New beginnings

Teaching Pre K-8, Apr 2000 by Swartz, Elizabeth

A graphic way of organizing helps kids connect their studies to their lives

Spring is a time of new beginnings everywhere, except at school, where we think of it as the beginning of the end to a school year. How often do our students see spring as a time of new beginnings for themselves?

This reproducible Venn Diagram can be used to enhance different content areas.

1. Students can work in teams to research changes in climate, animal or plant life in the spring. If you're studying plants as a class, each group could be given a different species. Use the diagram as a research guide.

2. Students can then use it to draw a parallel between the topic studied and some aspect of themselves. This could be as simple as cleaning out a locker or as complex as engaging in a new sport or hobby. The diagram will help the students to see similarities in events that seem to be different. It may be the motivations that are similar; it may be the outcomes.

3. Complete a Venn Diagram for yourself, too. Make the topic of one circle your current class. What new addition will enhance what you're already doing? Make the topic of the second circle your career. How can you produce a new beginning?

New beginnings are good for all of us. Perhaps that's why spring comes every year.

Elizabeth Swartz teaches third grade at Watsontown Elementary School, Watsontown, PA. She lives on a dairy farm with her husband and her two teenaged children.