Context and Rationale
The Unit in Context
From the first day that I walked into my second-grade classroom at Penn Alexander I was struck by how well the students seemed to get along with one another. There was a steady buzz of chatter and laughter in the room as students unpacked, settled into their seats, and started on their morning work. I heard one boy excitedly to tell a friend every single detail of his cool new game. On the other side of the room two girls discussed their play date that afternoon and all of the things they were going to do. Another girl, seemingly more quiet and perhaps even timid, walked around the room placing each student’s notebook on his/her desk, gracefully avoiding the jackets, book bags, and lunchboxes that littered the floor and desktops without a single complaint. It seemed like a very comfortable class—a group of students that cared for and respected one another. They seemed to truly understand what it means to be a community and what it means to work as a team.
Now, a few months into my student teaching at Penn Alexander, I am still impressed by the kindness and cooperation displayed by many of my second graders. Just today I saw two students at two separate times offer to help a classmate of theirs who often struggles with basic directions/tasks because of a learning disability. These students did not know that I was watching them—their desire to help was completely unmotivated by the need for approval and attention from their teacher.
I have also noticed, however, that there are times when this sense of community, camaraderie, and teamwork breaks down. Some of this is just a product of the reality that 8 years old are, naturally, relatively developmentally immature. Brief fights about who gets to be first in line, for example, are not surprising.
What does disturb me is some of the competitive and even mean-spirited behaviors I have seen in the past few weeks. When my classroom mentor handed back a bunch of graded work one Friday afternoon, the dynamic in the classroom changed. Many of the students who had only ever come across as kind and caring up until that point walked around the room showboating their high test scores, celebrating with friends who had also done well, and remarking quietly but pointedly on those students who hadn’t. Comments such as “Yay, I got a 100%!” “That test was so easy!” and “You got a 60%?! How did you do that—I got a 90%!” filled the room. The students that had not done well looked devastated. One, I remember, even cried.
I have noticed similarly pernicious behavior exhibited by some students toward two of their classmates in particular who are considered ‘weird’ and who are known for not following directions. Over the past month I have noticed many of the students ostracizing these two individuals. They tattle on them at the drop of a hat, yelling to me or to my classroom mentor from across the room that one of them is being ‘annoying’ or ‘not following directions’. They intentionally get up and move if they happen to be sitting next to them on the carpet. These two students, I worry, are starting to get the message that they are not welcome--that they are not part of the classroom community.
I cannot say with any certainty what the root of this hurtful behavior is. From what I have observed, however, it seems that the students feel an intense desire to be ‘right,’ do the ‘right’ thing, or please their teachers and parents. This would account for both the competition around grades and the desire to tattle on or avoid those students who are not following the rules.
Penn Alexander is a fantastic school in West Philadelphia with far more resources than the average Philadelphia public school. The parents in this neighborhood are, in general, highly involved in their children’s lives and invested in their academic futures. In a city where elementary school grades actually matter because of the selective nature of middle and high school admissions, parents are naturally concerned. The fact is that by the time students at PAS reach the 4th grade many of them are competing with one another for the few available spots at Masterman. I have to wonder whether some of this translates into pressure that is then, most likely unintentionally, transferred onto the students to do well academically.
I have designed a unit on citizenship in the hopes that it will allow me to address some of these subtle classroom-dynamic issues. I want my students to understand what it means to be not only a well-educated, capable and productive member of society, but also a thoughtful, compassionate, and fair member of society. I want them to learn problem-solving skills, ways of communicating difficult and negative emotions, and self-awareness skills that will allow them to monitor their own actions and reactions to life events.
I have also designed this unit while keeping in mind my focus of inquiry. About 1/3 of the students in my class are well above grade level in terms of their achievement in both Math and Literacy. Many are right on target, a few are slightly below, and two are well below. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to find a way of striking that perfect balance between academic rigor and appropriate/necessary scaffolding for every child while instructing to the whole class. Differentiated instruction is the cornerstone of effective teaching. As such, it is a skill that I constantly strive toward.
