Planning a Main Lesson Block

Developed by Janet Langley

It is helpful when planning a main lesson block to use a four fold

approach; one that nurtures the soul needs, knowledge foundation, academic
skills and artistic skills of the students.

Soul Aspect – The first step in planning any block is to answer the
following questions:
1. Why did Steiner suggest that we teach this topic at this particular
age? How will this subject help the students evolve/develop at an
inner/soul level? (If you don’t know, find out! Ask your mentor or
research the subject in the basic educational literature: Study of
Man, Practical Advice, Discussions with Teachers, etc.)
2. Are there particular aspects of this study that would especially
“meet” my class or certain students in my class?

The answers to these questions will help to inform your choices of

curriculum, assignments, etc. as you plan your block.

Knowledge foundation: (This is the story/lesson content that will

supply the images and basis for the students’ academic and artistic skills’
development. It also provides them with an introduction/growing
knowledge of their world and an understanding of human evolution.)

1. Select and prioritize those events, biographies, demonstrations, areas

of study, etc. that should/could be considered as main lesson topics.
2. Once you have a list of possible lessons, determine how many main
lesson periods you have for the block and then decide which of the
listed topics/lessons you wish to include in the block. When setting up
your block, be sure you have a balance of topics. (For example, in Fifth
grade Greek history you would want a balance between the
characteristics of the various city states and the life of their
citizens, the arts that arose from Ancient Greece, the major wars and
individual biographies.)
Note: When selecting your lessons, try to be mindful of the way each
of the lessons will affect the various temperaments; try to find a
balance here, as well. Also, keep in mind that much of our history is
 very heavily oriented towards male actions and characters. If you
have a choice between an archetypal biography that is female or male,
I would encourage you to choose the female story. (For example:
during the Middle Ages block you could choose to tell the story of
Eleanor of Aquitaine instead of a king or knight.) Another
consideration are those stories, biographies, etc. that would really
meet individual children. (For example: choosing a Chinese Fairy tale in
1st grade because you have a student from that ethnic origin.)

3. After you have laid out the topics/lessons to be covered in your block,
begin to identify the archetype, image or metaphor that you will use
for each lesson. These serve as an “anchor” and provide the students
with a context for the new concept or information. Some examples of
this “metaphorical” teaching are listed below:
a. First Grade introduction of the 2 phonetic sounds of “C” might
begin with the following story: “When C was born, it looked
around and realized that all of the sounds were already taken so
it went to the Mayor of Letter Village and asked what it should
do. …. (See “Endnote #1 for the rest of the story.)
b. Third Grade introduction to silk in the Textile block could be
something to do with the origin of silk being one of the best
kept secrets in the world…the Chinese kept the secret of its
origin for over 2,000 years…. Follow this with the story of how
a Chinese Empress discovered the secret of silk while sipping
tea in her garden.
c. A lesson in Fifth grade Botany, which would help the students
understand the gifts of the plant world, could be a visualization
of what the world would be like without plant life. (Actual
exercise can be found in Endnote # 2).
d. In Seventh Grade Renaissance History you could use the image
of Petrarch as the first “Modern Man”. (He was the first
acknowledged nature poet, tourist, mountain climber-someone
who climbed a mountain just to see the view-, auto-biographer,
etc.)

Note: In your reviews and discussions, remember to return to this

image to help the students anchor the lesson.
 Academic Skill Goals

Ask yourself, “What academic skills should be developed or further

strengthened during this block? (For example: how to use the
dictionary, write a persuasive essay, write up a chemistry
demonstration or write a poem using a new poetic style.) A good place
to start when identifying academic goals for each block is your
school’s curriculum standards or guidelines for your grade. (If you
don’t have these, I highly recommend that your faculty work on
creating them. It communicates a level of professionalism when a
school can state for example, “Every 4th grader that attends this
Waldorf school will be taught these academic concepts, regardless of
teacher.”)
1. When referring to your school’s academic goals for your
grade, identify those that lend themselves to the subject
you are going to teach.
2. Once you have identified these academic goals/concepts,
look at your lesson plan and see if there are “natural fits”.
For example, the introduction of verb tenses with the story
of the three Norns in 4th grade Norse Mythology. After
filling in the “natural fits”, begin looking for ways to bring in
other academic skills.
3. After identifying those academic goals you would like to
work with during the upcoming block, begin to plan your
lessons and consequent assignments incorporating/utilizing
these goals. (An example would be the introduction of map
drawing using a grid in 5th grade, the average cost per
student of a field trip in 6th grade business math or
determining the amount of dirt, compost, boards and plants
needed to create a new raised flower bed at the school in a
basic geometry lesson.) Of course, when planning, you always
need to keep in mind the all important concept of BALANCE;
assignments should be varied.

