How to Begin to Break Down the Barriers

This week I learned about how classroom subjects operate on a spectrum, ranging from distinct disciplines to transdisciplinary projects. Throughout my education, I have been trained to separate tasks into the disciplines, however I thinking outside this box would be something I would love to do in my own classroom. Who says that numbers always have to be math? Relating to my last post, all of my experiences with financial literacy were based on math classed, so I have been taught to associate finances with math. I am sure other people also make similar associations between financial literacy and math, and even with other literacies such as environmental literacy being assumed to be related to science primarily, and mental health literacy being associated with physical education curriculum. I assume that these associations are common since the examples given by my peers often fell into these subjects. However, this isn’t the ONLY way.

In this blog, I will discuss my thinking process about how I would deconstruct this concept of literacies fitting into only one distinct discipline, and give you some examples that I would use in my classroom to teach literacies in an unconventional way!

1.      Choose a 21^st century literacy.

2.      Now, choose a subject that you would NEVER think to pair with this literacy.

3.      Find curriculum expectations that you will cover related to your literacy and the subject, and include some of your own expectations!

4.      Use backwards design to come up with a unit. Start with the list of what you want students to know that you wrote in step 3, then determine how each expectations can be assessed, then base your lessons around this assessment and expectations. Refer to the book Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21^st-Century Learner (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon,2014) for more information about this. Be as creative as possible!

 These four simple steps are similar to what a teacher would do in a typical classroom with each subject, BUT it takes it one step further because of the creativity and blend of unexpected subjects and literacies. The barriers are beginning to be broken. Next, I will use these steps to show you an example for a Grade 4 class:

1.      Choose a 21^st century literacy. = Financial Literacy

2.      Choose a subject that you would NEVER think to pair with this literacy = Health and Physical Education

3.      Expectations:

-          C3. demonstrate the ability to make connections that relate to health and well-being – how their choices and behaviours affect both themselves and others, and how factors in the world around them affect their own and others’ health and well-being.

o   C3.1 identify ways of promoting healthier food choices in a variety of settings and situations

-          Specifically, how the cost of healthy foods can affect healthy eating

-          Choices about organized sports, and how the cost of sports can influence these choices

-          (The first two points are chosen from the curriculum, and the second two I have chosen to connect financial literacy with the curriculum expectations)

4.      The options are endless now! Using these expectations and backwards design, create a unit plan! I will not go into detail here since every classroom has its own needs, interests and resources, but the unit could include…

o   Each student researching the cost of two organized sports they are interested in for one year. (Connection to the curriculum = how factors in the world around them affect their own and others’ health and well-being)

o   A trip to the grocery store where students explore the prices of different health and unhealthy foods, followed by a discussion about what is cheaper and how this would affect the body. (Connection to the curriculum = how factors in the world around them affect their own and others’ health and well-being)

o   A brainstorm activity where students think about ways of promoting healthier food choices in a variety of settings and situations (Curriculum Connection). This video is a great new initiative that may spark interest in the students and promote their own new ideas!

This ‘thinking outside the box’ has many potential benefits! Coming up with the links between the subjects fosters creativity in a teacher. It allows teachers to be more comfortable and confident with their own ideas, and more ideas means more opportunities to tailor lessons to your unique class! Also, students see teachers model creativity, and will be more encouraged to become creative themselves and stretch the limits of their imagination, just like their teacher does. What is the most creative combination you could make between a subject and a literacy? Would you use this in your classroom? Let me know in the comments!

References

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L. & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and assessment: 

Engaging 21st Century Learners. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2015). Health and Physical Education: The Ontario Curriculum

Grades 1-8. Queen’s Printer for Ontario.