Today I toured with two groups of delightful 3rd-grade students. They were energetic, curious, and engaged. We began by discussing observation and the expectations for their tour.
In Room 5, after students viewed the entire room, they noted what interested them and any questions they had. We then discussed. We proceeded with the heartbeat experiment. They found their pulses, counted and recorded their beats per 15 seconds. They then ran in place for 15 seconds, took their pulse, and recorded. We discussed the results, and they were sure that their heartbeats increased when they exercised. We then watched the video of Cai sitting amid the explosion. I asked how they think his heart rate was doing, and they concluded that his BP would increase. We then looked at the data presented to confirm their thoughts. The ability for the students to see the actual recorded data helped them to understand the process. We discussed ways the BP can be affected: fright, loud noises, sitting in the middle of explosions, etc.
We moved to Room 11, where we “jumped into” the Palmyra work. Students recorded what they “saw,” “heard,” “smelled,” while in the environment, and finally how that environment made them feel. I briefly gave them some background about Palmyra, including its being an ancient city and its importance to the region. One student offered that she had a friend whose family was from that area. We then looked at the Return to Darkness video and discussed the construction and deconstruction of the work. Some students made a connection between Palmyra and Return to Darkness.
We moved to Room 2 to view Shadow: Pray for Protection and examined the work from three perspectives. As they looked, they noted what they saw in the work. Then, they shared what they observed, and each student crossed off the items on the list if they had them. One student asked if the work was about Hiroshima (third grade!) He also added that he knew what kind of plane it was!
Finally, we discussed what the two pieces (Palmyra and Shadow) had in common. The thought that they were both about war, and that war was not good.
The students in both groups were engaged and eager to participate. Having the clipboards and pencils from the beginning was very empowering for them. They felt confident adding their thoughts to the conversations, either orally or in writing.
Reflection (what would you do differently?):
I wouldn’t do much differently. I have learned that having the clipboards and pencils ready to be passed out and having the students hold them from the beginning of the tour makes a lot of difference. The younger students like to record information and are eager to participate.
Comments & Suggestions:
Unfortunately, the second tour began late, so I didn’t spend as much time at the stops as I wanted to. But in the end, we got through all the planned activities.
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