and the elements of storytelling. Her students also received the final draft of the stories and did a Skype chat with the authors (my students). Later in the year, they also ended up working on book reviews with my student's stories!
These types of cross-grade collaboration are valuable and something that both groups of students will not easily forget. For me, all it took was a simple e-mail. Mrs. Musone was more than willing to participate. 

If you have examples of cross-grade collaboration, I'd love to hear them! 
To read more from Mrs. Musone's class, please click here.
1 Comment
Amy Musone
8/8/2014 02:34:01 pm

Greg, You hit the nail on the head..."valuable." The younger kids felt valued as they were asked by teenagers to look over their work. What they had to say mattered. You gave them an opportunity to share their voice in an authentic way. Thank you!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture

    Mr. & Mrs.

    We are Becky and Greg from York, PA. Becky just started her 13th year of teaching first grade. Greg is a high school social studies teacher. We love teaching and this blog is a peek into our world. 

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    GoNoodle Inspiration Blog
    Picture

    the library

    June 2019
    March 2019
    August 2018
    February 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    Picture

    tag, you're it!

    All
    Adding
    Alphabet
    Apush
    Assessments
    Authentic
    Becky
    Becky & Greg
    Cause & Effect
    Children's Literature
    Classroom
    Classroom Community
    Classroom Management
    Classroom Tour
    Columbus
    Craftivity
    Criticalthinking
    Currently
    Doubles Facts
    Fact Families
    Fire Safety
    Five For Friday
    George Washington
    GoNoodle
    Graphing
    Greater Than And Less Than
    Greg
    Halloween
    Highfrequencywords
    How To
    Instagram
    Journeys
    Makingconnections
    Math
    Movie Making
    Numbers
    Perspective
    Phonics
    Primary Sources
    Project Based Learning
    Pumpkins
    Purpose
    QR Codes
    Raise Responsibility
    Reading
    Scholastic Book Orders
    Spelling
    Summer
    Summer Prep
    Teachers Pay Teachers
    Technology
    Time
    Twitter
    Videos
    Writing

    Picture

    subscribe

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner



    Blog Design by Alexis Sanchez ©
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.