CADRE Capstone 2017
Thinker. Researcher. Teacher.
Keep the Quote
February 6, 2017- May 25, 2017
Throughout the school year students collected quotes that they believed represented valuable personal attributes. These quotes represented a stance that students took on certain issues. Each week I chose a quote at random. The student whose quote was chosen was then in charge of describing how that quote was meaningful to them personally and persuading others why they should behave this way. That student would then watch all week for another student in the class that could "Keep the Quote" by exhibiting the corresponding character trait. At the end of the week, the student who modeled an exemplary effort of keeping the quote, was recognized by the class.
Social Justice
November 27, 2016- April 28, 2017
As a class, we discussed a variety of social justice issues relevant to our school, our community, and our world during the duration of this project. We were fortunate enough to hear from two guest speakers about social justice topics. Mr. Dean Jacobs was a visitor at our school who discussed his trip to Amazon where he delivered school supplies to children, which sparked the idea for our own social justice project. We were also very lucky to hear from a representative from Charity Water about the social injustices that he has experienced across the globe.
These experiences allowed students to think about what social injustices may be present in our own school and community. After examining data and comparing demographics of our school and another elementary school within our district, students were able to see a vast differences in the demographics. Using this data, we realized the many privileges we have as students in our area and wondered how we could help create equity among students in the same district.
This began our social justice project. Through correspondence with the building principal, our class found that it would be most beneficial to collect and donate school supplies. Students produced letters to their middle school pen pals describing social justice, our project, and persuaded them to pitch in. We then generated formal letters to businesses in the area, requesting their support in our endeavors. Along the way, students shared their writing and updates about our project with 3rd and 4th grade students through ROAR.
ROAR
April 3, 2017- April 14, 2017
Throughout our writing journey, the fifth graders became frequent visitors in third and fourth grade classrooms. During this time, the fifth grade students enhanced their depth of knowledge by having conversations about social justice and authentic writing tasks to inform younger students and persuade them to support our cause.
Pen Pals
February 27, 2017- April 28, 2017
Our fifth grade class corresponded with sixth grade students at a middle school within the district. Each week we communicated through Google Docs. The sixth grade students provided us with valuable feedback throughout our persuasive, social justice writing project.
Teaching
Implementation
The What
I implemented a variety of authentic writing tasks throughout the course of my action research. Authentic writing tasks are tasks that require the students to write for a purpose outside of the classroom. My hope was that these tasks would increase student achievement in the areas of ideas and organization. Through the the use of social justice topics in writing, my students were given the chance to write about matters that are meaningful to them and have a relevant audience. Examples included Read Out Around Reagan (ROAR), Pen Pals via Google Docs with middle school students in the district, Keep the Quote, a variety of persuasive pieces covering social justice topics relevant to our school community, and finally, our social justice service learning project that allowed students to collect and donate school supplies to other elementary students in the district.
The Who
The instructional strategies mentioned above were implemented with my twenty-three fifth-grade students. Our class also partnered with middle school students through Pen Pals. We then collaborated with other grade levels at our school to share their writing.
The How
I implemented these strategies in a variety of ways. With the use of ROAR, our class visited other grade level classrooms in the building to share writing. Pen Pals were implemented through collaboration with a teacher at a middle school in the district. My students communicated with middle school students through the use of Google Docs. I also utilized Keep the Quote in our morning routine. These strategies were implemented outside of the classroom and in other subject areas as opposed to just “writing time.”
Action Plan
