首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Pen-pal Letters:The Cross-curricular Experience I asked my cousin, a teacher in Tucson, Arizona, to have our classes become
Pen-pal Letters:The Cross-curricular Experience I asked my cousin, a teacher in Tucson, Arizona, to have our classes become
admin
2013-03-21
74
问题
Pen-pal Letters:The Cross-curricular Experience
I asked my cousin, a teacher in Tucson, Arizona, to have our classes become pen pals throughout the school year. The letters expanded into (1)______lessons involving all subjects, including reading, language, spelling and writing, math, (2)______, science and technology etc., and presented new learning opportunities.
For example, even my nonreaders wanted to find books about Arizona and Tucson. They sought out additional (3)______beyond books, too. The students began to understand the concept of synonyms in context and suddenly had an incentiveto spell correctly. When we received a letter from our pen pals and were in doubt of the meaning of a word, we used (4) ______to attempt to infer its meaning and would then verify our answer with a dictionary or an encyclopedia.
As for maths, we began comparing (5)______, the times of sunrise and sunset and time zones. With pen-pal letters, my students became aware of different cultures, (6)______, and languages, as well as similarities between Ohio and Arizona. My students were amazed to find out that it snowed in the desert. They learned about the wide range of temperatures in Tucson and how the differing climates affected the (7)______. Toward the end of the year, several of my students were able to use the computer to write their letters. Although (8)______was not available in my classroom, this would be another pen-pal option.
The letters sparked a sincere interest in learning. They gained (9)______they could apply to their daily lives and began to recognize that learning comes in different forms. The pen-pal writing experience was a yearlong endeavor that I will adapt in the future. The examples I have presented here reflect only a partial view of the many lessons we developed. The (10)______is endless if we, as teachers, allow ourselves to be flexible and are willing to use "teachable moments" in our classrooms.
Pen-pal Letters: The Cross-curricular Experience
Realizing the benefits that "hands-on" real-life lessons can have in helping students learn, I asked my cousin, a first-grade teacher in a bilingual program in Tucson, Arizona, if she would be interested in having our classes become pen pals throughout the school year. I felt this would prove beneficial for lessons in reading and writing for my inner-city second graders and would promote their knowledge about our city and state (Toledo, Ohio). I did not anticipate that the letters would expand into cross-curricular lessons involving all subjects and present new learning opportunities.
As we ventured through the second grade, the pen-pal letters offered many learning opportunities. Many of the lessons are cross-curricular and easily integrate with various subjects.
The most obvious subject was reading. Pen-pal letters sparked a genuine curiosity in my students. Even my nonreaders wanted to find books about Arizona and, more specifically, Tucson. While their excitement grew, they sought out additional sources of knowledge beyond books.
Pen-pal letters also made my students more interested in language, spelling and writing. The students began to understand the concept of synonyms in context. When my students were explaining how they felt about receiving letters, they used words such as excited, glad, and happy. I used these experiences to review our previous lessons on synonyms.
The students suddenly had an incentive to spell correctly. They wanted to "show off’ their knowledge to their pen pals and became frustrated when they could not read what their pals wrote. Capitalization, punctuation, and proper grammar were all important lessons learned through writing to our pen pals.
Having pen pals from Arizona also introduced my students to new vocabulary. When we received a letter from our pen pals and were in doubt of the meaning of a word, we used context clues to attempt to infer its meaning. We then would verify our answer with a dictionary or an encyclopedia. Pen-pal letters were easily transformed into learning activities.
Maths was one more area of learning that pen-pal letters made more intriguing. We began comparing temperatures and the times of sunrise and sunset. We started graphing the times the sun rose and set in Toledo. I questioned what the students thought would happen in Tucson. We began charting and graphing the sunrise and sunset times in both places. We predicted, looked for patterns, made inferences, and discussed our findings. We also decided to compare temperatures, keeping in mind that Tucson was in a desert and Toledo wasn’t. Time zones were also incorporated into the lessons. Trying to discover what our pen pals were doing at an exact time helped my students begin to understand the concept.
Pen-pal letters offered many learning opportunities in social studies, too. My students became aware of different cultures, religions, and languages, as well as similarities between Ohio and Arizona.
Another subject was science. Letters with our pen pals also opened the doors of curiosity about weather differences between Ohio and Arizona. My students were amazed to find out that it snowed in the desert. They learned about the wide range of temperatures in Tucson and how the differing climates affected the landscape.
Several students in my class loved learning about animals. Using a Venn diagram, we compared and discussed what animals were found in Tucson but not in Toledo and vice versa. We discussed the similarities between the animals found in Tucson and Toledo and what, if any, adaptations the animals made to live in either environment. Our science lessons depended greatly upon gathering information from the Internet.
