This Wednesday, we followed up the school-wide visit from Anawon by reading an except from the non-fiction text Braiding Sweetgrass, called “The Grammar of Animacy”.
This chapter explores how the structure of the Potawatomi language changes the way we relate to the natural world. The author details her struggle to learn the grammar of Potawatomi, where the line between verbs and nouns is different than her first language, English, and how this different in structure changes our concept of what counts as a person. You can read an early version of the chapter here (the excerpt that we focused on was on pages 7 & 8).
To explore this text we used a thinking routine that asks every student in the room to share something of note, something that they noticed, or something that they wondered. Discussion can follow each student’s contribution, but does not have to. By having a wide range of what is acceptable to share, but requiring that every student speak, this routine seeks to open up class discussions (which can often feature just a few voices). It also encourages students to dig deeper into a source, as contributions must be based in the text.
Like the author, we spent some time mulling over what it would mean to have Saturday be a verb instead of a noun, and if we have a way to express that concept in English.
We will continue to use this method as the year goes on- it’s wonderful to hear every voice in a class discussion!
Room 3 Blog 