Not gonna lie, I was definitely team “how is this effective?” when “I say, you say, and so…” was first introduced. Now, after the 3rd class, I totally see just how impactful it can be toward full understanding of a concept.
What I found interesting was that when the strategy was snuck into the lesson, no one thought anything of it. We all went with it and dissected it as it should be when properly executed. I don’t know about the rest of the class, but I definitely had an “a-ha” moment when I found out Lynne’s intention behind the progression chart activity. That leads me to wonder just how much we should conceal from students to allow them to think openly. I mean, how differently would that activity had gone if we knew it was an “I say, you say, and so” given our attitudes toward that strategy? Anyways, thank you Lynne for making a believer out of me!:)
I also had another “A-ha” moment toward the end of class. When I first looked over the progression chart, I noticed a lot of things, but given my inquisitive personality, I instantly had more “I wonder” thoughts/questions. One was how a kindergartener could possibly compare people, places, and things, given their limited understanding of the world at the age of 5/6. After completing the George Washington/King George activity, I realized just how easily this could be accomplished. I tend to overthink things, but this activity allowed me to see just how basic that activity could be to appeal to that age group and allow them to be successful in completing the task at hand.
I’m super excited and can’t wait to try these activities and strategies in my classroom. I really hope I’m able to do the “connecting the pieces/observing primary sources” activity at some point in my teaching career!
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I may actually be excited to teach Social Studies. 🙂
Sarah, I really appreciate knowing about your “a-ha” moments from class last week. The reality is that one day you will try and teach a topic you were confident would succeed and then it did not…even when you teach college! The key is to get over yourself and jump right back in and try again. The inference skill is a critical skill for everyone. I decided to take a different approach and lucked out that it worked! I think attaching the skill to a topic that really mattered to the class made helped. Plus, it is always good to practice as much as possible. Teaching social studies is so much fun. I cannot wait for you to meet the kindergarten teachers who champion historical thinking skills. That will give you even more confidence to give it a try one day! Thanks for your reflection.
I appreciate Lynne’s persistence with this strategy. I saw a lot of eye-rolling when she trotted it out again, but it is a powerful thinking strategy. I like that you’re thinking about how and when and how much to share with students in an effort to push their thinking.
I’m glad you enjoyed the comparison activity and can see a way to use it with the youngest students. Some times I don’t think we give them enough credit. If we set high expectations, kids will generally rise to them.