Know, Do, Love

For as long as I have been teaching (gulp—my first group of kindergartners are in their early 30s), I have let students know the object of each lesson. Many of you have a long history, too, of being intentional about your teaching and learning goals. We value transparency and begin each lesson by letting students know what we are going to teach and how it will help them.

When planning, what we want them to know and do has been foremost in our minds for good reason. Students who understand the purpose of a lesson are more engaged and can take ownership of their learning.

I have been perseverating over another component that might be equally important. When I am finished with the lesson and they are finished with the practice or work, what do I want them to love? I am wondering if this might add a depth to the lesson that will nourish the lifelong learner in all of us.  

Some examples:

Reading:

Know: There is a simple way to determine if a book is a good fit.

Do: Use I PICK to self-select books for Read to Self.

Love: I love choosing my own books and having time to read them to myself at school, home, or anywhere.

Writing:

Know: Authors begin a story in a variety of ways: with description, dialogue, a thought, a feeling, an action, a question, even a sound.

Do: Take a piece of my writing and try two different beginnings. Read them to myself and see which one I like better.

Love: I love how playing with different leads helps me create an even stronger beginning.

Math:

Know: Drawings can help me solve addition and subtraction problems.

Do: Use drawings and equations to solve addition and subtraction problems within 20. 

Love: I love that I can make sense out of problems with sketches and persevere until I solve them.

Am I on to something? Have you already been doing this forever? I can tell you that just thinking about what I want my students to love has added new meaning and purposefulness to my lessons. I wish we could have coffee together so we could chat about what it looks like in all our rooms. What do you want your students to love?