Many of us are familiar with the old song lyrics,
School days, school days
Dear old golden rule days
Reading and writing' and rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hickory stick
The lyrics in this article must be adapted a bit to tell the story of Language Arts in Mr. Pedigo’s class, Reading, Writing and Latin. As part of my role as an instructional coach for St. Michael, I recently had a wonderful opportunity to spent two double periods with Mr. Pedigo and his seventh and eighth grade Language Arts classes.
I walked into the class-room at 8:20 a.m. The next several hours were a colorful kaleidoscope of reading, composition, discussion recital of poetry, Latin and other Language Arts activities.
Mr. Pedigo‘s instruction was peppered with words such as defend, refute and infer. Students were focused and exhibited an academic maturity far beyond their years. At one point each eighth-grade student was asked to orally share a sentence in Latin including a verb in present, future and past tense. Additionally, eighth grade students recited their choice of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous poem, Miles to go Before I sleep -or- the classic dramatic poem Invictus.
Eighth grade students shared an additional poem they had selected for personal recitation. I had the privilege of helping several students edit their essays. One young lady shared that they followed the MLA Modern Language Association writing style, a format and style guide typically used in high school and college.
Seventh graders read a riveting selection of the Hobbit. Several students read selections of this book with exemplary expression, phrasing and enunciation. Seventh graders worked on their poetry selection to be memorized and recited in class at a later time.
Mr. Pedigo did a great job of differentiating instruction to students’ interests, abilities and skills. Many affirmations and positive words flowed throughout the lessons providing positive reinforcement to the students.
Along with academic skills students are learning life skills such as working in groups, learning to be self-directed and staying focused on the assignment at hand. As a career educator I was so blessed to participate in such a special morning of learning.
I exited the classroom motivated to purchase a Robert Louis Stevenson poetry book and some other classics outside my normal reading selections. My final thought as I walked out of the classroom was “I hope Mr. Pedigo invites me back to his Language Arts class!”
Dee Ann Stricklett
Instructional Coach
Hamilton County ESC, Cincinnati, Ohio
Assigned to St. Michael School in Ripley, Ohio