The Rookery

The energy leading up to a culminating event is palpable and consuming.  One of the ironies of documenting the work of a classroom is that our very busiest moments when the most is going on are the hardest to capture.  In the lead up to a culminating event, every child is independently moving through their work — and I am relegated to the busy gofer: finding the hole punch for someone, OKing the spelling for another, crafting a search string for a third.

To culminate, according to Webster, is to reach a point of highest development especially after a long time.  It originates from "culmen" Latin for "to summit."  I find that much of the learning of a theme occurs during the preparation to teach in a culmination.  The ideas that were just forming have to solidify.  The information that was a little hazy must come into focus.

In this theme, we learned a lot…on our first day getting ready for the culmination, we filled the board with what we knew:  the geography and economics of the colonies, the escalation of taxes, the lives of indentured servants and slaves…Students then chose what they wanted to teach and how they wanted to teach it.  They filled out a planner to share their ideas — and then the real work began.

Often students would have something like "I'll teach about children's games" or "I'll teach about trade" on their planners.  But what about those things?  We role played being at the event and having a "customer" come up to learn.  The Herons learned that there were a lot of specifics they were unsure about. "Why weren't they allowed to trade with other countries?" "How would you be punished if you didn't pay?" "Was it against the law to be in the Sons of Liberty?" A second round of research commenced and we filled in a lot of blanks.

But how to say the things we know?  How to engage with someone who walks up to you?  Finding the words to express what you know is the final step.  Nothing can be left indistinct (and, on top of that, we're trying to stay in character!)

The play was put together with lines from our discussions, journals and homework reacting to what was happening.  As we've practiced, the diversity of viewpoints and the chronology of the events leading up to the Revolution have solidified.  They really know it — and now they're ready to share it.

Tuesday will indeed be our "highest point of development;" I hope to see you there from 12:30-2:00 (the play will be at 1:45).  If you aren't able to come, don't worry — I'll video tape the play and practicing with your child this weekend will be a great way to get a sense of what they will share!

P.S.  I couldn't get the caption function to work on the blog (they just changed it).  But the top picture is one of my favorite pictures of the Herons ever.  They are standing in daguerreotype seriousness with Daniel Lessin, a Revolutionary re-enactor who taught us about his character and how he developed his character.  They were inspired.  The bottom right picture is the board filled with everything we could remember from the theme.