Greetings
GreenMount Community,
What
does it take to produce an excellent theme culmination event? On Friday, you witnessed our students
performing, debating, drilling and singing about a time in our history that was
consumed by a great war. How was it that
they were able to demonstrate their learning so well and address a topic that
centered around a terrible time in our nation’s history?
The first step in planning for a
theme event begins with a staff meeting in June to decide on the three theme topics
for the year. At these meetings we work
to find themes that will build upon knowledge and skills that our students
already have and to find ones that will engage them experientially and
authentically. This is often a difficult
task, especially when you have a staff that is brimming with ideas.
Choosing the Civil War caused a great
deal of discussion because of the nature of war and the fact that children,
especially our youngest ones, may have difficulty with some of the concepts
that would naturally evolve from a discussion of such a time. When our theme topic was agreed upon, we
began to plan for how the theme event might look. We typically begin with the end in mind so
that we can decide on what we need to do to get there.
Once we had a general idea of the
content and what the theme event might contain, someone had to write the
theme. The job of putting everything
together for our history theme always goes to Mr. Fletcher, whose knowledge of
history gets us started. He wrote the
history theme over the summer, giving suggestions to each grade level for
activities and experiences that they may have to understand the time
period. When we met again in August, Mr.
Fletcher produced his theme in a written format for each teacher, and we spent
several hours discussing how his suggestions might be adapted for each grade
level. It was then up to each teacher to
use the new guide to plan for activities and learning that was appropriate for
their students.
Then, at every staff meeting between the
beginning of the year and the theme event, we shared how we are each
implementing the ideas laid out in the planning guide. At least an hour of every staff meeting was
spent doing this. As the trimester unfolded,
the theme event began to take shape and the ideas kept coming about how to best
demonstrate learning. Once we determined
the scope of the theme event, teachers became very focused with their students
on the parts they will play. Finally,
students and teachers worked to create props, scenery, costumes (with a lot of
help from parents), and scripts. The
students participating in debates spent hours researching their points of view
and preparing for questions they would be asked. Those in plays rehearsed, and then rehearsed
some more. Art work was completed over
the trimester that complemented the theme and represented the time period of
study.
Finally, on the day of the theme event,
anxious students (and teachers!) prepared to give you their very best. They marched, debated, sang, danced, acted,
made bandages, and even treated some “wounded” parents in the field
hospital. A dramatic ending with parent
participation capped off a successful event, one which students will long
remember.
In his book, Out of Our Minds, Sir Ken Robinson states that the role of
education today must be implemented in three domains. The first domain is Individual. In the
individual domain we are to develop individual talents and sensibilities. In the Cultural
domain we must deepen our students understanding of the word. And in the Economic domain we need to provide the skills required to earn a
living and be economically productive.
At GreenMount, we do these things, and the theme event is proof positive
that we do them well. Think about how the
opportunities your children have to develop their individual talents, how they
gain understanding of the world in which we live, and how they are gaining the
academic skills to be productive citizens.
The theme event is like the pasta sauce – it’s all in there.
Cheers,
Steve
