Conversation Related- Students demonstrate the ability to speak/write/think about real-world problems.
Black History Month
One key piece of my role as an early childhood educator is to bring real-world relevance and application to the content and skills that students work to master, and nothing could be more real that the barriers and inequity of opportunities that my students will face. As my students experience the intersectionality between race, gender, and ability, I seek to foster their language skills through thinking, speaking, and writing in order to challenge these inequities.
While our classroom culture is joyful and inclusive, I wanted to take advocacy a further step. I’ve always made it a point to welcome questions and to answer them as honestly as possible, as questions naturally arise (i.e “Why does Joe talk like that? How come Jane screams when she sits on the rug?"). Arming my students with information and truth is the first step in building understanding. I envisioned this instructional lesson as an invitation for students to discuss complex topics while interacting with their peers. I want them to actively seek opportunities to build new relationships, and to spend time with classmates they may not always choose. Investing in another person, and understanding their perspective, regardless if one shares that perspective, is a critical skill I seek to develop in my students. When someone is invested in another person, they can empathize with them, and take action to protect that person from harm and misunderstanding.
Further, my lesson’s objective of cultivating advocacy skills in my students is two-fold. First and foremost, I want my students with exceptionalities to recognize and be proud of their unique needs. I want them to see these characteristics as assets- simple details that set them apart in the best of ways-but also develop a deep understanding of their own needs. Students need self-awareness of their own functioning before being able to advocate for their needs, even if they are empowered to do so. Secondly, I want my typically-developed students to become allies and advocates for their differently-abled peers. It is my belief that there is no better time to change mindsets and eradicate prejudice than when our learners are young.
Prior to celebrating Black History Month, I strategically planned a oral language based “Text Talk” and accompanying visuals, modeled around a Socratic Seminar, but in a developmentally appropriate fashion. This format of lesson, text selection, and materials explicitly address the issue of inequity of opportunity due to race, and gender. These are intended to be only a starting point for subsequent discussions on the importance and value of inclusion and appreciating diversity in all its forms.
Lesson Plan
This structure of lesson is a strategy I’ve adopted from my first two years as a corp member, teaching 2nd grade literacy. Text Talk is similar to Socratic Seminar, but modified in an elementary or primary format, and focuses on the critical thinking and language skills developed as students anchor their conversations in text-based evidence. Text Talk is a strategy I use in conjunction with close reading of a complex text, read-aloud several times over the course of an instructional week in order to layer student understanding of the text structure, and literal and implied meanings.
For Black History Month, I selected the story Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman for our monthly Text Talk. The story explicitly discusses a child’s exclusion from particular roles and activities due to her identification as a black girl. I felt this story not only perfectly encompassed the layers of diversity represented in my classroom, but also centers around a very relatable main character, Grace, who engages in imaginative play both in and outside of the classroom. The structure of the Text Talk begins with a Think-and-Jot, which is a practice to ignite student thinking, and exercise their practice of brainstorming and pre-planning, prior to writing. During the Think-and-Jot portion, there is no judgment or feedback given; it is simply a time to collect one’s thoughts and scribe them. My formative assessment for this portion of the lesson centers not around students’ actual writing (done on white boards), but in the “thinking” and “writing” behaviors they employ.
After sharing Think-and-Jot responses, students browse and take picture walks through the text itself, prior to direct instruction. Students have access to sticky notes that can be used to bookmark notable pictures or pages they want to further discuss or question. I feel this strategy helps reinforce not only foundational reading skills, like using context and picture clues, but also supports students’ development of Questioning and Posing Problems as a Habit of Mind. After students’ initial reading of the text, we walk through the text together, revisiting students’ annotations and making new annotations as we read.
Below is the lesson plan I followed for the Text Talk for Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman.
Above is a two-day core lesson plan for Text-Talk and related conversations about Amazing Grace, as an introduction to thinking and speaking about diversity and representation.
Lesson Artifacts
One critical aspect of a successful Text Talk is the collaborative annotating of the anchor text during our shared reading. As facilitator of this reading, it is my role to record their thoughts and questions, occasionally reframing the conversation in order to direct it towards the essential learning. While I act as scribe to account for students’ developing writing dexterities, students exercise their fine motor skills individually on their white boards and/or sticky notes. The collective experience of annotating Amazing Grace pushed students to think about real-world instances of exclusion and discrimination, but more significantly, requires students to orally justify their answer. Given students’ developmental level, oral responses, or for some non-verbal students, pointing to a particular image or word in the text serves as a adequate citation of evidence. The practice of citing evidence engages students in critical thinking, as well as “thinking about our thinking”, or the metacognitive practice of reflection.