Use of technology was a beneficial and uncomplicated way for my students to find out interesting facts about Arizona. The Internet and other computer resources presented many learning opportunities. My students used the Internet to find information about Arizona, such as the sunrise and sunset times, daily temperatures, and pictures. The students looked up the information, wrote it down, and then shared it with the class (they also wrote it on a chart). In doing so, they had to ensure their observations were sensible. Following several weeks of trial and error, they began making inferences. They recognized that if our average temperature was 23T, it would not likely jump to 70T the following day. The students began to see their mistakes, figure out what was incorrect, and amend their information if necessary.
Toward the end of the year, several of my students were able to use the computer to write their letters. Although e-mail was not available in my classroom, this would be another pen-pal option.
The letters sparked a sincere interest in learning. Reading was no longer just a second-grade requirement but a way to learn about deserts, animals, people, and places. Writing became enjoyable, and my students understood the importance of good penmanship. They learned more about weather, temperature, and the effect that people have on the environment than they would have by reading a book. They gained practical knowledge they could apply to their daily lives and began to recognize that learning comes in different forms.
The pen-pal writing experience was a yearlong endeavor that I will adapt in the future. The examples I have presented here reflect only a partial view of the many lessons we developed. Each letter presented new learning opportunities for my students and went beyond my original expectations. The potential is endless if we, as teachers, allow ourselves to be flexible and are willing to use "teachable moments" in our classrooms. I look forward to continuing to write penpal letters and to extending the lessons to correlate closely with the curriculum.
选项
答案
social studies
解析
本题为细节考查题。各个学科包括阅读、语肓、拼写、写作、数学、社会科学、自然、科技等。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/ob4O777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
A、Peopleofcomparativelyhigherlevels.B、Peopleconsistinglargelyofuniversitystudents,postgraduates,Englishworkers.C、T
AscientistIntoday’ssocietywearenowseeingmorechildrenundertheageoftwelvedevelopingeatingdisorders.Itisestima
WhenRobertShiller,aYaleeconomistandbestsellingauthor,toldacrowdoffinanceprofessorsandeconomicsstudentslastspr
WiththerapiddevelopmentofChina’seconomy,manypeoplehaveboughtorareplanningtobuycars.Somepeoplebelievethatpri
Bynow,itshouldcomeasnosurprisewhenscientistsdiscoveryetanothercaseofexperiencechangingthebrain.Fromthesenso
WhichofthefollowingbestexploresAmericanmythinthe20thcentury?
Thatquestion,posedinTheTimes’RoomforDebate,drewalovelyresponse,includingfromteacherswhoinsistedtheanswerisa
Thetwoclassesofwordsinvolvethecommonthingsoflife,andarethestockintradeofallwhousethelanguage.
Asatmostcolleges,oursemesteratNotreDameendswithstudentevaluationsoftheirteachers.EachtimeIwonderwhatthestu
随机试题
人脑把具有相同的、一般特征的事物归到一定的类别中去,是思维过程的哪个环节【】
A.深而慢的呼吸B.浅而快的呼吸C.节律不齐的呼吸D.吸气性呼吸困难E.呼气性呼吸困难呼吸道有阻塞时表现为
B企业为金属加工企业,主要从事铝合金轮毂加工制造。B企业的铝合金轮毂打磨车间为二层建筑,建筑面积2000m2,南北两端各设置载重2.5t的货梯和敞开式楼梯,一层有通向室外的钢制推拉门2个,该车间共设有32条生产线,一、二层各16条,每条生产线设有12个
按照爆炸反应相的不同,爆炸可分为气相爆炸、液相爆炸和固相爆炸。下列爆炸情形中,属于液相爆炸的是()。
儒家思想在宋代被精缩为“四书”和“五经”,并成为科举考试的基本教材。()
培训部会计师魏女士正在准备有关高新技术企业科技政策的培训课件,相关资料存放在Word文档“PPT素材.docx”中。按下列要求帮助魏女士完成PPT课件的整合制作:创建一个名为“PPT.pptx”的新演示文稿,该演示文稿需要包含Word文档“PPT素材.
•Lookattheholesbelow.•Youwillhearamanmakinganappointment.ReservationCardTo:D
Peoplevolunteerfordifferentreasons,butprobablymostofusvolunteerinordertotrytoimprovelifeforother.However,ge
ThemostsparselypopulatedcountyinWalesiswhereyouwillfindBritain’shappiestplace,sayresearchers,asPowystopsthe
A、Lookatthemsadly.B、Touchthemgently.C、Keepthemcompany.D、Playgameswiththem.C由短文中提到的shewouldgotowhoeverwassick
最新回复
(
0
)