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This fall, third graders were learning about how the U.S. government works through their first unit, People, Laws, and Democracy. Students used American immigration policy as a lens through which they learned about the roles of each of the branches of government. First, they zoomed in on different issues that affect immigrants, such as the dangerous journey to the United States, push and pull factors for immigrants, family separation, and detention. They then read articles about how the legislative and executive branches are responding to immigrants through policy and political platforms. Using their research, students wrote opinion essays arguing whether they thought the government was doing enough to support immigrants. Students drew connections between the texts they were reading and writing about to their own lives and the lives of their classmates, and became excited about the opportunity to take action. They planned to share their messages with the government through a protest at an upcoming visit to the capitol building.  Students came up with protest slogans together, such as “Take down the wall, for us all!” and “Keep families together forever!”  They were then tasked with making something to go with their ask. Some students scripted out a phone call to Congress, and called Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton to advocate for better immigration policy. Other students built a model “interview center” with a list of questions they believed the government should ask immigrants before detaining or deporting them. The rest made t-shirts, signs, and buttons for the protest. Our unit culminated with a trip to the U.S. Capitol building, where students brought their speeches, t-shirts, signs and chants and put their learning into action.

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Our 5th grade ELA teacher began the DCPS Civil War unit with the introductory learning experience as prescribed. As she reflected on her lesson, she thought that her students needed to understand better the history of slavery in America and WHY the civil war was such a pivotal point in American history. With that in mind, we worked together to design a lesson that would help her students understand the atrocities associated with slavery (an enormous task for one day). We curated a series of images that we thought best told the story of slavery. With the images students engaged with each image using See, Think, Wonder. They jotted their noticings, thoughts, and questions. After which, we explained the journey and experience of African people in America.  We followed that with a brief video describing slavery in America and then engaged students in a modified 3 Whys global thinking routine (Why does slavery in America matter to me? Why does slavery in America matter to the world?). Lastly, we asked students to describe in detail 2-3 ways that slavery was harmful.

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Maker Centered Learning Brown Bag Lunch Series

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Maker Centered Learning Brown Bag Lunch Series

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Today, a small group of us met and discussed the first chapter of Maker-Centered Learning.  We wanted to gather because there is beauty in the collaborative nature of a book club and really appreciate the opportunity to process these ideas with other people. The bonus is we hold each other accountable to grow and learn as professionals. Our group included a fourth grade ELL teacher, 2nd grade math teacher, 2nd grade ELL teacher, and the global studies coordinator at our school.  We created norms...stay focused (avoid rabbit holes), equity of voice, and question assumptions. We discussed our key takeaways" from the first chapter of the book and decided that we wanted to start small. We will pick one student or a small group of students (one that we may struggle with or who has difficulty in class), plan a making experience with that student (s), and carry it out. We will discuss the experience and the second chapter at our next meeting.

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Fourth graders spent two months exploring the untold, or less publicized version, of early American history. They discovered that even though the U.S. celebrates Columbus Day in October, Columbus and other colonists like him have a dark past.

Through texts like Encounter the Diary of Christopher Columbus students gained a new perspective on events and developed empathy towards the native people of America.

In math, students looked closely at maps that showed how Native Americans were forced migrants and lost massive amounts of land and were forced to become less linguistically diverse. We discussed the effects this has on identity and culture. Students analyzed several tables that showed the estimated square kilometers of land that was stolen from the native people.
Because of student interest, we focused on the data that showed how far tribes were forced to migrate during the Trail of Tears.
We came to realize that the numbers tell a really terrible story and that the numbers help us understand what happened to the Native Americans.

Through thinking routines like The Three Whys we were inspired to take action. Students wanted to protest celebrating Columbus Day in favor of celebrating Indigenous People's Day, so we recorded their messages.

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Allison Herrera, Pulitzer Center Journalist visits Cooke

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Allison Herrera, Pulitzer Center Journalist visits Cooke

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Being in DC has its' benefits.  We are able to partner with great organizations like the Pulitzer Center and bring in award winning journalists to share their work documenting underreported stories with our students.  Our fourth and fifth graders are both learning about the deleterious impact of colonization on Indigenous Americans during the post-Columbian era and westward expansion respectively.  Allison shared the story of her ancestors, the story of her family, her story.  Allison is proud member of the Salinan Indian tribe. The land that once belonged to her family was taken  away by the federal government generations ago despite protest.  Her tribe is now fighting for federal recognition, an expensive and lengthy process that is daunting, in hopes that their land might be returned to them.  Through Allison's story, our students heard a first hand account of impact of colonization on native people. We are extremely grateful to the Pulitzer Center and Allison for sharing her story with us.

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Our first graders are concluding their unit on perseverance.  Ms. Harrington wanted to accomplish two things before the close of the unit.  She wanted her students to see real world examples of perseverance that exist today.  Additionally, she wanted her first graders to construct their own understanding through the use of a thinking routine.  Ms. Harrington's first graders have been using mindfulness to self-regulate their emotions for the past two years. When Ms. Harrington found out that the Thai boys soccer team utilized mediation in order to remain calm while trapped in the cave. Ms. Harrington modified "The  Story" thinking routine using four pictures that told the story of the Thai soccer team trapped in a cave.  Her first graders were able to tell the story of the boys soccer team and deduce how the boys showed perseverance while being  trapped in the cave.

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One of the hallmarks of great pedagogy and essential to student growth is using data to inform instruction. During K-1 LEAP, we examined Dibels data using the "Zoom In" thinking routine. Using one students data, we slowly unveiled the story of this student and through this process had meaningful conversations about DIBELS data and how it might be useful in grouping and instructing our students.

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This week, I had the opportunity to participate in the Re-Imagining Migration Annual Institute as a fellow. I was in awe of the sheer amount of brilliance present in our cohort of fellows. We gathered at Luskin Conference Center on the campus of UCLA to think deeply about the educational experiences of migrant youth.  Our charge, as fellows, was to design a project in our context aimed at re-imagining approaches in education for migrant youth.  Our school is ripe for this discussion, particularly because about 65 percent of our students are LatinX. I look forward to working with our Family Engagement Team, Parent Coordinator, and ELL teacher lead to re-imagining how we receive, understand, and educate our migrant students and their families.  For more information, check out the website.

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Re-Imagining Migration - Belonging Begins in School

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Strengthening communities by leveraging schools and other learning communities to ensure all young people can thrive in a world on the move.

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Our teachers are exploring what it means to truly understand something. Teaching for understanding is imperative!

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This brief overview of Global Studies at HD Cooke. ASCD filmed 4 of our teachers as exemplars in what it means to teach for global competence

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We began our year long exploration of teaching for global competence by engaging an understanding experience and a couple of thinking routines. Our focus was to have a common language around what it means to teach for global competence.