I shared earlier in my teacher artifacts about introducing literature circles to 2nd graders at a school that is predominately English Language Learners. My CT handed over Social Studies to me and told me that she avoided teaching that subject because she did not know how to make it interesting. So, I chose a standard that seemed interesting -- CSS 2.3 "Students will understand the importance of individual action and character and explain others' lives." Their textbooks provided individual biographies I could use to teach to this standard. However, I thought that instead of a shared reading or close reading, students could practice taking learning in their own hands and work cooperatively. First, I created the groups, scattered all of the higher needs students and then added others in their groups that they would work well with. Then, I created the jobs each student would do and left it up to each group to choose who would do what. I gave them time to read the text twice, then work on their jobs as I circulated around the room.
My observations: The students were very enthusiastic and engaged! I knew this because I was more focused on assisting with students going deeper in their jobs rather than trying to redirect them to the task. Also, students were helping one another and asking me specific questions about their work. I could tell these students were capable of taking ownership of their learning and trying new things. If I had this class earlier, I would have introduced Literature Circles earlier on.
This experience opened my eyes to see how important it is to give students tools to own their learning and to take on leadership according to what they can handle. They need a lot of practice, but with expert scaffolding, students can do more as you raise the bar of responsibility. This encouraged me for my future 5th graders -- activities like literature circles and project based learning will be key to pushing them to the next level of learning.