Inferring Box Project

We had such an exciting event last week in language arts class. The event was inspired (a.k.a. stolen) from @donalynbooks and her fabulous book The Book Whisperer. I asked all students to bring in 10 items that represented who they were as a person. I was BLOWN AWAY by the interesting and creative items students brought in. I loved one student who brought in an ice-cream scoop to represent his sweet tooth. I loved the student who brought in a pair of headphones to represent her love of music. There were the two students who brought in items to represent their love of their pets - a leash and a dog bone in a plastic baggie! More exciting than anything were the several students who brought BOOKS. Books were an item that described who they were as a person. nHow awesome is that?!

I set up all of the items on random desks and put post-its with numbers on them. Then, the students did a museum walk. We discussed as a class what environment a museum should have and I played classical music as the students perused. Their goal was to guess as many of their classmates items as they could. It was a testament to the students that so many guesses were correct - it means that they listen to one another and respect each other. After the guessing, each student described several of their items, which revealed so much. I would encourage all teachers to do something similar - both the students and the teachers were able to learn so much about each other. Fun and productive - a classroom winner! (I especially loved the students who kept saying, "This is hard!")

One tip: Encourage students to not bring in any item that is automatically identifiable, like personal pictures, etc.

Enjoy some pictures of our museum walk: