Sometimes a word new to the 4th-graders was introduced. After a few sessions where the students explored puzzlements. Partnering in pairs, kids stepped into Drama Word and said what they had to say to one another in response to a story. One story was this. Hungry Coyote couldn’t find food at home so he walked down to the city where, eventually, he found Cat’s food in a bowl on the back doorstep. Just as he was about to gobble down this yummy food, Cat came out. Cat and Hungry Coyote found themselves staring at one another. What did Hungry Coyote say to Cat? What did Mr. Well-Fed Cat say to Hungry Coyote?
After exploring several stories about a perplexing kind of situations the word flummoxed was introduced. The definition was written on the whiteboard. When someone is bewildered, confused. And don’t know what to do. Then, forming into small groups each group took a turn presenting a tableau, a frozen picture, expressing with their bodies and facial expressions the meaning of the word flummoxed. After that day, their teacher said her students spontaneously used the word flummox. A lot. It showed up in their writing. It showed up in their play.
Five months after the word flummox was introduced, one student, Iluma, made a drawing summarizing her experience in Child’s POV. Her drawing was then traced into metal.
Students keep a journal and consider the following prompts:
What I want you to know about me:
What you don’t know about me:
About me:
What I wish you knew about me:
At the end of each week, we compiled selections from the journals into posters to display on the classroom wall. Selections from those posters were chosen to be included on the 2020 mural.