Metaphors for Crime Observations and Reflection (Elementary School Edition)
I just got back from Skippack Elementary, where I did the Metaphors for Crime experiment with my little sister's 5th grade class!
(not the actual skippack elementary school classroom)
Observations:
The case study paragraphs that I wrote up had language that was slightly more difficult than what they usually read, so I was a little worried that they wouldn't be able to interpret the information. My worries turned out to be unfounded, because each and every child exceeded my expectations and interpreted the information at a high intellectual level.
The kids use exercise balls as chairs (their teacher actually did research, wrote up a proposal, and got the grant to buy the exercise balls, and now they are used throughout the entire elementary school and have spread to the high school as well), which I expected to be very distracting (more to them than to me), but the kids handled it wonderfully!
There was this excited atmosphere, everyone was engaged in the conversation, and the kids were quite open to discussion once we got it started up. That engagement is exactly what I want to see, so I was suitably ecstatic (I played it cool and kept calm of course). The kids weren't afraid to use their imaginations and to put their ideas out there, and I could see that creative mindset clearly.
I just have to mention again how mature these kids are, I absolutely love working with them! Maybe it's just because they don't know me and are being polite, but they are very mature.
The first group (the virus group) was by far the best, at least in terms of discussion, input, and development of ideas. They responded very well to the prompts, thought critically, and gave me surprisingly well-formulated solutions and reasoning to the crime issue.
The second and third groups seemed a little more closed off, and I think that it's because they didn't have those one or two kids that got the conversation started in group one. They need one of their friends to take the jump and be the first to give input, and then it's like an avalanche of commentary and input.
Everything went very smoothly... the class was reading The Cay out in the hallway, and I would call each group (I numbered the kids from 1 to 3) in, hand out the case studies, and we would take about 10-15 minutes to complete the worksheet and discuss. They were extremely well-behaved, and I am very grateful to their teacher for stepping back a little and letting me figure it out on my own, I think it was a very educational and eye-opening experience for me.
I can't wait to go back to the elementary school to do a second lab, this one focused on storytelling and art!