Now, a few months into my student teaching at Penn Alexander, I am still impressed by the kindness and cooperation displayed by many of my second graders. Just today I saw two students at two separate times offer to help a classmate of theirs who often struggles with basic directions/tasks because of a learning disability. These students did not know that I was watching them—their desire to help was completely unmotivated by the need for approval and attention from their teacher.
I have also noticed, however, that there are times when this sense of community, camaraderie, and teamwork breaks down. Some of this is just a product of the reality that 8 years old are, naturally, relatively developmentally immature. Brief fights about who gets to be first in line, for example, are not surprising.
What does disturb me is some of the competitive and even mean-spirited behaviors I have seen in the past few weeks. When my classroom mentor handed back a bunch of graded work one Friday afternoon, the dynamic in the classroom changed. Many of the students who had only ever come across as kind and caring up until that point walked around the room showboating their high test scores, celebrating with friends who had also done well, and remarking quietly but pointedly on those students who hadn’t. Comments such as “Yay, I got a 100%!” “That test was so easy!” and “You got a 60%?! How did you do that—I got a 90%!” filled the room. The students that had not done well looked devastated. One, I remember, even cried.
I have noticed similarly pernicious behavior exhibited by some students toward two of their classmates in particular who are considered ‘weird’ and who are known for not following directions. Over the past month I have noticed many of the students ostracizing these two individuals. They tattle on them at the drop of a hat, yelling to me or to my classroom mentor from across the room that one of them is being ‘annoying’ or ‘not following directions’. They intentionally get up and move if they happen to be sitting next to them on the carpet. These two students, I worry, are starting to get the message that they are not welcome--that they are not part of the classroom community.
I cannot say with any certainty what the root of this hurtful behavior is. From what I have observed, however, it seems that the students feel an intense desire to be ‘right,’ do the ‘right’ thing, or please their teachers and parents. This would account for both the competition around grades and the desire to tattle on or avoid those students who are not following the rules.
Penn Alexander is a fantastic school in West Philadelphia with far more resources than the average Philadelphia public school. The parents in this neighborhood are, in general, highly involved in their children’s lives and invested in their academic futures. In a city where elementary school grades actually matter because of the selective nature of middle and high school admissions, parents are naturally concerned. The fact is that by the time students at PAS reach the 4th grade many of them are competing with one another for the few available spots at Masterman. I have to wonder whether some of this translates into pressure that is then, most likely unintentionally, transferred onto the students to do well academically.
I have designed a unit on citizenship in the hopes that it will allow me to address some of these subtle classroom-dynamic issues. I want my students to understand what it means to be not only a well-educated, capable and productive member of society, but also a thoughtful, compassionate, and fair member of society. I want them to learn problem-solving skills, ways of communicating difficult and negative emotions, and self-awareness skills that will allow them to monitor their own actions and reactions to life events.
I have also designed this unit while keeping in mind my focus of inquiry. About 1/3 of the students in my class are well above grade level in terms of their achievement in both Math and Literacy. Many are right on target, a few are slightly below, and two are well below. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to find a way of striking that perfect balance between academic rigor and appropriate/necessary scaffolding for every child while instructing to the whole class. Differentiated instruction is the cornerstone of effective teaching. As such, it is a skill that I constantly strive toward.
A Rationale
How is your topic central to one or more disciplines [and how does it meet mandates]?
The topic of citizenship is inextricably linked to school and education at every grade level. What greater purpose does school serve than to prepare children to be functional members of a democratic society? According to Martin Labaree one of the major goals for American education is democratic equality (Labaree, 1997). He writes,
From the democratic equality approach to schooling, one argues that a democratic society cannot persist unless it prepares all of its young with equal care to
take on the full responsibilities of citizenship in a competent manner. (p. 42).
Democratic equality, Labaree argues, is only attainable if schools prepare children to be responsible citizens of their communities.
