Student Growth found in a Teachable Moment

At the beginning of the school year, Grade 4s were asked to think about what makes a person a "hero"? We had just read a book on Terry Fox and I asked students a big question to see if students would consider Terry Fox a "Hero". We brainstormed criteria for makes a Hero together on chart paper. Students then wrote an opinion piece of whether they would consider Terry Fox a Hero. Of course, all of us agreed that Terry Fox IS a Hero.

Flash forward to 9 months later, we are wrapping up our social justice unit about finding peace within ourselves and the community. We read "Our Heroes" By Janet Wilson this week and I asked students to reflect on what a Hero means to them. We brainstormed as a class what a Hero meant to us. Then, I brought back the anchor chart from September where we brainstormed criteria for a Hero and it turned out to be a great teachable moment. Students were so surprised to see the anchor chart again and it helped that the marker ink was fading on the paper :) !! Their excitement and expression on their faces were priceless.

We reviewed the criteria we co-created from September and then compared it to the anchor chart we just brainstormed. I asked students, "What do you notice about the two sets of criteria ?". Students expressed the following:

• "the one we created today has big ideas"
• "we now know that a hero can be anybody"
• "ideas are stronger in the anchor chart we created today than yesterday"
• "lots of big ideas with details in the one we created today

I was SO impressed with students responses. Students clearly were able to see how their critical thinking skills have grown as a learner in the past 9 months. It also showed me that the Social Justice unit made a huge impact on my students learning and having them being able to communicate that growth orally was an amazing moment to witness!