I received some nice emails about the Bug game our class designed, so I wanted to share what we played this past Friday. I call it The Mysterious Box of Mystery.
Worst name ever.
I know, but my students loved it. Well, the game, not so much the name. Surprising, since they all lost! But they see the potential for winning, so they're psyched about playing it again.
The game is simple. Find a box, tissue-box size or somewhat larger, in which you can hide an object. Ask students to number a page one through eight, and then prompt them to ask questions about the hidden object that can be answered yes or no. Each time you provide a yes/no answer, students write a new guess, or rewrite the one they've previously recorded if they feel it's correct.
Simple, right? Perhaps you've probably played something like this before. But to increase the "mystery" of it,
I created a rhyming script that I read for each of my three classes, and I never deviated from the script. One student mentioned that it made Mystery Box "really scary," and another students mentioned that it built the suspense.
Cool. But the script was truthfully designed to achieve the first objective of the game:
to build better listening skills. By sticking to the script, the game proceeded without interruption, and students were incredibly attentive throughout.
When students failed to name the object in each of the classes, I revealed the objects to them: a spork for Period 1, a candle for Period 5, a clothespin for Period 7. Each time when I asked, "Was it possible for you to actually guess this with just eight questions?" students reluctantly admitted yes.
"Possible, but not probable..." mused one student.
"Not with the dumb questions we asked," responded another unhappily. "We needed to ask better questions."
"We did waste a couple of guesses," added another.
And there it is, the second and more important objective of the game:
to learn to ask better questions. For example, one student asked, "Is the thing in this room?" and the answer, of course, was yes. But what she meant was, "Is this thing observable to our eyes anywhere in the classroom right now?" That question would have cut down many possibilities and likely caused all students to change their guessing strategies.
So while students were disappointed, none complained that the game was unfair or impossible. Instead, many began discussing strategies for the next time the game was played.
I did promise students that I would never use an object that was rare, unique, or unknown to them; they did fear, after all, that I would make the objects harder to guess as they became better guessers.
Beginning to finish, the game took ten minutes. The script was especially helpful in keeping me, the facilitator, from veering off course. In the future, when students are allowed to facilitate the game using their own objects, the script will likewise keep the class focused.
Give it a go, and let me know how it works out for you.
If you're looking to get more games into your reading and writing classroom, I highly recommend Peggy Kaye's
Games for Reading and
Games for Writing. I've used both books extensively in one-to-one instruction, but many of the games can be played with little planning in the ELA classroom. These games are also a huge help if you're seeking activities that a substitute can implement that will be highly engaging for your students.
On 21 September 2015 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) released a statement into Operation Midland. Within this statement the MPS provide a description of the current practice of investigating claims of child sexual abuse or serious sexual assault.
The post Reasonable suspicion for arrest in the era of Operation Midland appeared first on OUPblog.
Inquiry-based centers introduce kids to mentor texts while helping them find their own mentor texts.
As a young girl at a Jewish Day School in New Jersey, I learned about the Holocaust in a brutal and compelling way. Every year, we watched Night and Fog, a rather graphic Holocaust documentary, we held a chilling but beautiful Holocaust remembrance ceremony, and we had Holocaust survivors come speak to us about their experiences in the concentration camps. It was a small school, and all of us fit into the little chapel at the synagogue that served as the school's home. There were members of the school and synagogue staff who had survived the camps, and they shared their stories in that chapel, showing us their numbers on their arms, talking about how many people they watched die in front of them. I felt the shock and terror every year.
So it always somehow surprises me that there are so many kids who don't know anything about the Holocaust or World War II or Anne Frank. I don't know why, but I just assumed that they were a part of everyone's school experience, and as a teacher, I am always dismayed when I discover yet again that the students are so, well, ignorant about this aspect of very recent world history.
My unit of inquiry covering Anne Frank and WWII starts, of course, with guiding questions: What can we learn about history and human behavior from reading diaries and journals? How do diaries help us learn about ourselves? Why does Anne Frank's diary "live on" even though most diaries are not widely read? The unit focuses on diaries and their value as historical resources. We talk about primary sources and their usefulness as tools for furthering research and understanding of an era. What is it about diaries that make them such rich sources, maybe the best sources of information? Well, for one thing, diarists are among the most honest writers you'll ever encounter! Very few lies exist in a diary that carries the expectation of being private forever. Also, diaries are written in a way that is characteristic of an era. One can learn about speech patterns, syntax, and changes in language from reading diaries. We look at excerpts from diaries and tease out all of the historical information available.
