We started our first project this week. Our entry event went very well. Rather than explain it I will show it to you and let you see if you can figure it out for yourself. The students were given these instructions:
Here are the objects in the center of the room.
We also played “Panama” by Van Halen while they checked out the items. Next students made guesses about what each thing symbolized. Many of them were stumped. When a student made a correct guess we threw them a popsicle. After letting them guess for a few minutes we shared a slideshow of primary source resources with them. See how you many you can guess before checking out the answers in the comments.
Students figured out everything except for the concrete paver. This activity was a great start for our project. Students were engaged in the inquiry and very motivated to figure out what everything stood for. We followed this up with revealing our Driving Question: ” ‘Murica…cuz MD?” Students now had to figure out what that meant.
The next day the first thing that happened was two students came up to me to guess what the concrete paver stood for. Good attempts but still not correct. One of them said, “I thought about it all night.” That was music to my ears. I highly recommend using objects related to a project as an entry event. It is great way to start inquiry, build curiosity, and creates conversations between students.
How could you use objects as an entry event for a project?
PS: Make a guess and check the answers in the comments.
I don’t suppose it stands for Concrete Kax?
Now I’m going to be thinking about whether there’s any way to include objects in my intros to the ideas of calculus.
Nope, 🙂 I think objects could be used in almost any class or subject. They do work very nicely in inquiry or PBL in particular though.
Answers:
“MD”= Manifest Destiny
pineapple= Hawaii
boat=U.S.S. Maine
Globe=yellow journalism
sugar=Cuba
concrete paver=Philippines as the “stepping stone” to China
bear=”Teddy” Roosevelt
Marilyn Monroe=Monroe Doctrine
El Matador chips=Spain
Hi Mr. Kaechele,
This is an interesting way to get students mind going. Especially after a summer break. I know once I come off a school break, I need something to help me get focused.
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