I found that this week’s readings gave real understanding and meaning to the MGRP , not only to what it is and how it’s done but why it is such an amazing teaching tool. Isn’t that something that has been stressed in all of our classes this semester? That we need to make sure students understand the “why” of what they are learning. Aha! it’s important for adults too. I finally started to get excited about this project rather than overwhelmed. Although, that could be due in part to the fact that the research element has been turned in...hmmmmmm??
I appreciated the breakdown given in chapter 1 of all the skills students use when creating a MGRP . On page 8, it states “multigenre projects have helped our students build skills, have extended our curriculum in meaningful ways, and have helped our students value themselves and one another”. What more can we ask for from and educational experience? I also enjoyed seeing the students’ different genre examples.
Chapter 2 gave some concrete ways to get started. These were great tips we can use later with our students and I can see now why we were introduced to the idea of our own MGRPs right from the beginning.
Chapter 3 explained why it so important that students have ownership of their research topics. Again, as we have been learning throughout our courses, students must have “a stake” in what they are learning; it must be meaningful to them for it to become a part of them. We can see in this chapter that the topic choices are really limitless and bound only by the wonderment of the children.
The Voice of Nonfiction, as presented in Chapter 6, shows us that the different genre possibilities are as numerous as the topic ideas themselves. I liked the description on pg. 69 that the “multigenre pieces make the research come alive”. I pondered the likelihood that I would do a multigenre research paper with my students the first time I have them do one. I would like to think I would do this, though I’m not sure how realistic that really is. I imagine the demands of teaching in the beginning will be overwhelming enough. I could relate to the difficulty with the background part of the MGRP as the rationale seemed to be the most difficult part. Like the book said on pg. 70, “children often find this the most difficult piece to write because they must analyze and synthesize all their material. Once they have done this, however, the remaining pieces in their paper grow naturally from it.” Let’s hope so!!
I really enjoyed reading The Donut House. This title reminds me of a favorite preschool song called “the donut shop”. If any of you are just dying to know the lyrics, let me know. I was awestruck at this endeavor taken on by a teacher of kindergarteners. Wow! I adored this example of situated literacy, that in which, “literacy is embedded within real-world events”. I couldn’t help but daydream about what a venture like this with my own class might look like someday. What a rich, invaluable experience for these students and their community members. What I found really interesting was that the children “were learning a great deal about written language through the activities of the donut house project. These experiences emerged naturally as the children went about planning and developing their classroom business”. This project is a great tribute to the fact that all children can learn and be successful despite their economic status. Children need to be prepared for life and equipped with the ability to change their lives, not simply equipped to pass a literacy test. Bravo Mrs. Davidson!
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