New to DCPS report cards

[Anonymous]

There are lots of ways to teach social studies that are NOT random whitewashed lessons in US History. My 2nd grader, in the past two years, has learned: what makes a community and how different types of communities may be structured; civics, including voting and other rights; structure of local and other governments; markets and money, etc. Critical thinking about citizenship and society is just as important, if not more important, as fluency in STEM skills.

[Anonymous]

This article is funny and true: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2015/09/02/this-goes-on-your-permanent-record/?utm_term=.db3c39550cf1

[Anonymous]

People: the standards are available on line, and they are taught at every school, but not every DCPS does it the same way.

My DCPS kids always had science and social studies. Some years they had it as a full class rotating by advisory; some years they had a full class period of each with a dedicated science/history teacher every day; some years history was integrated into a 2.5 hour ELA block; some years the teacher had science Fridays. The schools have flexibility on the how, but rest assured they are all covering the what.

-10 year DCPS veteran parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People: the standards are available on line, and they are taught at every school, but not every DCPS does it the same way.

My DCPS kids always had science and social studies. Some years they had it as a full class rotating by advisory; some years they had a full class period of each with a dedicated science/history teacher every day; some years history was integrated into a 2.5 hour ELA block; some years the teacher had science Fridays. The schools have flexibility on the how, but rest assured they are all covering the what.

-10 year DCPS veteran parent

Of course there are standards. That doesn’t mean every school teachers them. According to OP that teacher doesn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People: the standards are available on line, and they are taught at every school, but not every DCPS does it the same way.

My DCPS kids always had science and social studies. Some years they had it as a full class rotating by advisory; some years they had a full class period of each with a dedicated science/history teacher every day; some years history was integrated into a 2.5 hour ELA block; some years the teacher had science Fridays. The schools have flexibility on the how, but rest assured they are all covering the what.

-10 year DCPS veteran parent

Of course there are standards. That doesn’t mean every school teachers them. According to OP that teacher doesn’t.

And people told her to report the teacher because that is incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People: the standards are available on line, and they are taught at every school, but not every DCPS does it the same way.

My DCPS kids always had science and social studies. Some years they had it as a full class rotating by advisory; some years they had a full class period of each with a dedicated science/history teacher every day; some years history was integrated into a 2.5 hour ELA block; some years the teacher had science Fridays. The schools have flexibility on the how, but rest assured they are all covering the what.

-10 year DCPS veteran parent

Of course there are standards. That doesn’t mean every school teachers them. According to OP that teacher doesn’t.

And people told her to report the teacher because that is incorrect.

np: Yay for teachers who teach with some autonomy from the curriculum! Tightly following the curriculum insures a joyless year for Kindergartners.

[Anonymous]

They do. It's called extended year schools and they are typically found in the less desirable neighborhoods.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay thank you for that. I’m surprised science and social studies are specials.

I taught (not in dc) and each day we had a 90 minute math time, 90 minute language arts time (guided reading and then writing), and a 45 minute chunk for science and a 45 minute chunk for social studies. There was also 30 minutes for lunch, 30 for recess, 45 for specials (library, Spanish, art, pe, music etc), and a 30 minute chunk for extension/remediation for language arts or math.

Your list fills 6 hours 45 minutes, and doesn't include morning meeting or anything like that. DCPS elementaries are in school for 6 hours 30 minutes.

Maybe dcps should have a longer day if they can’t fit science and social studies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of ways to teach social studies that are NOT random whitewashed lessons in US History. My 2nd grader, in the past two years, has learned: what makes a community and how different types of communities may be structured; civics, including voting and other rights; structure of local and other governments; markets and money, etc. Critical thinking about citizenship and society is just as important, if not more important, as fluency in STEM skills.

Those all seem like concepts that are not really suited for elementary education. I'd rather see more focus on reading, writing, and math; plus a good social-emotional curriculum. Pushing abstractions without the necessary maturity ("critical thinking about citizenship"??) and random facts about voting and markets just seems like a waste of time. There's a reason the Common Core includes only math and English. (PS I feel the same way about all specials, not just social science and science.) In my ideal world school would be 2 hours of math, 2 hours of english, 1 hr of PE, 1 hour of lunch and recess. Real music and art classes (where kids make focused, sustained efforts) can be after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of ways to teach social studies that are NOT random whitewashed lessons in US History. My 2nd grader, in the past two years, has learned: what makes a community and how different types of communities may be structured; civics, including voting and other rights; structure of local and other governments; markets and money, etc. Critical thinking about citizenship and society is just as important, if not more important, as fluency in STEM skills.