Explicit civics education, then, is also inextricably linked to school and education. In Pennsylvania there is a set of state standards that is entirely separate from the History standards called Civics and Government Standards. I have drawn on these standards in designing the social studies component of my unit. That being said, there is a body of research that shows that children simply do not currently demonstrate a solid understanding of civics. In their report, the Massachusetts Special Commission on Civic Engagement and Learning (2012) recently said the following,
Civic education is a critical component for the survival of our precious democracy. The current status of civic knowledge does not suggest such a priority, however.
The 2010 National Assessments of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Civics and History showed that just 25% of students had a proficient understanding in these
subjects so vital for our nation’s future. Clearly, there is work to do. (p. 2).
For all these reasons, I have chosen to focus my unit on the vision that Labaree’s and I share of giving students the preparation they need to be contributing and competent citizens.
The social studies component of my curriculum is directly related to the PA state standards in History and government. Students will learn what a citizen is, and his or her place in a community, and they will learn about both the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The literacy component of my curriculum is directly related to the PA Common Core standards. Students will study character traits, especially those that embody the values of good citizenship. They will understand what a character trait is, how to describe characters based on traits, and how to show evidence of a certain character’s trait by drawing inferences from illustrations or text in a story.
From the democratic equality approach to schooling, one argues that a democratic society cannot persist unless it prepares all of its young with equal care to
take on the full responsibilities of citizenship in a competent manner. (p. 42).
Democratic equality, Labaree argues, is only attainable if schools prepare children to be responsible citizens of their communities.
Explicit civics education, then, is also inextricably linked to school and education. In Pennsylvania there is a set of state standards that is entirely separate from the History standards called Civics and Government Standards. I have drawn on these standards in designing the social studies component of my unit. That being said, there is a body of research that shows that children simply do not currently demonstrate a solid understanding of civics. In their report, the Massachusetts Special Commission on Civic Engagement and Learning (2012) recently said the following,
Civic education is a critical component for the survival of our precious democracy. The current status of civic knowledge does not suggest such a priority, however.
The 2010 National Assessments of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Civics and History showed that just 25% of students had a proficient understanding in these
subjects so vital for our nation’s future. Clearly, there is work to do. (p. 2).
For all these reasons, I have chosen to focus my unit on the vision that Labaree’s and I share of giving students the preparation they need to be contributing and competent citizens.
The social studies component of my curriculum is directly related to the PA state standards in History and government. Students will learn what a citizen is, and his or her place in a community, and they will learn about both the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The literacy component of my curriculum is directly related to the PA Common Core standards. Students will study character traits, especially those that embody the values of good citizenship. They will understand what a character trait is, how to describe characters based on traits, and how to show evidence of a certain character’s trait by drawing inferences from illustrations or text in a story.
Why would your topic be interesting?
a.) To your students?
One of the first things I noticed about the students in this class is their clear fascination with government. I voiced this observation toward the beginning of the semester. This sentiment was echoed by my teacher, who claims that this class, on the whole, is more interested in government and presidents than any group she has ever had before.
Additionally, the students in my class seem to really value the role that community plays in their experience of being in school. They are eager to work cooperatively, to help a friend who is struggling, to do their classroom job with excellence. They enjoy contributing to their classroom community.
At the end of my unit students will be asked to perform an authentic cumulative task in writing a personal citizenship pledge. This task will allow them to capitalize on both their interest in government and their desire to be a positive member of their classroom community. Students will spend some time self-reflecting in order to come up with their personal citizenship pledge. In doing so they will make a promise to their classroom community about something that they are going to try to do better for the benefit of the community. They will draw on their knowledge of their rights and responsibilities in order to write this pledge, as well as their understanding of character traits.
Students will also be engaged in authentic civics tasks as they create a class Bill of Rights and Quilt of Responsibility. Connecting the ideas of rights and responsibilities to our classroom community will make the task immediately relevant and purposeful to them.
I have done my best to make inquiry-based learning the foundation of this unit. Instead of presenting new ideas directly, I have instead designed the unit so that students are generating ideas and questions through small-group and whole-class brainstorming. They will then be asked to construct their own understanding of the subjects by completing the authentic tasks outlined above.
