Students help each other learn science by teaching
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SPEARFISH (AP) — About a dozen sixth-grade students at Spearfish Middle School enjoy science so much that they’ve approached their teachers about preparing and teaching lessons themselves.
“Having my young scientists teach each other is demonstrating extreme ownership of their learning,” sixth-grade science teacher Leslie Wangeman told the Black Hills Pioneer. “It means that they have bought into the importance of what we do in the classroom. The scientists teaching have a much deeper understanding of the topic, along with creating empathy for the amount of time and effort that their own teachers put into lessons. The scientists that are the students in the classroom are much more engaged in their learning, since they are listening to peers.”
Wangeman and Kelly Singer, sixth-grade science teacher, decided to honor the initiative the students showed, allowing students to teach lessons, which in turn gives the teachers more time to work with students who are struggling with concepts.
Wangeman explained that about a month into the school year, sixth-grader Gracie Skaley approached her about teaching a lesson on weather, and after Skaley taught her lesson, Wangeman had about a dozen other students approach her with the same request.
“To teach a lesson, the scientist must make an appointment with me where we go over the (state education) standards that we are covering,” she said. “They choose what standard they want to teach. The scientists then create a lesson and set up another appointment with me to go over the lesson. Then we plan a date, and they get to teach it. It is a tremendous amount of work on their part. My young scientists have really embraced being in charge of their own learning and have made learning more engaging, and rigorous, than if I were to teach it.”
Students Cami Lyons and Malaya Naescher taught a lesson using pennies about a month ago, covering chemical and physical changes, and recently, they presented a science scavenger hunt that they had created for their peers.
Naescher said that they had fun teaching the first lesson but wanted to do something a little different this time.