Johnny Tremain - An Era of Change C.E.U. - 5th Grade
1. To start, we got our brains fixed on the Revolutionary War era by brainstorming related terms and phrases. Then we had to choose several of them to come up with coherent thoughts based on what we had previously learned about the Revolutionary War during Social Studies.
2. The novel was introduced, and we used certain prompts to comment on various aspects of the starting chapters. We shared our ideas aloud in class.
3. In the beginning of the novel, we learned about a Socratic Seminar by watching high school students engage in a seminar during English class. A Socratic Seminar allows for deeper discussion of topics and themes in the novel as they come up.
4. Then it was our turn to try having a Socratic Seminar. We prepared by reading our assigned chapters and recording our thoughts to specific questions in order to be able to hold a discussion. We learned that it is sometime hard to wait your turn to state your thoughts and that listening from the outside of the circle is just as important as if you are inside the circle, since outside people are responsible for evaluating the people holding the discussion. Evaluators provide feedback when the discussion is over.
5. Here is a portion of one of our Socratic Seminars. We are discussing the author's purpose for specific character traits of the main characters.
6. As we got deeper into the plot of the story, we did some research of important events of the time, which encouraged the Revolution. Then, when we recognized the events or related issues as they came up in the novel.
7. Once we had finished the novel, we brainstormed projects we could engage in that would showcase our creative strengths. Once the list was made, we each decided which project we would be most interested in creating. We had anything from skits of novel excerpts, to painted colonial shoppe signs, 3D models of the novel setting, to a novel theme-based parody performed to the tune of a current-day hit. In the end, we all had our own interpretation of specific aspects of the novel, but we were happy to have the opportunity to put our creative strengths to work!