A hundred and ten third-fifth graders--is this some teacher's anxiety nightmare the night before the first day of a new school year? Au contraire: it is the collective vision of three teachers at Ivanhoe Elementary who were determined to utilize the new-found latitude of LEARN curriculum structure in order to meet the needs of their supportive community.

The three of us wanted to pool our collective teaching strengths and help each other overcome individual weaknesses by collaborative problem solving and strategies that addressed the emergent needs of our 100 children. Here's how it worked out the first year:
Ruth was assigned 32 third and fourth graders, Carol, 34 fourth graders and Laurie, 34 fourth and fifth graders. All three women decided to follow the same science concept emphasis on ecosystems. In addition to FOSS kits, the trio continually tried to bring concepts home to the community involvement phase. For example, in the fall attention was given to the campus ecosystem and the students' responsibility toward their immediate environment. The three classes were mixed into teams of 16, each teacher taking two teams and conducting major campus clean-ups, after which the garbage was sorted, graphed and disposed of. We held discussions on how to decrease trash flow and recycle more.

Later, the student teams went on birdwatching expeditions of the campus area and began gathering data on local neighborhood bird species. Thanks to a TARGET science grant, our study of birds was extended to the L.A. River, Ballona Creek and Malibu Lagoon. Students began making comparisons between habitats and their respective bird residents.

Laurie and Ruth each did an in-depth study of habitat and adaptations in the rain forest and marine system, and all 110 children rotated through the unit. Thus, they were able to extend what they had learned about ecosystems and adaptation thinking into other arenas. They kept journals, did simulations, wrote books and made group presentations about the differences and similarities of the various systems.

All three teachers were aiming at keeping the groups interactive and comfortable with multi-age grouping. As different needs of the entire group emerged, we tried to address them.

Math skills was an area of experimentation. All three of us were dedicated to the concept of open-ended math, math journals and creative problem-solving strategies in cooperative group efforts. These techniques were introduced in the homeroom setting. But we also saw a need to hone basic math operations, so we divided the children according to math abilities. Laurie taught the equivalent of a fifth-sixth advanced curriculum, Ruth taught a straight fourth grade text and Carol taught a third-fourth grade skills group. The children were mixed according to need, so Laurie had third- and fourth-graders as well as fifth-graders in her accelerated group, while Carol had fifth-graders in her third-grade skills class. None of the children felt threatened by this grouping. In fact, they were very happy to be in math groups in which they could be successful. These classes met three afternoons a week, with each teacher taking the responsibility for material and assessment of those students. Furthermore, each teacher still continued work in creative problem solving and writing in her homeroom.

Among the pluses of this year were the relationships and nurturing that went on among the three teachers. Frequent afternoon meetings about individual student problems or teacher crises occurred. The students felt comfortable with all three teachers and with a variety of students, and have kept flexible attitudes for the most part. Expanded thinking was required to include 100 children instead of 34. Also most field trips, as well as bus space, are designed for 60 students, so that became a deterrent. But the fun of dreaming up creative curricula and pooling talents and resources to execute them, not to mention the comradeship, far outweighed the extra effort. In the long run, the load was actually much lighter, and the children benefited from a much richer curriculum.