Additionally, the students in my class seem to really value the role that community plays in their experience of being in school. They are eager to work cooperatively, to help a friend who is struggling, to do their classroom job with excellence. They enjoy contributing to their classroom community.
At the end of my unit students will be asked to perform an authentic cumulative task in writing a personal citizenship pledge. This task will allow them to capitalize on both their interest in government and their desire to be a positive member of their classroom community. Students will spend some time self-reflecting in order to come up with their personal citizenship pledge. In doing so they will make a promise to their classroom community about something that they are going to try to do better for the benefit of the community. They will draw on their knowledge of their rights and responsibilities in order to write this pledge, as well as their understanding of character traits.
Students will also be engaged in authentic civics tasks as they create a class Bill of Rights and Quilt of Responsibility. Connecting the ideas of rights and responsibilities to our classroom community will make the task immediately relevant and purposeful to them.
I have done my best to make inquiry-based learning the foundation of this unit. Instead of presenting new ideas directly, I have instead designed the unit so that students are generating ideas and questions through small-group and whole-class brainstorming. They will then be asked to construct their own understanding of the subjects by completing the authentic tasks outlined above.
b.) To you as a teacher?
For as long as I have worked in schools I have been driven by the idea that educating children is about preparing them to be functional members of society. To me, a high-quality education is one in which students are given the tools to explore the world around them as optimists, critics, and visionaries. The principal of the K-8 school that I attended had one simple, clear motto that he asked us all to live by: “With freedom [rights] comes responsibility.” As a second grader I obviously did not understand the meaning of this phrase in the larger context of civics and government. However, I did understand what it meant fundamentally. Moreover, the fact that those words are something that I still think about often shows just how much of an impression it made. I am convinced that this is the result of the consistency with which that message was presented to me. I am looking forward to being able to expose my students to these same ideals and values in these two weeks.
How is the topic accessible to students?
a.) In terms of developmental appropriateness?
According to Jean Piaget, cognitive development takes place as children re-organize and adjust their schema in response to biological maturation and life experience. His is a constructivist theory of learning—children construct their own understanding of the world around them, organizing things into schema. When they have a new experience, they must find a way of fitting that experience into an existing schema or developing a new schema (Pulaski, 1980).
According to Piaget, children in second grade are in the “concrete operational stage” of their cognitive development. This means that while they are beginning to think in more mature ways and solve problems more logically, they cannot yet reason abstractly—they can only solve problems that apply to concrete events, objects, or situations. They are able to draw inferences from concrete observations to reach more general conclusions, for example, but still have trouble deducing details from a more general thought (Pulaski, 1980).
While much of Piaget’s work has been criticized in the 21st century, my experience in first and second grade classrooms over the years has led me to believe in a lot of his theory. My students are still very concrete in their thinking, but are certainly capable of drawing inferences, even if only very basic ones. As such, I have drawn on Piaget’s theories of learning as I planned my unit. I decided to ground the social studies strand of my unit in a study of our classroom community rather than the larger, more abstract community of our nation. I think that my students will have a much easier time understanding the meaning of rights and responsibilities in this context because they will be able to apply it directly to an environment that is visible and tangible to them. I have organized the literacy strand of my unit around a study of character traits, which will require that my students draw inferences based on text and illustrations in order to identify a character’s trait. Finally, I have focused my first week of writing on “Show, don’t tell” sentences that describe a character’s trait in order to help students see how an author might describe a character without stating his/her trait outright. My hope is that writing these sentences will reinforce the skills that I am teaching them for drawing inferences about character traits.
According to Piaget, children in second grade are in the “concrete operational stage” of their cognitive development. This means that while they are beginning to think in more mature ways and solve problems more logically, they cannot yet reason abstractly—they can only solve problems that apply to concrete events, objects, or situations. They are able to draw inferences from concrete observations to reach more general conclusions, for example, but still have trouble deducing details from a more general thought (Pulaski, 1980).
