Travel Plans for the Journey - who, what, where?

I teach a mult-age class of second and third graders in a private school in Atlanta, Georgia. My class is organized around a broad, yearlong central theme, which, in alternate years, is Mountains. I think of myself as teaching all subjects because of the way arts and sciences of all kinds turn up in the course of our study but the children visit specialists for music, art, science, p.e. and library.

During previous Mountain years, we have thoroughly used our location in the foothills of the Southern Appalachians - hiking nearby granite outcrops, modeling plate tectonics, learning to whittle, quilt, or bake cornbread in an iron skillet. We’ve collected rock specimens, listened to Appalachian stories and songs, and read about the Cherokee removal. We haven’t neglected the wider world - each year we have also talked about the Seven Summits (the high points on each continent) and enjoyed imagining the dangerous climb to the summit of Everest, but too often our Himalayan study begins and ends right there – at base camp. This year I intend to bring the Himalayas front and center. I will use the diversity of life in that far away part of the world as the focus of what we learn in the fall and use it as a touchstone for our later study of the Appalachians.

My students are 7-9 years old. When teaching anything to them, I try to incorporate as much sensory information, drama, and physical activity as I can. When there is written work, it needs to be appropriate for both second and third graders, and while I don’t shy away from presenting abstract ideas, I try to make sure they are accompanied by lots of concrete experience. That direct experience won’t be confined to a specific lesson, either. Prayer flags will be flying every day, chimes will be our transition signal, Nepali folk songs can play during lunch, … perhaps we’ll greet visitors by presenting them with a khata. I am lucky to be in a teaching situation that affords me many freedoms - control over what and how I teach, money to spend on supplies, a flexible schedule, and the luxury of a teaching partner so we can sometimes divide the class of 26 between us. While I hope the accompanying lessons prove helpful to other teachers, I know that my plans reflect those freedoms.

 

Goals of my introductory lessons:

My first overarching goal is immersion. Within a very short space of time I want the children to make a deep and personal connection to the Himalayas. So the first lessons are meant to activate previous knowledge, arouse imagination, and stimulate the senses. Direct physical, emotional, imaginative experience will be the foundation to support their growing understanding of facts and ideas. Some other goals, or threads, in weaving this curriculum will be: increasing curiosity about and comfort with cultural and religious differences, increasing comfort with each other, and their willingness to express their ideas.