Making BOEP Work In and Out of the Classroom

By Susan Spizzirri

Mountain School, Flagstaff, AZ

5^th grade

As we all know, state standards are the ever-constant force behind curriculum planning for teachers. As a third year teacher, I have yet to find a balance between meeting the performance objectives outlined in the standards and setting up a comfortable, happy, and productive classroom that inspires students to love learning.  Having completed the BOEP Summer Institute, I felt very enthused to bring the curriculum to my 5^th graders, but unsure of how to make it match the standards expected of me.  While I have managed to bring some lessons to my class, I found a solution to the problem by creating an after school program that could solely focus on the BOEP curriculum.  I am also hoping that by becoming more familiar with the BOEP curriculum, I will be better able to work it into future state standard lesson plans.

My after school program, “The Colorado Plateau Club,” has been a joy to facilitate this past fall.  The club met over a 9-week period, once a week for 2 hours each session. Transportation at my school is done with 12 passenger vans, so I limited the club to 10 students. Every week we completed some BOEP lessons and spent time in a nearby outdoor location that related to the activity. We spent time navigating trails with compasses, looking for signs of wildlife on trails, and exploring different water sources in the area. I feel strongly that interaction with the environment can influence a student’s desire to take care of it, so for every session we would head outdoors with the BOEP curriculum. The club was also a chance for me to get some quality time outdoors after the workday!  A win-win situation!  The club’s sessions consisted of 2 themes. The first was sense of place, for which we made maps of the Colorado Plateau, kept a weekly journal of changes of aspen trees, did a scavenger hunt of the area, hiked, and used compasses to navigate areas around the school. The second theme was water, for which we visited a nearby reservoir, toured a water treatment plant, hiked to a natural spring, and tested the cleanliness of snow around the school. Throughout the 9 weeks the students were enthused, inquisitive, and learned something new about their environment.  I look forward to a new session with new students this spring!

Implementing BOEP at Lukachukai Community School

Mrs. Caroline Yazzie

Lukachukai Community School, Lukachukai, AZ

 7^th and 8^th Grade

In September 2011 I attended the Fall BOEP Institute in Monticello, UT. The Institute was eye opening and exciting. I learned so much about the Colorado Plateau, from animals to plants to the people, and I took what I learned back into the classroom. Immediately, I began working with both the 7^th and 8^th grade classes on compass activities. They enjoyed getting outdoors and working together. Some of the students already had some background knowledge on using compasses and they ended up being my teacher aides. It was a great sight to see the students helping and teaching each other, which is always a teacher’s goal.

Since then I have worked mostly with the 7^th grade students using the BOEP activities. The 7^th graders are studying Earth Science and have been studying units on rocks, plate tectonics, and earthquakes. I have been implementing place-based education by taking the students outside and having them look around their surroundings. The students are very fortunate to have a lot of resources right outside their door at Lukachukai Community School that is near the Chuska Mountains and Canyon De Chelly, where we can see the ecology and natural history of the area.

Integrating BOEP in the Classroom

By Sandra Emery

Ruth N. Bond Elementary, Kirtland, NM

1^st Grade

As a first grade teacher at Ruth N. Bond Elementary in Kirtland, New Mexico, I attended the Fall Institute in Monticello, Utah.  It was the first time I was in Utah!  I was impressed with the area.  The Institute was a wonderful way to prepare me for teaching my students.  We participated in so many lessons all about the Colorado Plateau, it was mind boggling!  Becky Kerr has been a great help keeping me motivated and giving advice on how to incorporate lessons into interesting and age appropriate activities for first grade.  It is very exciting to watch them begin to understand how life in our area really is.  They didn’t understand that water was so precious until we did a few water activities together. 

Integrating Colorado Plateau concepts into the reading program has proved to be easy and beneficial to the class.  Tying in their lives with the rest of the world helps to build comprehension as well broaden their own world.  To bring in the BOEP curriculum, we read stories from the reading program and tie them into cultural or scientific parts of the Colorado Plateau.  We do hands-on activities that show them how the place they are growing up in was made. They are learning what happens to that area when there is mining, or when water is not used in harmony with the area we live in.   Most of this learning is hands-on and takes place outside.  That’s the best part!

Using BOEP Philosophy to Teach Complex and Compound Sentences

Sherri Gregory-Archuleta

Heights Middle School, Farmington, NM

8^th Grade

My student’s have been learning two types of sentences: complex and compound sentences. As a follow-up hands-on activity, we used the “human knot” to make human clauses and connect them with another human clause to construct a compound or complex sentence. Students made their sentences with sticky notes, writing each word of their clause on the sticky note. They then line up according to how their clause would look when they came out of their knot and broke hands. Another group was positioned next to them with the second clause of the sentence and connected with the first clause to make the sentence complete. Students made a total of two sentences, a compound sentence and a complex sentence. Each group finished at different times, so they were instructed to check other group’s sentences as they finished, and help them if they needed it. The students then wrote a reflection in their journal about the activity. Students commented on how this activity really helped them to understand the construction of the two types of sentences they learned.

In activity 2, I used five laminated strips of paper to write each type of sentence the students learned (compound and complex sentences). Each strip had the name of the sentence they had to write, the formula to use to construct the sentence, and the conjunction they needed to use to connect the clauses.  Before I took the students outside, I placed the strips of paper with the information on them on a different plant or object. They were placed on sagebrush, a juniper tree, an ant pile, a dandelion, and an elm tree. They had to use what the paper was placed on as the subject of their sentence. For example, I placed one sentence strip on a sagebrush bush. The strip of paper had compound sentence written on it, the conjunction to be used as the joining word, and the formula I,cI, (which means two independent clauses are connected with a comma and a coordinating conjunction). In their journal, they wrote a compound sentence about a sagebrush, and so on with each strip. They continued to find all five strips of paper for a total of five sentences to be written in their journals. Students enjoyed finding the strips and discussing what the plant or object was they had to write about. After checking their sentences, most students had very little problems identifying the object and writing about it.

