I was surprised to find that I was genuinely engaged in tonight’s ‘notice and wonder’ map activity. I had no trouble coming up with questions about what I saw on the map, and I noticed a lot of details that I found interesting. This was the first activity that I truly felt a grasp on the concept of See, Think, Wonder. I think back to the Harriet Tubman activity. I saw first hand how difficult it can be to read a passage about historical events and try to decode, wonder, and ‘read between the lines’. I think students are more likely to be instantly less excited about a reading passage than a picture, map, or other visual. With the map activity, we had minimal front-loading, but we recognized the area on the map and many symbols and markings. Having these connections from prior knowledge allowed us to think and question the map even more. Overall I think the what made this mini lesson so engaging was the fact that we had a visual, rather than a whole jumble of words on a page, and it was recognizable and relevant.
I was excited to share our group’s nonfiction book with the class. It aligned so well to our fiction book, which gave me even more faith in using Blood on the River as an appropriate read aloud for a class. Depending on my grade level, I can definitely see myself having 1607: A New Look at Jamestown in my classroom as a resource. There are a number lesson plan possibilities I can think to create based off of this book.
Lane, I like that you have recognized unique outcomes using See, Think, Wonder. You made your own meaning known when you mentioned the use of the strategy works best for you when engaging an image. I wonder if beginning with see, think, wonder using an image then moving to the written word would be a better sequence of introducing the strategy. I think it would have with you. Your experiences matter and are working at this time to help you devise plans for your own classroom one day.
I am also glad that you find value in blending literacy and social studies content. There is magic there…