The Goodrich Way: An Insect's Perspective

Spring has sprung and soon we will be hearing the sweet sounds of birds chirping, dogs barking, and kids screaming while playing outside. We will see the pretty flowers start to bloom and the grass growing greener each day. But along with the beautiful sounds and views of spring, comes the annoyance of insects. Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! We will soon be running away from bees, swatting at flies, and spraying ourselves with bug spray to keep away the mosquitoes. Can you imagine being an insect? Constantly in danger!

The 3rd/4th Gifted Differentiated Engagement Block (DEB) learning theme for the year is, Perspectives. The past quarter we focused more specifically on literary perspectives. One of the goals for the quarter was to get the students to understand that based on one's perspective, the same events can be viewed differently. Most of us believe insects can be of an annoyance, but how do insects feel about us? How is life like through their perspective?

The students were introduced to the story, Diary of a Worm, which describes how a worm feels and views events differently from a human, such as a game of hopscotch on a rainy day, and/or when fishing season begins. After analyzing the content, voice, and format of the story, the students created their own Diary of an Insect books. The students started off by choosing an insect of their choice and researching information about their insects. Then, the students were given an graphic organizer to organize their thoughts for the story. The most challenging part for the students was trying to figure out how to use the information they researched to create a fictional, humorous, and somewhat realistic diary from the viewpoint of their insect. They were required to have researched evidence to support the ideas in their diary. The deep and creative thinking the students endured, created a lot of interesting and fun stories!