Note: Establishing academic goals for each grade is a cornerstone for the
accreditation work that Waldorf schools are currently undergoing. Teachers
often find themselves in “hot water” with parents and the school by 5th
grade if they have just been “winging” the academic curriculum. This is
especially true with language skills, which is not as linear in its development
as mathematics.

Artistic Skills Development

1. When looking at this aspect of block planning, we should choose

activities that expand the students’ artistic skills through instruction
of new techniques in the visual arts, new approaches to poetry and
recitation and more challenging pieces of music, both choral and
instrumental. To begin with, ask yourself, “What artistic skills need
to be strengthened or introduced to my class during this block?” (For
example: how to sing in a round in 3rd grade, how to draw a portrait in
6th, or perform a dramatic reading of a play in 7th.)
2. When setting out the day to day plan of your block, be sure to
incorporate a balance of the arts throughout.

(Note: our personal artistic gifts serve as an inspiration to our students, but
we must make sure that we don’t limit their artistic growth by only teaching
to our strengths. Either focus on developing weaker artistic skills during the
summer and throughout the year or bring others in to support your weaker
areas…we have an obligation to the students to create a curriculum that
includes a rich artistic training.

Final Steps:

1. Once you have settled on the above, it is time to choreograph the

block- how will you set up the lesson/topic flow, integrate music and
speech/poetry, which assignments will you include? Always take into
consideration the time required for projects, guest speakers, field
trips, special school events, etc.
2. Arrange for guest speakers, field trips, etc. (Some of these may need
to be done much earlier in the year… identifying those items requiring
earlier planning should be part of your summer pre-planning work.)
3. Gather all of the materials you will need for your various lessons. This
will take quite a bit of time if you are in a 6th-8th grade science block.
(Over the summer, be sure to review the school’s science equipment
and order any missing science supplies and equipment that you will
 need for your various blocks way ahead of time- this will prevent all
kinds of headaches.)
4. Prepare the room physically- design blackboard content- consider
thematic borders and a major black board drawing (that could serve
as an inspiration for the ML book cover), put up thematic paintings,
posters, maps, set up “theme areas/table”, gather relevant library
books, etc. – whatever will inspire and inform your students about the
subject of study.
5. Make decisions about Main Lesson Book entries:
a. Will the book be created horizontally or vertically?
b. Will it be a normal “Waldorf” main lesson book or something
different? (Perhaps a parchment-style ship’s log for the Age of
Exploration, a blue paged book for Astronomy, or a scrapbook
for poetics.) At our school we purchased a binding machine;
beginning in 6th grade almost all of our main lesson books were
created on 60# bristol board (chosen because it is sturdy
enough to be wrinkle resistant and supports “painting” with
aquarelle colored pencils and water to create all or part of the
entry as a watercolor) and then bound with clear plastic covers.
c. What will be the design/lettering of the cover? What about
page titles: will you require certain styles of writing? How will
you take them to the next level of title design?
d. What type of writing instrument should they use for written
entries? (Graphite pencils, fountain pens, colored pencils)
e. Will any of the pages require a “fold out”, overlay, burned
edges/parchment appearance, etc. (prepare for this).
f. What type of artistic work will be included? (water color,
shaded drawings, pastels, maps, etc.)
g. What poem/s will you have them enter?
h. How much will be original artwork/design and how much teacher
led? (I’m a great believer that every artistic entry 1st-5th
should be teacher led with the idea that each assignment helps
to develop a new skill, technique, or understanding of how to
draw that kind of object, scene, etc. If you do this, by 6th
grade your students should have a plethora of skills and be able
to design their covers, borders and illustrations with acumen
and artistry. Please note: that does not mean that art classes
 stop! Portraiture, pen and ink drawings…all sorts of new
subjects and skills await them.)
i. Will you ask them to proofread their entries? What process will
you use for correcting errors?
6. Choose the type of review of the story content and/or academic
concept/skill that will best prepare the students for their main lesson
book assignment. (see Thoughts on Reviewing a Main Lesson by Janet
Langley.)

7. Begin Learning your story/lesson content, practice your experiments,

whatever you have to do to be well prepared to present each lesson.