While much of Piaget’s work has been criticized in the 21st century, my experience in first and second grade classrooms over the years has led me to believe in a lot of his theory. My students are still very concrete in their thinking, but are certainly capable of drawing inferences, even if only very basic ones. As such, I have drawn on Piaget’s theories of learning as I planned my unit. I decided to ground the social studies strand of my unit in a study of our classroom community rather than the larger, more abstract community of our nation. I think that my students will have a much easier time understanding the meaning of rights and responsibilities in this context because they will be able to apply it directly to an environment that is visible and tangible to them. I have organized the literacy strand of my unit around a study of character traits, which will require that my students draw inferences based on text and illustrations in order to identify a character’s trait. Finally, I have focused my first week of writing on “Show, don’t tell” sentences that describe a character’s trait in order to help students see how an author might describe a character without stating his/her trait outright. My hope is that writing these sentences will reinforce the skills that I am teaching them for drawing inferences about character traits.
b.) In terms of resources available?
Also known as the “Birthplace of Democracy,” Philadelphia is a city full of resources on the topic of citizenship. The week before I teach my unit the whole second grade is going on a field trip to the National Liberty Museum, a place that advertises itself as being “dedicated to preserving America’s heritage of freedom by fostering good character, civic responsibility and respect for all people,” (website). I will certainly draw on this experience throughout the teaching of my unit.
Additionally, I have an overwhelming number of literary resources that allow me share with students the value in discussing traits of characters and its relevance to us as citizens.
Additionally, I have an overwhelming number of literary resources that allow me share with students the value in discussing traits of characters and its relevance to us as citizens.
How does this topic provide opportunities for multiple perspectives?
My students have studied characters and their traits every year that they have been at Penn Alexander. In fact, my teacher did a unit on character traits at the beginning of this year. I have designed the literacy portion of my unit then, in a way that builds directly off of the foundation that has been laid, taking advantage of their wealth of previous experience by pushing them to find deeper meaning as they draw inferences about characters.
My students have also studied community in every year that they have been at Penn Alexander. Their social studies unit this year is all about community. I have chosen to focus the social studies portion of my unit on individual members of a community (citizens) and their role in the community. Their study of citizens and their rights and responsibilities, will be grounded in a larger context that they are already familiar with.
A study of citizenship certainly has an “inexhaustible quality.” As a young adult I still think about my rights and responsibilities as a citizen of the multiple communities of which I am a part. In these two weeks I will only begin to scratch the surface of what good citizenship looks like. It is an enormous and complex topic, one that covers a lot of history, government, and civics content, as well as a host of moral issues.
My students have also studied community in every year that they have been at Penn Alexander. Their social studies unit this year is all about community. I have chosen to focus the social studies portion of my unit on individual members of a community (citizens) and their role in the community. Their study of citizens and their rights and responsibilities, will be grounded in a larger context that they are already familiar with.
A study of citizenship certainly has an “inexhaustible quality.” As a young adult I still think about my rights and responsibilities as a citizen of the multiple communities of which I am a part. In these two weeks I will only begin to scratch the surface of what good citizenship looks like. It is an enormous and complex topic, one that covers a lot of history, government, and civics content, as well as a host of moral issues.
Works Cited
Pulaski, M. (1980). Concrete Operations. Understanding Piaget (55-67). Harper Row.
Labaree, D. (1997). Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle Over Educational Goals. American Educational Research Journal,
11, 42.
Massachusetts Special Commission on Civic Engagement and Learning. (2012). Renewing the Social Compact: A Report of the Special
Commission on Civic Engagement and Learning. Boston, MA.
National Liberty Museum. (2013). Home Page. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from http://www.libertymuseum.org/
Labaree, D. (1997). Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle Over Educational Goals. American Educational Research Journal,
11, 42.
Massachusetts Special Commission on Civic Engagement and Learning. (2012). Renewing the Social Compact: A Report of the Special
Commission on Civic Engagement and Learning. Boston, MA.
National Liberty Museum. (2013). Home Page. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from http://www.libertymuseum.org/