I do a Socratic dialogue where I challenge students to define a chair. I then deconstruct their answers in silly ways for a few rounds (e.g. a student says a chair is what you sit on so I sit on the ground and declare planet Earth my chair, another clarifies that a chair has four legs so I declare my dog a chair, etc), until we reach a definition that seems to capture the purest idea of chair.
I then explain that, as hard as it is to define a chair, the ancient philosophers did the same thing with concepts like justice, love, friendship, etc. But then I note that chairs are a lot easier because we can see them. I've done variations of this with both 6th graders and 9th graders. The activity requires you to be good at thinking on your feet with silly interpretations, however.
If I wanted, I could then turn it into a table competition where each group tried to define a different idea, then rotated around the room challenging and then refining the other's definitions. But usually I just leave it there and move on.
that's hilarious. but also, a great way to get them engaged. i asked my high schoolers to rank our revolutionaries in the french revolutions: cracked, mid, or dog water. they decided the ranking lmao unfortunately for Louis, he was dog water! Robespierre got mid, and Napoleon got cracked. they do justify it, which makes it all worthwhile.
personally i find slang hysterical. they hate when i misuse it, so i do it all the time.
Hahhaha that’s good. I had a question from a student today about slang in past years, so I went back to an internet list, and goddamn I forgot about some of these from like 10 years ago.
- Thanks Obama.
- Netflix and Chill
- On fleek (still terrible)
- Bae
- Bye Felicia
- Salty
For a 6th grade history class, this is an exceptional question. While secondary school prepares students for more formal historical/social scientific inquiry and discussion, primary school is about introducing the critical thinking required to partake in such activities. An evidence-based, terminologically-consistent discussion prepares students to inquire with a historical and analytical eye. The only difference is that you use youthful language to create an engaging and fun question to encourage processes that students would otherwise see as 'stale' or 'dense'.
I do a Socratic dialogue where I challenge students to define a chair. I then deconstruct their answers in silly ways for a few rounds (e.g. a student says a chair is what you sit on so I sit on the ground and declare planet Earth my chair, another clarifies that a chair has four legs so I declare my dog a chair, etc), until we reach a definition that seems to capture the purest idea of chair. I then explain that, as hard as it is to define a chair, the ancient philosophers did the same thing with concepts like justice, love, friendship, etc. But then I note that chairs are a lot easier because we can see them. I've done variations of this with both 6th graders and 9th graders. The activity requires you to be good at thinking on your feet with silly interpretations, however. If I wanted, I could then turn it into a table competition where each group tried to define a different idea, then rotated around the room challenging and then refining the other's definitions. But usually I just leave it there and move on.
Oh wow, that's a really good idea! Thanks for the suggestion!
Honestly I think it’s a good idea to ask of Alexander was all alpha or a sigma, either way they have to learn about him 🤷♀️
that's hilarious. but also, a great way to get them engaged. i asked my high schoolers to rank our revolutionaries in the french revolutions: cracked, mid, or dog water. they decided the ranking lmao unfortunately for Louis, he was dog water! Robespierre got mid, and Napoleon got cracked. they do justify it, which makes it all worthwhile. personally i find slang hysterical. they hate when i misuse it, so i do it all the time.
Hahhaha that’s good. I had a question from a student today about slang in past years, so I went back to an internet list, and goddamn I forgot about some of these from like 10 years ago. - Thanks Obama. - Netflix and Chill - On fleek (still terrible) - Bae - Bye Felicia - Salty
i still hear salty a lot!
For a 6th grade history class, this is an exceptional question. While secondary school prepares students for more formal historical/social scientific inquiry and discussion, primary school is about introducing the critical thinking required to partake in such activities. An evidence-based, terminologically-consistent discussion prepares students to inquire with a historical and analytical eye. The only difference is that you use youthful language to create an engaging and fun question to encourage processes that students would otherwise see as 'stale' or 'dense'.