Those all seem like concepts that are not really suited for elementary education. I'd rather see more focus on reading, writing, and math; plus a good social-emotional curriculum. Pushing abstractions without the necessary maturity ("critical thinking about citizenship"??) and random facts about voting and markets just seems like a waste of time. There's a reason the Common Core includes only math and English. (PS I feel the same way about all specials, not just social science and science.) In my ideal world school would be 2 hours of math, 2 hours of english, 1 hr of PE, 1 hour of lunch and recess. Real music and art classes (where kids make focused, sustained efforts) can be after school.

I think this is a decent point, but I do think there must be room for science. Exploring growing plants from seeds, nature, bodies, experiments, construction (pre-physics), animals (caterpillars to butterflies, baby chick, tadpole, something...) is totally natural, interesting, and curiosity-fostering for little children. Science has the potential to be one of the most exciting parts of the day for little ones. I am very opposed to making science part of language arts. Reading about a science-related theme or writing a poem or paragraph about it is fine, but it's no way to LEARN about science topics. And I'm a lawyer, not even a person in any science-related field. It just seems like it all meshes very well with the elementary-aged kid's mind and enthusiasm for learning about the world around them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of ways to teach social studies that are NOT random whitewashed lessons in US History. My 2nd grader, in the past two years, has learned: what makes a community and how different types of communities may be structured; civics, including voting and other rights; structure of local and other governments; markets and money, etc. Critical thinking about citizenship and society is just as important, if not more important, as fluency in STEM skills.

Those all seem like concepts that are not really suited for elementary education. I'd rather see more focus on reading, writing, and math; plus a good social-emotional curriculum. Pushing abstractions without the necessary maturity ("critical thinking about citizenship"??) and random facts about voting and markets just seems like a waste of time. There's a reason the Common Core includes only math and English. (PS I feel the same way about all specials, not just social science and science.) In my ideal world school would be 2 hours of math, 2 hours of english, 1 hr of PE, 1 hour of lunch and recess. Real music and art classes (where kids make focused, sustained efforts) can be after school.

Yeah, well, the real experts in education (not the politicians) would disagree with you. Having something interesting to learn about is what motivates learning, not drill and kill. And children ate quite inclined to think about how people get along, fairness, natural sciences, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People: the standards are available on line, and they are taught at every school, but not every DCPS does it the same way.

My DCPS kids always had science and social studies. Some years they had it as a full class rotating by advisory; some years they had a full class period of each with a dedicated science/history teacher every day; some years history was integrated into a 2.5 hour ELA block; some years the teacher had science Fridays. The schools have flexibility on the how, but rest assured they are all covering the what.

-10 year DCPS veteran parent

Of course there are standards. That doesn’t mean every school teachers them. According to OP that teacher doesn’t.

And people told her to report the teacher because that is incorrect.

np: Yay for teachers who teach with some autonomy from the curriculum! Tightly following the curriculum insures a joyless year for Kindergartners.

Usually when people support autonomy from a curriculum they aren't hoping a teacher skips the parts about caring for our world, noticing the weather, studying animal habitats, and playing with motion and balance (scavenging for leaves, having a class pet, looking for animals in the school yard, having a garden, recycling in the classroom, playing with balls and noticing how they move, etc.) That is what the K science curriculum is all about. https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/SY14-15%20Science%20Grades%20K-5%20SAS_4.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of ways to teach social studies that are NOT random whitewashed lessons in US History. My 2nd grader, in the past two years, has learned: what makes a community and how different types of communities may be structured; civics, including voting and other rights; structure of local and other governments; markets and money, etc. Critical thinking about citizenship and society is just as important, if not more important, as fluency in STEM skills.

Those all seem like concepts that are not really suited for elementary education. I'd rather see more focus on reading, writing, and math; plus a good social-emotional curriculum. Pushing abstractions without the necessary maturity ("critical thinking about citizenship"??) and random facts about voting and markets just seems like a waste of time. There's a reason the Common Core includes only math and English. (PS I feel the same way about all specials, not just social science and science.) In my ideal world school would be 2 hours of math, 2 hours of english, 1 hr of PE, 1 hour of lunch and recess. Real music and art classes (where kids make focused, sustained efforts) can be after school.

I think this is a decent point, but I do think there must be room for science. Exploring growing plants from seeds, nature, bodies, experiments, construction (pre-physics), animals (caterpillars to butterflies, baby chick, tadpole, something...) is totally natural, interesting, and curiosity-fostering for little children. Science has the potential to be one of the most exciting parts of the day for little ones. I am very opposed to making science part of language arts. Reading about a science-related theme or writing a poem or paragraph about it is fine, but it's no way to LEARN about science topics. And I'm a lawyer, not even a person in any science-related field. It just seems like it all meshes very well with the elementary-aged kid's mind and enthusiasm for learning about the world around them.

