Hopefully this will be my last move for a while! I am a
bundle of emotions over moving from kinder to third grade. I have looked over
the Core Knowledge domains for third grade and I am loving what I see. I think
about children who already know what is expected of them at school and can sit
and listen for longer periods of time and can do a lot of self care. But the
truth be told there is one aspect of kindergarten I do not want to let go of.
You see when I close my eyes I can see a tribal elder sitting in front of a semicircle
of children sitting on blankets. The elder is a storyteller, the kind of
stories that children love to hear and learn valuable lessons from. When I open
my eyes I see me with modern day students carrying on a long tradition and
honoring all the elders of the past. I worry my third graders will not want to sit
in the floor and listen to me tell them tales of wisdom. There is some native
history in the third grade will it be enough of a trade off to fill the hole
that will be left if 3rd graders are just too old to sit on the
carpet and listen to a wonderful story?
I think about the one time I recently spent about 20 minutes in a 3rd
grade classroom. The teacher was reading the story “Because of Winn Dixie” to
the class. The lights were low, the students were sitting at their desks, and they
were taking turns for trips to the bathroom. Say it isn’t so!!! I have yet to
see my new classroom. I am hoping I have enough room for a carpet and children
who will sit and enjoy a story or two….
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