The enactment of that prescribed curriculum produced great variety. Even though we all worked on the same topic and shared resources, each class found an amazing array of differences in every theme. No one wound up doing the some thing. In a generative curriculum, there is a continuous interplay between content learning and process learning. Learners apply the processes of reading, writing, speaking, listening, art, music, drama, and mathematics to gain meaning and understanding from the content areas of social studies and science with children's Literature playing an important part in linking these processes and content.
Content is learned through process, and process through content.
We didn't learn to use an index as an isolated skill. We learned it as we pursued information we needed because we were engaged in meaningful inquiry. When Carolyn was working on a project about birds, she wanted some information on beaks, but discovered that the book she was using didn't have an index. I acknowledged her frustration, and we discussed the benefits of an index. We charted sunrise, sunset, moonrise, tides, highest and lowest temperature, whatever appealed to us.