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Home > Classrooms > Earth Hall > Spider Clan
Missa Marmalstein- Spider Clan
Grades 2-3
mgmarmalstein@seattleschools.org
Current Expeditions:
October 11 - 6 to 8 pm Earth Hall Celebration and getting-to-know-you event
Spider Clan Syllabus
Literacy
Reading and writing have
at their base the same component-the written word and all of its wonderful
uses. We will be collecting Juicy Words, words that interest us because
of interesting sounds and meanings. We will be learning the parts of
speech-nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, interjections, conjunctions.
We will look at the roots of words and how they help us make sense of
words we don’t know.
Reading
The Reader’s Workshop model believes that students learn to read
by reading. Reading all sorts of different types of literature - fiction
(picture and chapter books), nonfiction (science, social studies), journalism
(magazines, newspapers, comics), as well as research materials (dictionaries,
encyclopedia, atlases) spark interest. Children advance to more difficult
reading through individual initiative and involvement in literature
circles. Students learn to use the strategies competent readers use,
such as making connections, making predictions, and inferring. Reading
responses, written, drawn, and verbal, increase students’ comprehension
and interest. This is combined with an understanding of phonics, both
the rules and the words that break the rules. We also use monologues
and scenes from plays to increase fluency and confidence.
Writing
Pathfinder, along with many other schools in Seattle, has begun a schoolwide
curriculum using the Writers Workshop model developed by the Teacher’s
College at Columbia University. It is based on children generating stories
from their lives and then using revision strategies to stretch the story.
They learn about telling the inside and outside story, including what
they were thinking and feeling as well as doing. They are encouraged
to add setting and dialogue to help their audience to “make a movie
in the mind.” It applies similar processes to write nonfiction and
realistic fiction, and has been very effective in the districts which
has adopted it.
Math
We use the TERQ Investigations curriculum, which comes highly recommended
by the National Council for the Teaching of Mathematics and the National
Science Foundation. It is a constructivist based approach, based on
the idea that children learn best by building on their own developmental
knowledge, rather than rote memorization handed down by the teacher.
Students share their problem solving strategies with their classmates,
demonstrating the many ways to approach a problem.
We complement this curriculum with some basic skill work, in order
to give students more fluency and competence with numbers. We emphasize
showing thinking processes, and stress that finding the most efficient
strategy makes sense. It is necessary that students have an underlying
understanding of the concepts being worked on so that they can use these
skills with some meaning.
The general schedule of the year looks like this-
September and October- Number- Mental Math, Place value, Word Problems
November- 2 dimensional Geometry, More Number, Explaining thinking strategies
December- Algebra- T charts, equivalence, < , > , =, missing addends
January- Multiplication
February- Multiplication/ division
March- Statistics and Graphing
April- Fractions
May- Measurement
June- Money/ time
Science
Seattle Public Schools received
a grant from the National Science foundation to provide its’ students
with an inquiry based science program. It is program that aligns well
with the belief that students have a deeper understanding when they
make discoveries of their own through hands on, collaborative work.
The Spider Clan will study Liquids and Solids in the late fall, and
Rocks and Minerals in the spring.
Expeditions
Pathfinder is an expeditionary learning school. The Earth Hall will
begin its expedition in January. Expeditionary learning is an integrated
model in which students and teachers embark on a journey of learning.
Our team (Patrick, Lisa, and I) design the expedition around a central
question of inquiry, aligning ourselves with the relevant standards
of curriculum set by the district. An expedition usually last 2-3 months,
but can also go on much longer. Expeditions incorporate field trips
and hands on projects; we also will meet “experts” who share their
expertise with he kids. Keep your ears open, you may be the perfect
“expert” for us in some area. An expedition begins with a kick off,
and ends with a culminating events, in which the students share with
our community what they have learned. It is very important that families
attend this event.
In order to maximize excitement, the Expedition subject isn’t revealed
until we start!
Spider Clan idiosyncrasies
Any classroom is influenced
by the personality and interests of it’s teacher. In that spirit I
thought I’d add that we will complement much of our curriculum with
songs, as research shows that many students will learn more easily when
they learn songs. It helps with memory, and often includes interesting
words and ideas. As I am a student of the Italian language, we learn
to sing in Italian as well as use some basic vocabulary in the classroom.
I am a firm believer that the earlier a child is exposed to any language
other than their household language, the more flexible their thinking
and the easier all language learning becomes. Last year, we developed
and interest in Shakespeare, which I will continue. We practice his
quotes and read children’s versions of his stories, and are always
amazed by his plots. We also use a lot of string to teach our hands
to be intelligent, in addition to our hearts and minds. String crafts
teach patience, as well as connect us deeply with our clan animal, the
Spider. I also like to have art materials available for students to
experiment with, both for academic projects as well as the problem solving
art involves.
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