4th Grade Uprising

I think I may have inadvertently created a bunch of big government hating, conspiracy theorist libertarians who hate the man and rebel against authority. (Little do they know that in the classroom, I am "the man" and the authority... shhh, don't tell. Give them a few more years before they realize that GASP! Teachers and parents sometimes don't know what we're talking about.)

Ok, back to that juicy first liner I just dangled. First of all, it was an accident, I promise. It just so happens some of the 4th grade curriculum and materials happened to bring up certain issues. The fact that our state is going through HUGE budget cut did not help. I will start at the beginning... (Before you judge me and say I led these lessons and indoctrinated my children with nonsense, you must know I teach at an inquiry based school. Inquiry based teaching: Allowing the students to construct and draw their own opinions and conclusions about the world around them.)

Lesson 1 - The Read Aloud: Among the Hidden.

Sounds innocent, right? A great book about "third children." As a class, we're discussing Nevada's government, history, etc., so I thought a book that discussed a fictional world where the government only allows two children per family would be a great discussion starter. And it was. Halfway through the book, the class is in a moral uproar about how the government has no right to kill third children when they are discovered. (Yes, kill. The book got a little heavy and the kids were emotionally attached to the main character. That one may have been my fault.) Regardless, they are now wary of this "fictional" government that controls the amount of children in a family.

Lesson 2 - Migration

I find a few video clips introducing the concept of migration. The Oregon Trail, the Gold Rush, the Trail of Tears...pause. "Why are the American Indians moving? Did they want to? Oh, they had to? Who made them move? Why??? Most of them DIED? Where did they go? They didn't even have a choice?" You can see where that little discussion went.

Lesson 3 - Natural Resources

A small group is reading a chapter that covers nonrenewable resources. In the chapter there is a graph displaying what countries produce and consume the most oil. We analyze the data as it’s a 4th grade standard. "America uses a lot of oil.. but it doesn't look like we produce much. Look at the difference! Wow. Where do we get all of our oil? Huh...The Middle East sure produces a lot of oil.. but they don't use much. Isn't that where our army is and stuff? Why are they over there again?"

Lesson 3 - Nevada's Minerals

A speaker comes in to discuss minerals found in Nevada and how we use them. We find out that Nevada is one of the largest exporters of gold in the world. "WOW! We must be rich! Wait, if we're rich, why doesn't the government have enough money for our school? Where does the gold go?"

Lesson 4 - Standardized Testing

-Who makes us take these tests anyway?
-The government.

(That pretty much sums it up.)

Lesson 5 - Budget Cuts

(Background: Our district is cutting 360 million dollars from the education budget.) We have been following the current Nevada government as it is one of our many standards. When we discovered this budget cut, my kids were all over writing letters to our legislators, begging them to veto this cut. (Veto was one of our vocab words.)They hung signs around the school, wrote letters, and made posters. They even went to a rally, protesting the cuts. (Seriously, it was me and a couple of other teachers with this giant line of children following us around like some weird parade. They were shouting "Save Our Teachers" through their little plastic megaphones and then climbed up on the stage behind the rally speakers and sat there for an hour and a half holding their signs they worked so hard to make.)Good thing all the words on their signs were spelled correctly. That could have trouble. "SAV MI EDJUKASHUN!" Good grief, I would have been fired right then and there. Everyone knows it's "SAVE MY EDUKASHUN." Helloooo, silent "e" people.

So, due to some unforeseen circumstances and the 4th grade curriculum, my students (albeit young) are some of the most politically active people I know. (Don't you worry, as a teacher, it's my job to always discuss the other side - I play Devil's advocate constantly. I repeat: I PROMISE I am not indoctrinating them!) They research the issues, talk to their parents, and keep themselves informed. They are open-minded, and are able to discuss other people's perspectives and both sides of an issue. They are also very insightful and thoughtful about the whole thing. “Man, our budget got CUT. This sucks.” Yes it does, young man. Yes it does.

Conclusion: CCSD may have laid me off and Sandovol may not be able to afford my services, but I have left behind 30 seriously politically active 4th graders. Have fun, Nevada! And good luck, these adorable faces are sure hard to argue with..