During this time of year, almost any teacher would love to hear “less is more!” Wrapping up the year, testing, student assemblies and public events, grading, and all the rest – May just seems to demand more time. As a result, Facebook posts by teachers all across the country are beginning to count down the days until summer.
What can be done to make teaching less cumbersome and more engaging—for both educators and students? The authors of an excellent new book that came across my desk the other day have an answer: Less is more!
The book, Less is More in Elementary School: Strategies for Thriving in a High-Stakes Environment, is written by three educators from South Texas – Renee Rubin, Michelle Abrego and John Sutterby – who regularly deal with students of poverty and second language learners.
The authors suggest that the new standards provide a real opportunity for teachers to slow down, focus more on important concepts and deep learning, and engage students more effectively through interdisciplinary learning. In fact, they suggest that Alabama’s new standards can be used “as a springboard for creating a streamlined curriculum that does less, but does it better” (p. 4)
That statement certainly got my attention and the book moved from the queue into my hands. Soon I was tweeting as I was reading!
A strong case for covering less and going deeper
Throughout the book, the authors build a case for “less is more” in very compelling ways. In the first chapter, they make a strong argument for why (strategically) doing less can actually prepare students more effectively for the next step – be it the next grade level, post-secondary, work, or life as a productive citizen.
Suggesting that less is more should start early, during elementary school, the authors say:
“Elementary school may seem a little early to think about preparing students for college or the job market, but the foundation is set in elementary school. Attitude and work habits become more and more difficult to change as students grow older. For example, students who are not accustomed to working in a team in elementary school may find collaboration challenging when they get to high school and beyond.”
Students who believe they only need to do enough to pass the test will not suddenly develop that information with others when they reach college or the workforce. Wagner (2008) writes ‘It’s really tough to teach children how to think differently if they’ve spent ten years on one level of thinking and then they go to college’” (p. 9).
Written to help educators understand and effectively implement the new standards, the authors suggest that embracing the “less is more” concept requires focus on five major outcomes for students. They will be:
- Critical readers and researchers
- Problem solvers
- Effective communicators
- Engaged learners
- Collaborators
What you’ll find in the book
The book is organized into 13 chapters. Most of the chapters focus on the above outcomes that the authors consider vital to both short-term and long-term student success. For example, chapter 3 is titled “Critical Readers and Researchers,” while chapter 4 addresses “Problem Solvers and Decision Makers.”
Each chapter ends with practical suggestions/ideas for implementation. As an example, chapter 2, “Cutting, Combining, and Slowing Down,” includes sample integrated lessons for each elementary grade.
One of the suggested instructional changes that the authors weave throughout the book is the development and use of integrated units to enable both the teacher and students to learn more about multiple subjects at one time. The authors also suggest that integrated lessons can build greater student engagement and instrinsic motivation by providing students with: real success, appropriate work, relevant assignments, choice, peer and teacher support, and movement & breaks. (p. 86)
“Teachers should remember that it is not important how many activities they do, how much information is covered, or how many assignments students complete. It is much more important that students are given opportunities for deep reading, problem solving, writing, research, and collaboration. The themes and lessons should engage students and help them reflect on their own learning (p. 25).”
Throughout the book, the authors rely heavily on John Hattie’s meta-research on the most effective teaching and learning practices. They also suggest that effective professional learning communities (PLCs) can help teachers create and fine-tune the interdisciplinary lessons, and they certainly subscribe to the partnership principles.
They contend that teacher collaboration is key to attaining less is more. A table in the chapter titled “Supporting Teachers Doing Less” offers some very practical and useful suggestions:
I could write volumes about this book. Suffice it to say that if you are an elementary educator frustrated by overwhelming curriculum demands, you need to get Less is More in Elementary School: Strategies for Thriving in a High-Stakes Environment!
Curious? Read this helpful article from the authors, at the TeachThought blog:
Less Is More: 4 Strategies to Streamline Your Curriculum
