This MLK day I really wanted to get the kids thinking. I did not want to do a classic lesson about the great person that he was, I did not want to give them another history lesson on the civil rights movement. I teach ten year olds, they are actually well versed in this time in history thanks to past social studies classes that they have received. This year I did something a little different...
About a week ago I gave them the assignment to interview someone that they truly respect and admire. I wanted them to choose someone that had a story to tell, someone that had wisdom and some years under their belt. I wanted to cause a purposeful conversation. In the interview they needed to discover a little information about this person's past. I wanted them to see how someone else's life could be much different than their own. I also wanted them to talk about what dreams the person had when they were younger and what their dreams were like now. Lastly, I wanted them to know what dreams this person had for my students. Today they presented what they discovered.
I had a great time seeing them speak easily in front of their peers, sharing all of the fun and odd things that was learned about those that they respected most in life. Even the students that do not speak easily in public seemed to be at ease talking about someone that is special to them.
If you are interested in this project here is the assignment sheet with rubric that I gave my students. The students seemed to really enjoy it and it was nice to get them writing about something that they care about. The plus side is that all of the materials and supplies for the project are free! This assignment is designed to be a paper bag project. All portions of the interview are attached to a brown paper grocery bag. The handles of the bag make it easy for students to hold their project while presenting it to the class.
I really think at the end of the day my students had a different respect of their elders and it maybe even started some family conversation at a dinner table or two.
"The group consisting of mother, father and child is the main educational agency of mankind." Martin Luther King Jr.
-melissa