(Above): When posed with the question "What happens to Grace when no one else is around?", RM responds, "She's by herself", because the text itself explicitly states Grace played all the parts herself. JB used the picture clues to form her response, "She plays with her cat".
In the annotations above, JB and RM again use picture clues to justify their responses, "She goes to the dance with her Momo", and "She dancing", respectively. The illustrations on page 12 of the text explicitly show Grace with her Nana, while on page 13, Grace is shown dancing. A third student, GC, responded to the questions with "She says she can do anything", because the text said "I can be anything I want, she thought" (Hoffman, 1991).
When asked, "Why can't Grace be Peter Pan in the class play? Is this fair?", student SP responded with a question, "Why is her class looking at her funny?". SP noticed that in the illustrations on pages 15-16 of the text, many of the children pictured are shown facing or looking at Grace (Hoffman, 1991). GC answered, "Everybody wants to answer or they all want the same thing", using the illustrations to infer that since everyone's hands were raised, they all wanted a turn.
In order to support the lesson’s objectives and my overall goal of developing the thinking, speaking, and writing skills necessary for students to engage in productive discourse about real-world issues, I created a visual that I introduced following our initial Text Talk. This visual portrays various representations for all students in my class including diversity in race, ability, and physicality, designed with the unique needs and makeup of my students in mind. My vision for this poster was for it to serve as a visual cue and reminder for students during their interactions with their peers, as it explicitly describes the values of inclusion that can anchor them in their interactions for their entire lives. I presented this visual during an informal circle talk, and facilitated a conversation about what stood out to students most, and why.
Above: Visual poster* presented after Text Talk to reinforce thinking, speaking and listening skills necessary for students to confront real-world instances of exclusion and inequity of opportunity.
Text Talk Samples
During Text Talk, students engage in conversations with their assigned PB&J partner, but also have a portion of time dedicated to discuss with their others peers freely. I wanted to utilize both formats in order to engage students in structured and unstructured conversations as well as guarantee a free flow of ideas and thought. Students engage in conversations following their Think-and-Jot, during their picture walks, and during the collective class annotations.
Additionally, during the “mini-lesson” introducing the Advocacy Visual poster, students engage in open conversation about differences they notice between their peers (given a role-play model) as well as how they embody diversity themselves. This conversation serves as a “social problem” and starting point for subsequent conversations about how to address the real world issue of inequity in opportunity. Recognizing differences and appreciating each other’s unique perspective and experiences is the foundation to confronting instances of discrimination and exclusion. By encouraging students to speak in informed ways, and arming them with the confidence to address conflicts they witness, students progress towards efficacy in applying these skills to more significant, real world barriers.
Student Action Plan
To conclude our Amazing Grace Text Talk, students were posed with the question:
In what ways can we act when we are told we can’t do something because of our race/gender/appearance/ability? What can we do if our friends have this problem?
My goal in posing this problem was to 1) gauge student comprehension of the text and its lesson 2) for students to generate a plan about how to address inequity of opportunity in their own lives. While I typically direct class reflection on a book following the initial reading, with this story and unit, it was important for the ideas to be student generated in order for students to feel represented and validated. Young children “can and do learn from every activity they participate in”, so it was really important to me to provide students with the opportunity to be decision makers and planners (Fletcher, 2011). Providing the space for students to take on new, novel roles increases their engagement in meaningful activities, and fosters a passion to create real change.
Below are pictures of the student-generated plan, following Text Talk and a close read of Amazing Grace. Student generated oral responses, while I recorded answers when appropriate for student needs.
Above: Student-generated plan on Promethean Board in response to "In what ways can we act when we are told we can't do something because of our _____?". Student 1 wrote "We can do anything", while Student 2 responded "Don't treat my friends like that".
References
Fletcher, A. (2011). New roles for young people throughout society. Retrieved from http://treasure.over-blog.com/2015/12/new-roles-for-young-people-throughout-society.html
*Image retrieved from http://lovelifeandbegentle.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-is-idea-and-how-does-it-affect-my.html