Constructivism TIPR

1. In one of the seventh grade literature classes I have been observing, they have been working on one project for about a month and a half. On the first day of the teacher introducing the new project, she held up a lot of different books, while giving one sentence summaries of the literature. She then passed the books around the class, and asked the students to pick which one they might want to read. This is an example of cultivating curiosity in the classroom because she didn't give away every piece of the book. The students will have to explore the books themselves. As the project went on, the students explored the readings themselves, and as a group. This cultivates the collaborative community of the classroom and the learning. The students are constantly being asked to reflect on the reading that they do through various assignments, mini lessons, and group sharing. As the unit progresses, the students ask questions of the novel, and of themselves. They are able to look at questions such as "how does setting work in my book? How does my knowledge of conflict help me understand why the characters are acting the way they are?" and others. Because the students got to pick their own books, and create/film their own book trailer at the end of the unit, there is also a component of autonomy as well as another reflective  piece of how they understand the book in the context. Another piece that I loved for this unit, is the spiral curriculum. The teacher used mini lessons to reinforce learning of previous concepts such as conflict and setting, to go more in depth of the bigger concepts of their own individual books. She also is using the summative assessment of the book trailer to go back to the text and understand what they discussed. This is an example of spiral curriculum.  Finally, the teacher herself was a great example of a facilitator. She taught the mini lessons, and then gave the students time to work on their own, providing them with the materials needed to complete the task.
2. I think the students could stand to have more real world application in their learning. Maybe pick novels all with one specific theme, so they can discuss a current issue that they could relate to. This might help the students explore more into their reading. Another thing that the students could benefit from is more active learning.  The only active piece was really just the book trailer filming. Maybe implementing the mini lessons into a more active  environment, and with more discovery, the whole project will be more meaningful.
3. I can address these needs when I teach my mini lesson through giving more active  work. While still allowing them to have the autonomy  that comes with doing book groups, I think more collaborative and discovery could benefit the students a lot more. Perhaps I could have them share what they are learning regularly with the groups around them.