This fall, we are sharing a new series here on the ILS Blog designed to offer you a sneak peek of our classrooms from each of our teachers. Each Wednesday, we’re sharing a glimpse of what a visitor might observe when they walk into our classrooms at any given moment.
This week, Miss Carissa Davis, our Upper School Literature Teachers, continues our “Walk-in-Wednesday” series with a peek at the wonderful things you might witness if you were to step into one of her 7th grade literature classes this week!
We hope that you are encouraged by these snap-shots to join us in person to see us in action, and we warmly invite you to visit us for a Walk-in-Wednesday tour. Stepping through our red doors, you will be welcomed by the joyful sounds of learning, from poems and jingles in the lower grades, to great discussions and debates in our older grades. Singing and music ring out from the music room, and the wonderful sights and sounds of students and teachers engaged in learning can be witnessed throughout our campus.
Please enjoy, and join us on the blog each week as we share additional “Walk-in-Wednesday” features!
If you were to walk into a 7th grade literature class, you will likely see students at desks, carefully crafting summaries of the portion of the text they read last night. In a few minutes, you'll see students raising hands to share their thoughts on hospitality, working together to figure out definitions, and pointing out epithets. The board will be covered with notes from their thoughts, characters we've just met, defined terms, and if you're lucky, stick-figure drawings demonstrating the chapter.
If you stay long enough, you may see the students break into groups for a formal discussion on quest or heroism or magic. They might break into groups to create board games of Odysseus's journey, or draw maps of Middle Earth, or practice King Arthur skits. At some point, you'll probably see students sprawled on the back carpet, with pillows, as we read our books aloud.
During writing, we may be creating outlines, learning how to properly footnote, and crafting essays. Students might be chanting Strunk's Rules of Usage or you may catch us standing on our chairs in a rousing game of memory. I may be biased, but I think English is the best class!
