Why Thematic Teaching?

NOTE: Portions of the following essay are taken from Integrated Thematic Teaching, co-authored by Dwayne Douglas Kohn, published by The National Education Association (NEA)

Personally, I couldn't imagine teaching any other way than to do it thematically. I find thematic teaching to be the most efficient and entertaining way to teach children to read and write. Making lesson plans is a breeze since the activities naturally fall into place. Students are more interested and eager to learn. Even parents become more involved in the education process.

I began using thematic units almost 20 years ago. Before I made the change, I taught the way most teachers taught back then. We would read a story one week about a boy and his dog. The following week we would read about a dinosaur. There was no connection from one story to the next. Occasionally, the teacher's edition would suggest a dinosaur activity to go with the dinosaur story or a dog poem to go with the dog story, but that was about it. Nowadays, most commercially-produced reading programs are doing a better job of connecting weekly stories into a general theme. However, they still leave out the reminder of the day: math, social studies, science, art, etc.

I first learned about thematic teaching while I was teaching a fifth grade class in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The classroom that we were sent to observe was using the theme of the Pioneers and the Westward Trail to teach all of their academic areas. The students' desks were transformed into covered wagons and each student kept a journal of everything that they "saw" on their month-long journey. They used math skills to calculate the amount of supplies they would need, how many miles they would need to travel to reach the next outpost, and how much money they had left. The class created many examples of Native American art, listened to period music, and read many stories and books about life out on the prairies.

I could see how teaching around a specific theme made each new skill more meaningful. Rather than teaching new ideas in isolation, each new piece of information became a piece of a thematic puzzle. The students were able to build on prior knowledge and demonstrate understanding of new topics.

The following year I requested a first grade classroom and began to put the theories of thematic teaching into practice. My very first theme was "insects." Because I was a bilingual teacher, we did everything in both languages. I found that teaching English was more meaningful to the students using this process because they were already familiar with the concepts and vocabulary in their native language. Yet another benefit of thematic teaching!

Since we were going to spend all month on one theme, learning new songs, new vocabulary, etc., I decided that at the end of the month we would put on a show! We would make insect costumes and perform plays! We practiced a week before the show, invited the parents, and had a great time! Collecting materials for my various units has become my hobby- some may say it is my obsession. On many weekends you'll find me at yard sales looking for little knick-knacks that I can use in the classroom. Over the years I've found giant stuffed sheep for my farm animal unit, dress up costumes for my unit on careers, a stuffed snake for my wild animal unit, ceramic clowns for my circus unit, and plenty of posters, games, puzzles, books and toys for all of my units. When you walk into my classroom you immediately know what our theme is for that month!

WRITING

Each student created a thematic journal in which we wrote about a different insect each day: comparing and contrasting insects and non-insects, describing our bugs, writing about which bug we'd like to be, etc. We used basic insect vocabulary to create new words. For example, to make rhyming word families:

bug - dug, hug, jug, mug, rug, tug, etc.
bee - fee, free, knee, see, tree, etc. PLUS: me, she, we, etc.
fly - by, my, shy, try, why, etc. PLUS: guy, hi, lie, pie, tie

We used these same words to discuss beginning sounds:

A: ant: apple, ask, at, add, etc.
B: butterfly: book, bad, bounce, baby, etc.
C: caterpillar: cat, catch, can, cone, etc.

and ending sounds:

T: ant: tent, test, want, cat
G: bug: bag, big, rag, etc.

compound words:

dragonfly, anthill, ladybug, butterfly, spiderweb, etc.

We also used our vocabulary word list to practice such skills as: spelling, alphabetizing, blends, antonyms, synonyms, dividing words into syllables, counting number of letters in a word and many others. We used our new vocabulary to create stories on thematic stationery shaped like bugs, which were then colored in, cut out and used to decorate the classroom.

READING

• Flashcard Match Game: Students match vocabulary word to picture of that insect.
• Cross the River Game: Students must read flashcards correctly in order to cross the "river" and not fall into the water.

Of course, we read Eric Carle's famous insect books, as well as many others; fiction and non-fiction.

Mr. Kohn's Monthly Themes & Vocabulary Words

Beg: Minimum words ALL students must know
Med: Challenge words
High: Super Challenge words!
Sight Words: All must know
Make-a-word: rhyming families