Young Children - March 2008 - (Page 12) Read All about It! A Classroom Newspaper Integrates the Curriculum Even before the morning school bell rings, Samantha tiptoes into the classroom, eager for an early start. This is quite a change from the first few days of school, when she clung to her mom. Now Samantha is motivated by her important responsibility as a member of our classroom “news team.” She is part of a community of learners who publish a weekly newspaper. As the other first-graders enter the “newsroom,” they all scurry to their desks and independently take out their reporting notebooks. Soon they engage in the serious business of getting their notes down in whatever way is just right for them. Thinking or quietly talking and sharing, they’re connecting their learning at school and at home and in the world around them. Laurie Sharapan Sahn and Anne Grall Reichel After the reporting period, the class gathers for Rug Time. Three children come to the rug with their notebooks in hand. They want to share with their classmates the important discoveries they have made. They initiate the learning; I (Laurie) look, listen, and ask questions. We are all learners, discovering remarkable things about our environment. Their eyes sparkle. I’m thrilled too, as I watch them having fun and making friends while they share what they have learned. They’re proud of themselves, and I’m proud of them. They’re curious and eager, and being reporters sets the tone for the rest of the day. magine a first grade classroom in which children spend the first 20 minutes of the day excited about what they’re learning in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, art, oral language, and social-emotional growth. Early morning is a busy time for the reporters in our newsroom. The firstgraders engage in authentic observation and data collection processes, while focused on the science and social studies conceptual themes of changes, belonging, roles and responsibilities, and people who make a difference. The children document their work in small notebooks. They report on what they’re learning, while observing and finding evidence related to the themes. Their sense of wonder flourishes. Laurie Sharapan Sahn, MEd, has been a first grade teacher at The Joseph Sears School in Kenilworth, Illinois, for six years. Previously, she taught kindergarten and junior kindergarten there for two years. lsahn@kenilworth38.org Anne Grall Reichel, EdD, teaches at National-Louis University. She specializes in working with schools on the development of integrated curriculum in science and social studies around conceptual themes. Her current research focuses on the role of conceptual themes in building deeper use of metacognitive strategies. agreichel@comcast.net I Looking for an activity to build community and make learning meaningful I have always enjoyed starting the school day with the children talking and sharing. Science and social studies offer incredible opportunities for interaction and spark children’s sense of wonder about the world around them. The idea of building a newspaper around the curriculum and its themes grew out of the collaboration between a curriculum consultant, Anne, and me. I had shared with Anne my interest in beginning the day with an activity that builds community. Anne suggested that my class create a classroom newspaper with a focus on the science and social studies themes the two of us had developed with the rest of the curriculum committee (see “An Approach Grounded in Research: The Curriculum Consultant’s Perspective,” p. 16). Although a bit apprehensive at first, I soon was impressed by the way the newspaper brought out the children’s awareness of science and social studies experiences in their Young Children • March 2008 12
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