The America’s Promise 250 grant provides teachers with high quality resources to empower us as teacher leaders. Novel Effect is one of those high quality resources that I find myself reaching for over and over when planning engaging civics lessons for my kindergarten and first grade students.
Recently, I used Novel Effect and the book “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein to teach an engaging first grade small group lesson at my school, Sublimity Elementary. We made two main civic connections during this lesson, civic responsibility and economics. At its heart, America’s Promise is about the “immersive civic experience.” For a first grader, “Civics” starts with how we treat our community and its resources. As we used Novel Effect to read the story, we discussed things like fair friendship and resource stewardship. We also talked about economics and how the story taught us about buying and selling natural resources to earn money. Students were very interested in learning about how they are participating in the community that they live in. They mentioned themes like problems and solutions and how finding solutions to problems is part of being a good citizen.
Another part of Novel Effect that is provided for free with a subscription is the activity plan. Many of the titles in Novel Effect have this feature provided and it is a game changer for teachers. Included with, “The Giving Tree”, was ready made discussion questions, activities for learners of multiple ages. We took time to use the provided discussion questions as a stem for our book discussion. We also did a sequencing activity where the students got to cut and paste the events from the book in order. This was available for download and ready with the press of the print button. This helped meet the sensory needs of the learners in my group that need a hands-on learning approach.
In conclusion, The America’s Promise 250 grant provides teachers with high quality resources to empower us as teacher leaders. Novel Effect is one of those resources that empowers me as a teacher over and over. My students ask me every week if we can read a story with the soundscapes. They enjoy and are engaged waiting for the next sound effect the speaker will make as I read. This keeps students engaged and eager to learn. That’s what our grant is all about.
By. Dee Daniels
Sublimity Elementary
Laurel County Schools
K-1 Special Education
