Hello Everyone! I am glad to say that we had a great day at RU IMCS on Tuesday! It was really nice to see that there are still many teachers interested in the incorporation of the Ocean Literacy topics into their curricula. I’d like to start things up again but from a different perspective.
Over the years we have been using the MARE lessons as a key part of a whole school or large format program. Times have shifted and it seems that we have an opportunity to rekindle the incorporation of Ocean Literacy by targeted “mini-lessons” and materials into our classrooms. This can look very different from school to school and from class to class. I think that this would be a great place for us to start. Remember, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel here, just look at our existing curriculum from a different perspective.
How do you envision using Ocean Literacy topics in your classroom or program? I’d really like to know, we heard some great examples from our session on Tuesday but we didn’t get to hear from everyone. Please feel free to chime in and let the community know what you are up to!!
–MWG
I’ll get this going…
I was inspired while learning from Sue about tracking Sea Turtles off of the coast of Puerto Rico. I mentioned to the group that I could incorporate this topic into my Spanish classroom because of the proximity to the spanish-speaking island. I think what I’ll do is set up a map as a poster–laminated for abuse, of course. I’ll build it into a bulletin board so that it will be clearly visible during the course of the class. I’ll pre-set one of the laptops in my room to the sea turtle site that has the most current information. Then I’ll ask one, maybe two, students to find the data on a few turtles, graph it on the map and then quickly present their findings to the class–IN SPANISH!! This way I can use it as a part of my “haz ahora” or “do now” activities at the onset of class. I believe that lesson plans are fluid, living documents that constantly evolve. So by the time September rolls around, I’m sure that this will change. 🙂
–MWG
Hi Mike,
That’s a really great idea about setting up a laptop with “real-time data” perpetually for the students to be able to continue tracking the turtles. Knowing you, it’s without any doubt that you would be able to make a seamless transition into your core curriculum and using it as another way for students to “apply” the spanish they’ve learned into analyzing the data. Out of curiousity and pure ignorance, would you be able to toggle from the laptop to your smart board? Let’s say, for presentation purposes? Or perhaps the students could do a “plot and graph” of the data using spanish?
Next door, in my neck of the woods, I could have students learn about the specific turtle species and then make 3-D models of the turtle, either in clay or plaster. Thinking back to the Mariana Trench model that a student made one year, I could have students make a model of the migration itself.
One thing we’ve stressed over the years is that M.A.R.E. can be implemented into any subject with a little creativity and vision. However, I can appreciate the “stressers at be” that everyone runs into within their own districts. M.A.R.E. is by no means flawless, and it takes a bit of convincing to see the vision sometimes, but with some creativity, it will benefit your students.
Jason