Science Fair Workshop

By Amy J. John, CISD District Science Coach

Central Consolidated Schools, NM

American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) has been the primary host and provider of the science fair since 1992. National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair (NAISEF) provides an important opportunity for students to do hands-on science; apply their knowledge of math and science; conduct research and collect data; and interact with professional STEM role models. Since its induction, NAISEF has welcomed over 5,000 AI/AN elementary, middle- and high-school students representing numerous tribes and states. The Fair takes place annually in early March and welcomes students in grades 5-12. NAISEF Grand Award Winners are automatically entered in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

AISES trained some of our Science and Gifted teachers in the scientific methods of Science Fair Projects.  Schools that were represented by teachers were Naschitti Elementary, Newcomb Elementary, Newcomb Middle, Newcomb High, Tse Bit Ai Middle, Mesa Elementary, Eva B. Stokely Elementary, Nizhoni Elementary, Grace B. Wilson Elementary, Ojo Amarillo Elementary, Ruth N. Bond Elementary, Kirtland Elementary, and Kirtland High Schools.  They discussed Parts of a Successful Science Fair, Project, Scientific Method, Preparing a Successful Abstract, Preparing a Successful Bibliography, Using the right resources for NAISEF/ISEF Bibliographies, Preparing Proper Project Displays, Preparing NAISEF/ISEF Forms and Information was shared on other AISES Programs, including BOEP programs that are available for the teachers.

Science Buddies Across the Grades

Amanda Bouchard

Bluff Elementary School, Bluff, UT

Kindergarten teacher

When thinking about science and the various standards that are taught across the grades it sometimes seems as though science would need to look different in each grade. Since we have more than one teacher going through the BOEP program it was decided that we would combine grades for a science buddy experience. I teach kindergarten and I have teamed up with Tanya (the second and third grader teacher) for weekly mini-lessons.

The kindergarteners take a lower case alphabet card and go into the classroom and find their capital letter match. The student holding this capital card is their buddy for this lesson. They share names and a quick hello. Their buddy changes every week so we are working on social skills too.

With each lesson presented, the expectations about what is being learned may vary throughout the grades. The role may look different for a second grader than it does for a kindergartener. This is a wonderful model because we are incorporating into each lesson the use of the various multiple intelligences that often can get left out in a sit down learning environment.

For instance the last lesson we presented was based on a Cherokee folk tale that was retold by a Navajo woman. It was a story about how the sun came to be. There were many animals in this story. I summarized the story for all the children, then Tanya and I role modeled the process of collaborating on another legend that we made up. The children each received a stuffed animal that was a local animal. The assignment was for the group of them to think about the characteristics of their animal and collaborate on a story or legend about how the sun came to be, based on their animal. All children have different levels of abilities when it comes to being creative or negotiating a story together, but given the opportunity their creative process can flourish. While frog can jump high and reach the sun, raccoon is wise enough to protect his eyes from it with his glasses. As an extension the second and third graders could write the story down and the kindergarteners could illustrate it, varying the expectations across the grades.

Our school, Bluff Elementary, is fortunate to be a small school. I feel this kind of engagement across the grades can only help to bring the community closer together as we all learn from each other.

Save the Mountain Lions

Tanya Nees

Bluff Elementary School, Bluff, UT

2^nd and 3^rd grade

As a combined 2^nd/3^rd grade teacher at Bluff Elementary, my schedule is packed! We have one block of time at the end of the day to teach everything from science and social studies to art and writing. The only way I have figured out to fit all of this in has been to create cross curricular lessons that integrate objectives from at least two subjects.

This past fall my class had the opportunity to work with a storyteller to write a place-based story. At the same time we were studying local ecosystems and animals. I decided to integrate the two objectives so students could write about the science content we were learning in class. Below is the story the students wrote and then performed as a class.

Save the Mountain Lions: The Beautiful Balance of Nature

Once upon a time there were many mountain lions, and nature was in balance. There was plenty of land to roam and plenty of food to eat for all the mountain lions. Then their food became scarce because hunters were killing the deer. Their habitat was disappearing because people were building houses and towns. Mountain lions were nearing extinction.

There were only two mountain lions. One was taking a nap. He was awakened by gunshots. Hunters were stalking him. So he jumped up and ran swiftly through the bushes and trees. He ran quickly enough to get away. He found a cave and crawled in. He crouched quietly waiting. The mountain lion escaped the hunters. They searched for him, but couldn’t find him. Finally, they gave up and hunted deer instead.

Meanwhile, the mountain lion hid for a long time in the dark cave – waiting and waiting. He grew very hungry. “Squeak, squeak.” He heard a mouse. So he crouched and then pounced. He caught that mouse and ate it. It wasn’t enough food for a big cat so he left the cave when it was safe. He searched here and there, but the mountain lion still couldn’t find enough food.

Some students from Bluff Elementary learned about mountain lions losing their homes and going hungry. They heard that the mountain lions were hunted until only a few were left. The students wanted to help the mountain lion, so they went to the mountain and formed a human chain to keep the mountain lion safe. They wrote to the government and asked for protection so the mountain lions wouldn’t disappear completely.

The government agreed. They sent a team out to move the male mountain lion to a safe area and brought a female there, too. Together the male and female raised cubs, and those cubs had families. The mountain lion population grew until at last they didn’t need protection anymore. Nature was brought back into balance. Everyone was happy – the government, the students, the hunters, AND the mountain lions.