Endnotes:

1.) “When C was born, it looked around and realized that all of the
sounds were already taken so it went to the Mayor of Letter Village
and asked what it should do. After pondering a bit, the Mayor said,
“Go out tonight when the other letters are sleeping and choose a
sound you would like to use. I’m sure the letter you choose will be glad
to share for it would be an honor to have its sound be chosen. So that
night, C, along with its friend G quietly tiptoed about the village
listening at the windows of the various letters. Since each letter
lightly snored using its sound, the sounds were easy to identify. The M
snored with a “mmmmmmm”, the L with a “lllllll” and so forth.

The next morning C, accompanied by his friend G, returned to the

Mayor’s office and reported the results of his midnight research. “I
have a dilemma Mr. Mayor,” said C, “I really like the strength of the
sound of K – kkkkk, and yet sometimes I don’t feel strong and active,
but rather quiet and gentle, like S and its sound – sssss.”

“I tell you what said the Mayor, since you don’t actually have a sound
of your own, if it is okay with them, you can use both the K and the S
sound as fits your mood.”

Delighted with that solution, C hurried over to K and S and asked if it

would be okay to use their sounds. Honored to be chosen over all of
 the letters, both K and S agreed. And since that day, the letter C has
spoken with either a KKKK or a SSSS sound, depending on its mood.”

Note: this story could be continued on a similar vein with G wanting a

soft sound to and being allowed to use JJJJ.

2.) Lead the students in the following exercise: Ask the students to close
their eyes and imagine themselves sitting in a meadow (or some natural place
on campus) First ask them to pay attention to the trees nearby, the bushes
beneath the trees, the grasses, then the flowers. “Now picture what it would
look like without the trees (pause)….without the bushes (pause)….without the
flowers (pause) - you are just sitting on the ground surrounded by grass
(pause) …now imagine what it would be like and feel like if all of the grass
were gone and all that was left is barren ground.”…..You could continue on
from there with a discussion of how the disappearance of each type of plant
would affect the animal life that would dwell in the meadow, as well. A
wonderful story to follow up this imagination is The Man Who Planted Trees
By Jean Giono

Copyright June 2011 by Janet Langley

SYNOPSIS OF BLOCK PLANNING:

Soul Aspect – The first step in planning any block is to answer the
following questions:
1. Why did Steiner suggest that we teach this topic at this particular age?
2. How will this subject help the students evolve/develop at an inner/soul
level?
3. Are there particular aspects of this study that would especially “meet” my
class or certain students in my class?

The answers to these questions will help to inform your choices of

curriculum, assignments, etc. as you plan your block.

Knowledge Foundation: This is the story/lesson content that will supply

the images and basis for the students’ academic and artistic skills’
development. It also provides them with an introduction/growing knowledge
of their world and an understanding of human evolution.

1.Select and prioritize those events, biographies, demonstrations, areas of

study, etc. that should/could be considered as main lesson topics.
2.Once you have a list of possible lessons, determine how many main lesson
periods you have for the block and then decide which of the listed
topics/lessons you wish to include in the block. When setting up your block,
be sure you have a balance of topics.
3. After you have laid out the topics/lessons to be covered in your block,
begin to identify the archetype, image or metaphor that you will use for
each lesson. These serve as an “anchor” and provide the students with a
context for the new concept or information.

Academic Skill Goals

Ask yourself, “What academic skills should be developed or further

strengthened during this block? A good place to start when identifying
academic goals for each block is your school’s curriculum standards or
guidelines for your grade.

1. When referring to your school’s academic goals for your grade,

identify those that lend themselves to the subject you are going to
teach.
2. Once you have identified these academic goals/concepts, look at your
lesson plan and see if there are “natural fits”. After filling in the
“natural fits”, begin looking for ways to bring in other academic skills.
3. After identifying those academic goals you would like to work with
during the upcoming block, begin to plan your lessons and consequent
assignments incorporating/utilizing these goals. Of course, when
planning, you always need to keep in mind the all important concept of
BALANCE; assignments should be varied.

Artistic Skills Development

When looking at this aspect of block planning, we should choose activities

that expand the students’ artistic skills through instruction of new
techniques in the visual arts, new approaches to poetry and recitation and
more challenging pieces of music, both choral and instrumental.
1. To begin with, ask yourself, “What artistic skills need to be
strengthened or introduced to my class during this block?”
2. When setting out the day to day plan of your block, be sure to
incorporate a balance of the arts throughout.

Copyright 2011 by Janet Langley