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Saturday, November 12, 2011

Our First Frames

Frames are a staple of GT curriculum. They are a way to make connections between the students' thinking and various icons. We are reading the Wizard of Oz right now (anyone who knows me knows I am a great advocate of reading to kiddos above their grade level-not only for the vocab and listening skills they can develop; but also because it lends itself to activities like this).

The students used the concepts of multiple perspectives, details, big idea and ethics. They chose their own ideas from the story to match each icon. Considering this was a new activity for them and we aren't very far into the school year (and they are 5-years old :)-I thought they did a really remarkable job! It was a challenging task to ask them to do; and not one of them complained-I was very proud of them!





This student did perspective from different characters in each side.




2 comments :

  1. Can you explain the icons that you used and how they relate to what the students wrote on each section of their paper?

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  2. Yes I can! :)

    Ethics (the black/white diamond)-at this stage is right or wrong. When the kids get older they bring in concepts of controversy and prejudice, things like that. So it was wrong that Oz tricked the people, that Dorothy killed the witch.

    Details (the flower)-is how the details of the story shape the story. So Dorothy's slippers are a detail-that ends up being an important part of the story.

    Big Idea (the building that looks like a courthouse)-the main idea or I teach my kids, what you learned from it. That they had courage/heart/brains all along, that there's no place like home-those are some of the big ideas from this story.

    Multiple Perspectives-seeing the world from someone else's shoes. A butterfly sees the world differently than a caterpillar. In this case they chose a character and wrote their perspective-how they felt, what they wished for, etc. The lion was scared all the time. Toto kept getting excited (he would bark at everything all the time).

    You can find all the icons if you google Kaplan's Depth and Complexity-there are several more. We only introduce a limited number at first until they really grasp the concepts. And like I said the expectation for each is a little different in Kinder-as they get older they can get deeper into the concepts.

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