The Universe ~ A Stellar Song ~ Erin Gould ~ 2009 ~
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Transcript of The Universe ~ A Stellar Song ~ Erin Gould ~ 2009 ~
The Universe~ A Stellar Song ~
Erin Gould
~ 2009 ~
Rationale The Montessori cultural curriculum is intended to engage the child in
exploring the question: Who am I? Within this question are two sub-questions for exploration: Where do I come from? and What are am I going (what is my purpose)? This exploration of self is supported through lessons and experiences that are intended to awe and inspire the imagination.
Unlike traditional social studies curriculum which helps children answer the question Where do I come from? by first focusing on family, then community, then state, then world, the focus in the Montessori curriculum is the opposite. We provide the child with the ultimate context for who they are: the Universe. From there we work inward toward self: Universe Solar System Earth Continents Civilizations/Cultures/Needs of Humans Families Self.
In this way, we hope to engender a broader, world view where children notice commonalities among all humans and therefore have a context in which they can identify what their own purpose for living in this world will be.
Background Every year in a Montessori classroom, students are
introduced to this context of the Universe via the Great Lessons – five lessons to capture their imagination and inspire exploration. The lessons are: The Universe Story, The Story of Life, The Story of Humans, The Story of Language/Writing, and the Story of Numbers.
The Universe Story is an oral telling of the history of the Universe from the time of the Big Bang to the formation of land and water on Earth. This story is told on the first full day of school and encompasses a lot of visual artifacts and science experiments. It is meant to spark wonder and curiosity and set the stage for student inquiry, as well as the next story: The Story of Life. This lesson is also intended to be the origin of the cultural curriculum in the classroom, including astronomy, geology, geography, botany, zoology, and history.
~ Day 1 ~The
BeginningStudents will be engaged in
reflecting about where they come from and be introduced to the story
of the Universe, told in the oral tradition and supported with
scientific experiments.Resources
Teacher Texts: The Beginning (a teacher
generated story about the Universe beginnings)
Read Aloud: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (Roald Dahl)
Student Texts: All Grades:
Various non-fiction texts gathered from school and local libraries: universe, space, star, planet, Earth books
Other Materials: Universe Posters (teacher made
material) Sun Solar System Early Earth Cooling Earth Land and Water Earth
Universe Box with experiment materials (teacher made material)
Writing ~ quickwrite: Where do you live?
Listening & Viewing ~ The Great Lesson (The Beginning)
Reading ~ Exploring non-fiction space books
Speaking ~ Sharing
Maybe Minilesson Topics: How to do a quickwrite
~ Day 2 and 3 ~Stardust
Students will celebrate their connection to stars (hydrogen), their cosmic age (14 billion years + their
age), and their cosmic address (Universe, Milky Way, Solar System,
Earth, North America, Michigan, city).
Resources
Teacher Texts: Born With a Bang (Jennifer
Morgan) Zoom (Istvan Banyai) A is for Astronaut: Space
Exploration from A to Z (Traci N. Todd)
In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World (Virginia Hamilton)
Read Aloud: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (Roald Dahl)
Student Texts: All Grades:
Various non-fiction texts gathered from school and local libraries: universe, space, star, planet, Earth books
Writing ~ quickwrites: What do you wonder about the Universe? and Imagine you are in one of the Great Lesson posters.
Listening & Viewing ~ Born with a Bang, cosmic age, cosmic address, Zoom
Reading ~ Exploring non-fiction space books, ABCs of Universe
Speaking ~ Sharing, Cosmic Age Ceremony
Maybe Minilesson Topics: Making connections to texts, Asking questions, Finding ABC Universe nouns
~ Day 4 through 8 ~Stepping
Through TimeStudents will participate in the
tradition of oral story-telling with the use of a story-bead timeline as an aide. They will choose to tell their
personal story or their larger story of the universe.
Resources
Teacher Texts: Cosmic Wonder Books (Aline D. Wolf)
“I Know the Sun Does Not ‘Set’” “I Know What Gravity Does” “I Travel on Planet Earth” “How Big is the Milky Way” “I Look ‘Out’ at the Stars”
Read Aloud: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (Roald Dahl)
Student Texts: Third Grade:
Book Club Choice - Arthur and the Comet Crisis (Marc Brown) Book Club Choice - Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System
(Joanna Cole) (3.9) Second Grade:
Book Club Choice - Magic Tree House: Midnight on the Moon (Mary Pope Osborne) (2.1)
Book Club Choice - Magic School Bus Out of This World: A Book about Space Rocks (Jackie Posner) (2.8)
First Grade: Book Club Choice – Space Ant Goes Home (Celia Warren) (1.6) Book Club Choice – The Wind and the Sun, an Aesop Fable
(Jenny Giles) (2.2)
Other Materials: Bead Story (timeline) of Universe, special box and
cloth (teacher made material) Bead materials for students Black Strip (purchased timeline)
Writing ~ quickwrites: What would be in your timeline/ story beads? What is your favorite time? How do you feel about being made of stardust? What do you think about the Black Strip?
