RE teaching report.
Oct. 1st, 2006 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaBoy, do I ever love teaching Religious Education.
This was the sound and hearing week of our five senses curriculum, and I was in charge. We didn't have a very well-planned-out canned lesson, so I pulled together ideas from different places. It worked well.
Before church, I got a bagful of rhythm instruments from the RE supplies office and scattered them across the classroom floor. We had drums, cymbals, maracas, triangles, bells, and those hollow wooden blocks you hit with a stick. I went next door to the K-2 class and warned their teacher that we had a noisy lesson planned. Then I went into the church service. Two of my students waved at me eagerly across the pews, which was nice. A visiting family was sitting two rows ahead of us with a child who looked preschool-aged, so I introduced myself to them and offered to show them the way to RE when it was time. About 15 minutes in to the service, we were dismissed to our classes. Six kids showed up in the preschool classroom.
The kids didn't need any special encouragement to get right in there and try out the rhythm instruments. I let them bang and crash like crazy while I wrote out nametags. One little girl had a hard time when her mother left - she hung back by the door and told me she wanted her mommy. So I offered her a deal: she would try class for a few minutes, and after that, if she wasn't having any fun at all, I would help her find her mommy. If she was having a little bit of fun, she could stay. She thought that sounded fair, so I helped her find a purple maraca. That was the last time we heard about her mommy.
We sat down for circle time, still holding our instruments, and played them along with the chalice lighting words. ("We are the church of the open mind..." CRASH BOOM BANG!") With difficulty, I separated the kids from their first choice of instrument and had them try out others, and we talked about how the sounds were different and the same. Then we moved on to figuring out what sounds we can make with our bodies. This was a great transition to quieter activity, because the first sounds they thought of were things like clapping and foot-stomping, but then one of them pointed out that you can hear yourself breathing and everyone got quiet to try. I collected the instruments while my co-teacher brought out a stethoscope and let the kids take turns listening to each other's heartbeat.
I asked them what sounds we might hear at church, and they made some suggestions. Then we went for a listening walk through the building - down the hallway of the RE wing, past the kitchen, and through the Parish Hall, winding up outside on the steps of the Parish Hall listening for all the sounds of church. They really got into it, and did a great job noticing and identifying sounds. "Even though we're tiptoeing, you can still hear our shoes!" "I hear a snipping sound in the kitchen." "I hear ladies talking." "I hear a fan." "Keys jingling." "You can hear the cars outside."
Back inside for snack and potty time, and then we played the game "Doggy, Doggy, Where's Your Bone." I had them sit in a circle with one child in the middle, covering her eyes. The rest of us passed a ring of jingle bells around the circle, behind our backs, while we said a rhyme about a dog's bone being stolen. At the end of the rhyme, the "doggy" opened her eyes and tried to figure out who had the bells by listening. The first few rounds of this went great, but they got a little bored by the time that all of them had a turn.
Then it was time for the music you guys helped me select. I told them that sometimes you can show your feelings without saying any words, by using sounds, and that we were going to see if we could figure out what feelings might go with different songs. Then we'd try moving to the music in a way that showed the feeling. This was the activity I was most worried about in advance. I was afraid that the task might be a little too abstract, and that the kids might not want to dance. Turns out that my fears were groundless. They loved it.
I played 1-2 minute snippets from five pieces: Balafon Marimba Ensemble's I Already Have a Husband, which is raucous and joyful Zairean dance music, and which the kids identified as "happy" and "excited"; Mars, the Bringer of War from Holst's The Planets, which the kids thought was "angry" and "scared"; Barber's Adagio for String Quartet, which the kids immediately identified as "sad"; a nice harp version of Brahms' Lullaby, which had them all lying on the floor pretending to be asleep; and then Also Sprach Zarathustra (from 2001: A Space Odyssey, courtesy of Strauss), which I thought was "amazed" music and they thought was "scary." Their dancing was very expressive. Finally, to end class, I passed out the rhythm instruments again and we all played and danced along to the full length of the marimba piece. No one wanted to leave when their parents showed up.
We have a great classful of kids. They need some help with sharing and turn-taking, which is very normal for this age, but they all want to participate, and they really get the curriculum and engage it with all their little hearts. They seem very happy to come to church. And I think that's probably the most important thing that preschoolers should be learning in RE: that church is a happy and loving place where people care about them and find them interesting.
This was the sound and hearing week of our five senses curriculum, and I was in charge. We didn't have a very well-planned-out canned lesson, so I pulled together ideas from different places. It worked well.
Before church, I got a bagful of rhythm instruments from the RE supplies office and scattered them across the classroom floor. We had drums, cymbals, maracas, triangles, bells, and those hollow wooden blocks you hit with a stick. I went next door to the K-2 class and warned their teacher that we had a noisy lesson planned. Then I went into the church service. Two of my students waved at me eagerly across the pews, which was nice. A visiting family was sitting two rows ahead of us with a child who looked preschool-aged, so I introduced myself to them and offered to show them the way to RE when it was time. About 15 minutes in to the service, we were dismissed to our classes. Six kids showed up in the preschool classroom.
The kids didn't need any special encouragement to get right in there and try out the rhythm instruments. I let them bang and crash like crazy while I wrote out nametags. One little girl had a hard time when her mother left - she hung back by the door and told me she wanted her mommy. So I offered her a deal: she would try class for a few minutes, and after that, if she wasn't having any fun at all, I would help her find her mommy. If she was having a little bit of fun, she could stay. She thought that sounded fair, so I helped her find a purple maraca. That was the last time we heard about her mommy.
We sat down for circle time, still holding our instruments, and played them along with the chalice lighting words. ("We are the church of the open mind..." CRASH BOOM BANG!") With difficulty, I separated the kids from their first choice of instrument and had them try out others, and we talked about how the sounds were different and the same. Then we moved on to figuring out what sounds we can make with our bodies. This was a great transition to quieter activity, because the first sounds they thought of were things like clapping and foot-stomping, but then one of them pointed out that you can hear yourself breathing and everyone got quiet to try. I collected the instruments while my co-teacher brought out a stethoscope and let the kids take turns listening to each other's heartbeat.
I asked them what sounds we might hear at church, and they made some suggestions. Then we went for a listening walk through the building - down the hallway of the RE wing, past the kitchen, and through the Parish Hall, winding up outside on the steps of the Parish Hall listening for all the sounds of church. They really got into it, and did a great job noticing and identifying sounds. "Even though we're tiptoeing, you can still hear our shoes!" "I hear a snipping sound in the kitchen." "I hear ladies talking." "I hear a fan." "Keys jingling." "You can hear the cars outside."
Back inside for snack and potty time, and then we played the game "Doggy, Doggy, Where's Your Bone." I had them sit in a circle with one child in the middle, covering her eyes. The rest of us passed a ring of jingle bells around the circle, behind our backs, while we said a rhyme about a dog's bone being stolen. At the end of the rhyme, the "doggy" opened her eyes and tried to figure out who had the bells by listening. The first few rounds of this went great, but they got a little bored by the time that all of them had a turn.
Then it was time for the music you guys helped me select. I told them that sometimes you can show your feelings without saying any words, by using sounds, and that we were going to see if we could figure out what feelings might go with different songs. Then we'd try moving to the music in a way that showed the feeling. This was the activity I was most worried about in advance. I was afraid that the task might be a little too abstract, and that the kids might not want to dance. Turns out that my fears were groundless. They loved it.
I played 1-2 minute snippets from five pieces: Balafon Marimba Ensemble's I Already Have a Husband, which is raucous and joyful Zairean dance music, and which the kids identified as "happy" and "excited"; Mars, the Bringer of War from Holst's The Planets, which the kids thought was "angry" and "scared"; Barber's Adagio for String Quartet, which the kids immediately identified as "sad"; a nice harp version of Brahms' Lullaby, which had them all lying on the floor pretending to be asleep; and then Also Sprach Zarathustra (from 2001: A Space Odyssey, courtesy of Strauss), which I thought was "amazed" music and they thought was "scary." Their dancing was very expressive. Finally, to end class, I passed out the rhythm instruments again and we all played and danced along to the full length of the marimba piece. No one wanted to leave when their parents showed up.
We have a great classful of kids. They need some help with sharing and turn-taking, which is very normal for this age, but they all want to participate, and they really get the curriculum and engage it with all their little hearts. They seem very happy to come to church. And I think that's probably the most important thing that preschoolers should be learning in RE: that church is a happy and loving place where people care about them and find them interesting.
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 07:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 08:28 pm (UTC)Fabulous. What terrific fun for all of you.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 10:16 pm (UTC)Which is what I love about my church (also UU). Everyone there is the friend of every kid. The kids aren't well-behaved in the Sunday In Church sense, but they love their neighbors and are full of joy, and never get tut-tutted.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-01 11:19 pm (UTC)One of the things I remember from my Unitarian Sunday school days is a book called "Beginnings", which was a retelling of most of the world's creation myths. Comparative religion at the age of 7 is cool!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-02 12:11 am (UTC)One of the things I remember from my Unitarian Sunday school days is a book called "Beginnings", which was a retelling of most of the world's creation myths. Comparative religion at the age of 7 is cool!
This summer I encountered a UU children's book called The Everything Seed (http://www.truthbook.com/amazon/The_Everything_Seed.htm), which presents a sort of poetic account of the Big Bang. It was really charming.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 12:20 am (UTC)I haven't actually made contact with the local Unitarian church because it isn't that local, and I have the typical geek-with-no-social-skills fear of large crowds of people I don't know. Plus it may well not be for me at all. But I remain jealous of your experience with the UUs, and eventually that may needle me to check out the Unitarians here.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-02 04:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-02 02:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-03 09:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-03 02:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-03 01:00 pm (UTC)