What do you do when the teacher suggests a topic that’s way too narrow?
Hello, Collective Brain!
We’re looking for your feedback on how you might nudge this scenario.
Sometimes, getting teachers to revolutionize their vision of research projects isn’t practical or feasible, but a small change (with a big impact!) is. What are the small tweaks that can lead to big changes in student learning and turn around what David Loertscher calls “bird units”? That’s what we seek to find out in each of the ten 2009-2010 issues of School Monthly. This month, we turn our attention to projects with overly-narrow topics.
THE SCENARIO
A teacher you have not worked with before excitedly comes to you. “I’m finally ready to do research with my class!” she says. “My kids have been reading about mythical creatures. I know they’d love learning more about the Loch Ness Monster! I went to Scotland over Spring Break and showed them photos from the Loch, and they just loved hearing about it. When can we meet to plan this?”
You know that this topic, as it stands, can be answered in moments using Wikipedia or the first hit in a Google Search. It’s simply too narrow, and the students are likely to report out the same information over and over again. You’re afraid that the students will not be engaged or motivated. If the kids look bored, this project could fizzle and backfire, with the teacher actually less interested in working with you again.
You really want to build a relationship with this teacher. You know that you will need to broaden the topic.
You’d love to find a way to take the learning deeper and meet the AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. What will you suggest when you sit down with the teacher to plan?
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Have them do a compare/contrast with other modern-day mythical creatures (the chupacabra, the yeti, and bigfoot come to mind) including when the myths first originated, some of the stories, sightings, etc… Then have them create their own mythical creature to share with the class, and have them include all the characteristics that seem to exist in all myths. Then they can share with the class and maybe even vote for which myth would be most likely to “stick”.