When I was student teaching in third grade, there was a major epidemic of claiming that things in the class weren't "fair". As any of you who are teachers or have kids of your own know, the kiddos think that it's just not fair if they don't get the best of everything! I saw this idea in various posts on Pinterest and decided to try it out! I had the students sit in a circle on the rug, close their eyes, and imagine that they had an injury somewhere on their body. I received several "but why?"s and curious glances, but they were good sports and went along with it. I then called each student up to the rocking chair one at a time and asked them where their pretend injury was. After each student answered, I placed a band-aid on the back of their hand without explanation. One student said she had a broken arm...and she got a band-aid on her hand. One boy said he had a "terrible horrible cut" on his leg....he got a band-aid on his hand. The kiddos all whispered to each other about what was happening, but never asked a question.
After the last student received his band-aid and sat down, a little girl said "Miss Hunt, how come I said my knee had a bruise but you didn't put the band-aid there? I wanted it on my knee! This just isn't fair!" DING DING DING! That's exactly what I was hoping for! I responded, "but why isn't it fair? Everyone got a band-aid didn't they?" A boy said, "Well YEAH, but what good is it if it's not where I needed it:?" This activity worked out so much better than I expected! We then launched into a long discussion about what fair truly means. One student summed it up best when she said "So maybe fair isn't when everyone gets the same thing...it's when everyone gets just what they need!"
12 comments:
I LOVE this idea and can't wait to use it with my kiddos when we go back in August! Thanks for posting!
I love it, too. I think it can work in any grade. I will be teaching Kindergarten in the fall. I will take a picture of those hands and post it with the comments/definitions of what fair really means to hang in the classroom.
Thank you!
Sara
Very clever! I see a use for this in the near future with my three girls. Thank you for sharing!
Such a great lesson & I KNOW you were proud when they came to the conclusion themselves. :) Thanks for sharing!!
http://littlemissglamourgoestokindergarten.blogspot.com
awesome activity - I will be sharing this on my blog for sure!
http://alonganderson.blogspot.ca
Such a a great idea. I'm going to use this for my Girl Scout troop when we learning about being Honest and Fair
I could see a different play on this, with my students with disabilities, and differentiated instruction. Some of my students get mad because they get more difficult work at their level. I have to explain how everyone works at different levels in my classroom. We all work on different things, to meet our learning needs.
Can't wait to try this!!
This is awesome. What a great idea!
Love this idea but just be careful because some children are allergic to plasters so you might need to check first.
You can do this same activity with getting shoes tied. You have everyone untie their shoes, then tell them that when everyone has their shoes tied they can go outside. The thing is, no one can help anyone else tie their shoes, and the class can't go unless EVERYONE is done. You quickly hear, "This isn't fair!" This segways nicely into a "fair doesn't mean equal" discussion such as that posted above. At the end you can do the same thing but allow others and yourself to help.
I found this post through Pinterest and just had to tell you how wonderful it is! I taught school for 20 years, but I can see using that as a grandmother. What a wonderful way to lead children to an understanding of fairness! Thank you!
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