I'd rather have the kids just have more recess outdoors. They're too young to really learn science "facts," and would prepare their minds better for observing the natural world just by being in it. I wouldn't be opposed to gardening, repair work to learn physical skills, lots of field trips to nature if they don't have access to it after school. A kid might get entranced by a tadpole in a real pond; but not so much with an adult-lead lesson about tadpoles. Also when I wrote about integrating science into English, I meant more the kind of critical thinking and writing skills that are the backbone of science communication -- god, writing a poem about science would be the worst!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of ways to teach social studies that are NOT random whitewashed lessons in US History. My 2nd grader, in the past two years, has learned: what makes a community and how different types of communities may be structured; civics, including voting and other rights; structure of local and other governments; markets and money, etc. Critical thinking about citizenship and society is just as important, if not more important, as fluency in STEM skills.

Those all seem like concepts that are not really suited for elementary education. I'd rather see more focus on reading, writing, and math; plus a good social-emotional curriculum. Pushing abstractions without the necessary maturity ("critical thinking about citizenship"??) and random facts about voting and markets just seems like a waste of time. There's a reason the Common Core includes only math and English. (PS I feel the same way about all specials, not just social science and science.) In my ideal world school would be 2 hours of math, 2 hours of english, 1 hr of PE, 1 hour of lunch and recess. Real music and art classes (where kids make focused, sustained efforts) can be after school.

Yeah, well, the real experts in education (not the politicians) would disagree with you. Having something interesting to learn about is what motivates learning, not drill and kill. And children ate quite inclined to think about how people get along, fairness, natural sciences, etc.

The point is that the primary task of elementary is to learn about reading, writing, and math. The rest can be a distraction; and I doubt that kids are truly that motivated by whatever canned "expeditions" they do about science topics. Teach kids the fundamentals first, then give them free time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of ways to teach social studies that are NOT random whitewashed lessons in US History. My 2nd grader, in the past two years, has learned: what makes a community and how different types of communities may be structured; civics, including voting and other rights; structure of local and other governments; markets and money, etc. Critical thinking about citizenship and society is just as important, if not more important, as fluency in STEM skills.

Those all seem like concepts that are not really suited for elementary education. I'd rather see more focus on reading, writing, and math; plus a good social-emotional curriculum. Pushing abstractions without the necessary maturity ("critical thinking about citizenship"??) and random facts about voting and markets just seems like a waste of time. There's a reason the Common Core includes only math and English. (PS I feel the same way about all specials, not just social science and science.) In my ideal world school would be 2 hours of math, 2 hours of english, 1 hr of PE, 1 hour of lunch and recess. Real music and art classes (where kids make focused, sustained efforts) can be after school.

Yeah, well, the real experts in education (not the politicians) would disagree with you. Having something interesting to learn about is what motivates learning, not drill and kill. And children ate quite inclined to think about how people get along, fairness, natural sciences, etc.

The point is that the primary task of elementary is to learn about reading, writing, and math. The rest can be a distraction; and I doubt that kids are truly that motivated by whatever canned "expeditions" they do about science topics. Teach kids the fundamentals first, then give them free time.

Actually the curriculum is set up so that they are using science and social studies topics to learn reading and writing for a pretty decent portion of the non-fiction time. That is balanced with fiction/poetry/plays etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of ways to teach social studies that are NOT random whitewashed lessons in US History. My 2nd grader, in the past two years, has learned: what makes a community and how different types of communities may be structured; civics, including voting and other rights; structure of local and other governments; markets and money, etc. Critical thinking about citizenship and society is just as important, if not more important, as fluency in STEM skills.

Those all seem like concepts that are not really suited for elementary education. I'd rather see more focus on reading, writing, and math; plus a good social-emotional curriculum. Pushing abstractions without the necessary maturity ("critical thinking about citizenship"??) and random facts about voting and markets just seems like a waste of time. There's a reason the Common Core includes only math and English. (PS I feel the same way about all specials, not just social science and science.) In my ideal world school would be 2 hours of math, 2 hours of english, 1 hr of PE, 1 hour of lunch and recess. Real music and art classes (where kids make focused, sustained efforts) can be after school.

Yeah, well, the real experts in education (not the politicians) would disagree with you. Having something interesting to learn about is what motivates learning, not drill and kill. And children ate quite inclined to think about how people get along, fairness, natural sciences, etc.

The point is that the primary task of elementary is to learn about reading, writing, and math. The rest can be a distraction; and I doubt that kids are truly that motivated by whatever canned "expeditions" they do about science topics. Teach kids the fundamentals first, then give them free time.

Actually the curriculum is set up so that they are using science and social studies topics to learn reading and writing for a pretty decent portion of the non-fiction time. That is balanced with fiction/poetry/plays etc.

Yeah, but to call that a decent science curriculum is hogwash.