Writing ~ selecting a quickwrite for the writing process, story notes for Universe story beads
Listening & Viewing ~ Universe story beads, cosmic wonder books, The Black Strip
Reading ~ Non-fiction space books, book club books
Speaking ~ Sharing, Universe story beads
Maybe Minilesson Topics: Nouns, Capitalization, Punctuation, Responding to book club reading
~ Day 5 through 9 ~Uni-verse =
One SongStudents will listen to songs created
with inspiration from our Solar System. They will visualize and create images to represent what
they hear. They may also be inspired to create their own song of
the universe. Resources
Teacher Texts: On Earth (Brian Karas) Looking Down (Steve Jenkins) Read Aloud: Charlie and the Great Glass
Elevator (Roald Dahl)
Student Texts: Non-fiction space books Book club choices
Video: Magic School Bus Out of this World (Magic
School Bus Video Series, Scholastic) Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space (Brian
Meehi, Videorecording, Scholastic)
Audio: The Planets (Gustav Holst, composer, CD)
Other Materials: Bead Story (timeline) of Universe, special
box and cloth (teacher made material) Bead materials for students
Writing ~ quickwrite: What does the song of the universe sound like? Writing process, reading response logs, Universe ABC book page
Listening & Viewing ~ Holst’s The Planets, Magic School Bus Out of this World or Gets Lost in Space
Reading ~ Non-fiction space books, book club books
Speaking ~ Sharing, Universe story beads
Maybe Minilesson Topics: Identifying main ideas vs. details, Sequencing, Prewriting, Identifying: Purpose, Audience, Form
~ Day 10 through 14 ~
Blue and Green Ark
Students will hear stories of the formation of the Earth and learn
about Earth’s eras. Students may be preparing writing for publication and for engaging in a performance response to their book club book.Resources
Teacher Texts: The Blue and Green Ark (Brian Patten) Read Aloud: Charlie and the Great
Glass Elevator (Roald Dahl)
Student Texts: Non-fiction space books Book club choices Third Grade:
Era books (Doug Mann)
Video: Magic School Bus Inside the Earth
(VHS, Reading Rainbow Library)
Other Materials: Clock of Eras (teacher made
material)
Writing ~ Writing process, reading response logs, Universe ABC book page
Listening & Viewing ~ Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, Clock of Eras
Reading ~ Non-fiction space books, book club books
Speaking ~ Sharing, Clock of Eras books
Maybe Minilesson Topics: Drafting, Capitalization, Punctuation, Questioning, Connecting
~ Day 15 through 19 ~
You Are the “U” in
UniverseStudents will celebrate their writing
publications and reading performances. Students will be encouraged to reflect on their studies and predict what their
history will next reveal about our planet as we prepare to begin the
next chapter: The Story of Life.Resources
Teacher Texts: Read Aloud: Charlie and the
Great Glass Elevator (Roald Dahl)
Student Texts: Non-fiction space books Book club choices
Other Materials: Bead story timelines Students’ Written Publications Class Universe ABC Book Reading Performance Projects
Writing ~ Writing process, reading response logs, Universe ABC book page
Listening & Viewing ~ Universe ABC class book
Reading ~ Concluding non-fiction space books, book club books
Speaking ~ Sharing, celebrations of reading and writing
Maybe Minilesson Topics: Developing a writing rubric, Meeting in revision groups
References:
Duffy, Michael and D’Neil. (2002) Children of the Universe: Cosmic Education in the Elementary Classroom. Hollidaysburg: Parent Child Press.
Lillard, Angeline Stoll. (2005) Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Websites: Cosmic Education & The Great
Lessons http://www.sudburymontessori.ca/elementary/cosmic_education.htm
Great Story Stuff for Kids! http://www.thegreatstory.org/kids.html
Montessori for Everyone: The Five Great Lessons of the Elementary Curriculum http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/The-Five-Great-Lessons_ep_66-1.html
The Montessori Method http://www.michaelolaf.net/1CW312MI.html
Other Student Resources:
Note Cards
Post-it Notes
Reading Response Journals
Writer’s Notebooks
Guided Reading Texts
Third Grade: The Jupiter Stone (Owen Paul Lewis) My Place in Space (Robin and Sally Hirst)
Second Grade: UFO Diary (Satoshi Kitamura) There Was a Bold Lady Who Wanted a Star (Charise
Mericle Harper) Floating Home (David Getz)
First Grade: I Want to Be an Astronaut (Byron Barton) Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me (Eric Carle) Beegu (Alexis Deacon)
“Let us give the child a vision of the whole universe. . . We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are part of the universe, and are connected with each other to form one whole unity.”
---Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential