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Explain, in your own words, what “processing activities” are and how they contribute to a coherent curriculum.
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“Processing activities” are long term activities that start at the beginning of the year with a little understanding of the subject. Then as the year continues and knowledge increases these activities become more meaningful and full of depth of understanding. The contribute to a coherent curriculum since it is a thread that runs from the beginning of the year to the end that everything else is attached to.
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Processing activities are moments where students pause and take time to digest and reflect on all of the information and content they have learned. This gives them the opportunity to compare those lessons to God’s word and to also determine how that content fits into the world. I think it’s an opportunity for them to write down their thoughts or perhaps ask questions once they’ve spent some time analyzing it internally. When using a Christian curriculum that is consistent within the school, processing activities allow the student to see how certain topics actually support each other. They’ll start building the connections from various subject areas and grow in their critical thinking skills.
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Processing activities are the activities and ways that we help students evaluate what they have been taught and ways to be discerning. It is also the time and reflection that is required for something to truly become a held belief or understanding. It could also be a questioning period. Students love to ask why, and I actually don’t mind them asking why. I can see their minds working as they process the why of something they have been taught. While I desire to pass on my Christian beliefs, I don’t desire the students to have a faith just because I do. I want to give them time to think and question and process all that we are learning. I have found they will often share in their journals with me something they would never ask or say out loud. Journaling might be a great way for them to process their thoughts and have a period of allowing truth to sink in. It is also a safe place for them to express questions they still have or inconsistency they have noticed. When we continually come back to God’s Word for the answers, I think students begin to see the coherence. The Word is our authority not our opinions.
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I had trouble understanding what processing activities were from the lesson so I looked them up on
https://transformingteachers.org/en/articles/biblical-integration/general/64-an-approach-to-worldview-integration
and found this information:
“Basically, three types of processing activities may be planned as part of a good lesson. These are student activities rather than teacher talks:
A. Correlation: What in the lesson today or in this unit correlates, associates with, or fits together with a biblical answer to one of life’s major questions?
B. Correction: What in the lesson today or in this unit needs to be evaluated in light of a biblical answer to one of life’s biggest questions because it appears to conflict with what we know clearly from God’s Word?
C. Continued Study: What in the lesson today brings up a question in the mind of the student for which there is no immediate answer from either the subject area or the Bible? This processing experience is an opportunity for further study together.”
Based on the lecture and this information, processing activities are completed after a lesson to help students integrate the information into their Biblical worldview. These activities provide a way for students to explore connections and are not intended to be a ‘summative assessment’ of how well they understood the material or how well they understand the Bible. When all courses are tying back to the Bible, it will be difficult to argue that the curriculum is incoherent. -
Processing activities are where students are taught to evaluate and use higher order thinking skills to discern the big question ideas behind whatever they are studying. These activities take time for students reflect. They can help student develop wisdom and discernment. When teachers become proficient at guiding students in the process and helping them have conversations about difficult topics, the curriculum is seen through the lens of the Bible and true Christian education takes place.