Anne's diary is at once exceedingly special and totally normal. Her circumstances, her writing skill, and her insight make the diary extraordinary. But, at the same time, she was just a girl, living in a certain time in history, writing about the mundane and everyday. I have taught this unit using the entire text of the diary, and I've taught it using excerpts. While excerpts are easier, students don't get the whole picture of who Anne was from reading 40 page chunks. If you're going to use the diary, try to fit in the whole thing. And the play is not a substitute, as good as it is. It's the diary format that tells the whole story. An interesting exercise is to compare a scene from the play with the part of the diary that is being portrayed. For example, compare the scene in the play when Dussel arrives at the annex to that section of the diary. Which one is a better historical resource? Why?
Anne's diary should not, or rather cannot, be taught without context. Students must understand the circumstances surrounding the Franks' decision to go into hiding. Actually, the story of how, when, and why the Franks went to live in the "Secret
Recently my sixth graders began researching ancient civilizations, and one topic which seemed to excite them was the inventions created thousands of years that we still use today. That's not surprising; children, after all, are born creators. So what better way to end the school year than by giving students opportunities to be artists and inventors?
Recommended BooksThe best way to get students excited about invention is to provide loads of fabulously illustrated books on the topic. One of my new favorites is
A Native American Thought of It: Amazing Inventions and Innovations
, by Rocky Landon and David MacDonald (Annick Press). By now we all know that moccasins, canoes, and snow shoes were invented by Native Americans, but how many of us knew that these amazingly adaptive people also created syringes, diapers, and hockey? This inviting book contains lots of awesome pictures and just enough information to get students hooked.
Equally exciting is the companion book
The Inuit Thought of It: Amazing Arctic Innovations
by Alootook Ipellie and David MacDonald (Annick Press). In a land where it rarely gets above freezing, and much of each apart of the year is spent in either 24 hour darkness or light, you need to be pretty clever in order to survive with the limited resources nature provides. In addition to being fantastic reads for an invention theme, both of these picture books fit in well with the theme of survival.
Invention, of course, goes beyond rudimentary survival. Later scientists and inventors would seek to improve upon the ways that people live and work.
Alfred Nobel: The Man Behind the Peace
Nothing speaks louder than a good role model. As a teacher and a father, I absolutely believe that. That's also why I love picture books which retell the lives of men and women who, from their very childhoods, proved themselves to be innovative, independent, and incredibly resolute.
So while this post (and the next) might be seen as my "doing the Women's History bit," I truly believe that these biographies can serve a universal role in helping students realize that childhood dreams and interests can determine the paths they follow as adults.
Take, for example, Julia Morgan, who as a child loved to build. To her, buildings were huge puzzles, and she wanted to know how all the pieces fit together. Greatly influenced by her father, an engineer, and her cousin Pierre LeBrun, an architect who designed many of Manhattan's stone churches and its first skyscrapers, Julia dreamed of becoming an architect.
The book
Julia Morgan Built a Castle, written by Celeste Davidson Mannis and illustrated by Miles Hyman, chronicles Julia's dogged determination to first enter the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and to then be accepted as a competent professional (unlikely for a woman in the early 1900's). Her success in both endeavors is inspiring to read; the glowing, sculpturesque forms in Miles Hyman's gorgeous images make this book a satisfying journey through the life of one remarkable woman. Morgan was a tireless architect who completed hundreds of projects while simultaneously working on William Randolph Hearst's incredible San Simeon estate (the "castle" of the book's title), which required twenty eight years to complete. In her design, Morgan ingeniously suspended the estate's massive 345,000 gallon Neptune Pool from steel reinforced concrete beams so that it would sway, rather than buckle, during California's frequent earthquakes.
, written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, describes how a curious girl became one of America's most prolific inventors. Emily Arnold McCully helps readers see that Mattie's childhood fascinations w
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Beginning to finish, the game took ten minutes. The script was especially helpful in keeping me, the facilitator, from veering off course. In the future, when students are allowed to facilitate the game using their own objects, the script will likewise keep the class focused.
Fabulous post, Keith, and so timely as we are finalizing our science curriculum review! Thank you so much for the resource on Native American contributions to science. Do you know of any similar books on scientific discoveries by African Americans & American Asians? All our students need to see themselves in what we teach...