Teaching With Themes in the Classroom

So by now you're well into the school year and most of the kiddies are getting better at following the schedule as well as the structure and routine of the room!  It's starting to feel like Fall and you're so glad to feel the cooler weather, see the leaves begin to change and realize that we still have about 140 days of school left!  In those 20 weeks of school until the next summer break, are you teaching with themes in your room?

What is "Teaching With Themes?"  Thematic teaching is something that teachers have been doing for many years.  It's a way to organize how we teach the curriculum.  We choose a central idea, one that makes sense to the boys and girls that we are working with, grade level or classroom, and then gear our lessons around and including that broader subject theme.

For example, in my classroom this month, we're learning about Fall. Last week our theme was "Leaves, Leaves" and this week it's "Pumpkins" and then next week it will be "Bats and Halloween" and we'll follow the curriculum using these themes.

According to the website, Funderstanding, a great definition of Thematic Teaching is, "the organization of a curriculum around macro “themes.” Thematic instruction integrates basic disciplines like reading, math, and science with the exploration of a broad subject, such as communities, rain forests, river basins, the use of energy, and so on.

I think that's a helpful definition!

Do you like to teach with themes in your classroom or grade level?  Let me know what themes you're teaching with this month!

Have a great week!

http://www.funderstanding.com/educators/thematic-instruction/

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, What's Inside the Pumpkin? A Happy Little Science Experiment

Today was a great day to do science experiments with a fall pumpkin!  We weighed and measured our pumpkin.  We also measured the circumference of our pumpkin with a cool piece of yarn!  I offered a differentiated response sheet for my two groups so that I could meet the needs of one group and challenge the other group.

 When I pulled the goop and seeds out of the pumpkin, my kiddies were making faces and saying, "Ewwwww!!"  When I sent the top around for the kiddies to examine, they were laughing and saying, "Wow!  It smells good!  It's such a pretty color! It's slimy on my fingers!"

They really had a lot of fun and a ton of learning going on this morning in Room A-1!  Tomorrow, we'll plant the seeds so that we can grow another pumpkin plant!  We'll also work to discover if a different pumpkin will sink or float!

Thanks, stay in touch and have a great Thursday!