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Reflection of 21st Century Skills in First Grade Religion

Sarah J. Koonce

University of St. Mary


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Reflection of 21st Century Skills in First Grade Religion

Action Research Project

Learning for work and life in our times means helping as many children as possible learn to

apply 21st century skills and a solid understanding of core subjects to the challenges of our times

(Fadel, Trilling 2009). The issue that I addressed in my Action Research Project was

incorporating 21st Century Skills into my first grade religion classs community service project to

Give Drink to the Thirsty. I created a lesson plan for their service project that incorporated

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Literacy Skills. Information and

communications technology literacy is the ability to use technology to develop 21st century

content knowledge and skills, in the context of learning core subjects (Bellanca, Brandt 2010).

Students learned to use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate

information (Fadel, Trilling 2009). Students used the SMART Board with me in class to research

water and thirst around the world. The students then paired up to create a poster to educate

people about how this issue affects people around the world. Each student was responsible for

half of a poster board, the top of their half had a fact and problem that people face getting water,

and the bottom had a picture of the students creative solution to the problem. Students posters

will be displayed in the hallway to educate the school and their parents, and then we will hang

the posters at the water stations at the fun run.

Learning to manage our digital power tools and to apply the critical thinking and information

literacy skills needed to put all this information to good use is a clear challenge for the 21st

century (Fadel, Trilling 2009). We incorporated this by teaching students how to better utilize the

technology that is available to them in their classroom. Educations big goal, preparing students

to contribute to the world of work and civic life, has become one of our centurys biggest
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challenges (Fadel, Trilling 2009). This project helped students contribute to the world and think

about how to problem solve providing drink for the thirsty.

If I were to do this project again next year, I would have students post their work online to be

able to share the information with their family and friends at home. This Action Research Project

has helped me to better implement 21st century skills of information and communication

technologies, collaboration, creativity, communication, leadership, global issues, and connecting

with the community into our first grade religion class.

USM Conceptual Framework of Knowledge in Action

This process relates to the USM conceptual framework of Knowledge in Action that

builds upon the belief that teachers are leaders who shape change through research and reflective

practice which should result in improved classroom practices and greater student achievement. I

researched best practices for teaching 21st century skills, then reflected upon how I could better

incorporate them into my classroom. I implemented a plan to incorporate 21st century skills into

our religion classs community service project. After implementation I again reflected on how

implementation went and what I could do in the future to continue to improve. This project

helped to improve the use of 21st century skills in my classroom. Students were able to achieve

more learning with their community service project than they have in the past.

National Board of Professional Teaching Standards

This Action Research project met all five of the Five Core Propositions of the National

Teaching Standards. Implementing this project shows that I am committed to students and their

learning. By studying and researching I learned how to implement 21st century skills into first

grade religion to become better at teaching this subject to my students. I was responsible for

managing the project and monitor what students learned about water and thirst. I thought
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systematically about how to incorporate many 21st century skills into one project, then reflected

and learned from the process. Being a part of the class helped me to be a member of a positive

learning community that gave me advice and helped me to make my project the best that it can

be.

USM Graduate Program Outcomes

This project met the first GPO by drawing on the education theory of incorporating 21st

century skills into the classroom to undergird the formal education process in first grade religion

and help the students learn with technology, collaboration, creativity, and leadership. This also

met the fifth GPO by helping me to implement appropriate instructional models, strategies, and

technologies to enhance 21st century skills of all students in my class. This met the seventh GPO

to apply qualities of leadership, effective communication, collaboration, and motivation to shape

change and improve the learning community. The students showed leadership in presenting their

finished posters to their class, the school, and at the fun run. They had to effectively

communicate and collaborate with their partner to create a poster. They shaped change in the

community by bringing awareness to the global issue of thirst, collecting formula for a local

womens shelter, raising money for the local soup kitchen, and will be passing out water at the

fun run water stations. This entire process demonstrated my ability to be a reflective practitioner

by identifying the problem that students were not incorporating 21st century skill in their first

grade religion community service project. I researched 21st century skills, advocated a plan, and

then reflected by measuring and evaluating the outcomes.


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References

Bellanca, J. and Brandt, R. (2010). 21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn.

Solution Tree Press: Bloomington.

Fadel, B. Trilling, C. (2009). 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times. Jossey-

Bass: San Francisco.

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