Get to know the classroom community.
The beginning of the school year is a time to build community and get to know the learners that make up our classrooms. “Me in a Bag” is a learning experience that can do just that. One day during the first week of school, a teacher announced to her Grade 5 class that they would be receiving their first homework assignment. There were several groans, but then she pulled out a beautifully decorated brown paper lunch bag and explained this was her homework last night: to pull together all the items in the bag that best described, represented, or symbolized her, and to prepare for how she would introduce each and explain why.
She went on to describe that, as she was choosing the items inside, she kept these four questions in mind: Who am I? Where do I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? As she pulled out each item from the bag, she took time to explain each one and its significance and connection to each of those questions. There were pictures of family, friends, and pets; keepsakes from special memories and trips; objects that represented her favourite things to do, or her special gifts, strengths, or interests; and items related to her dreams and hopes for the future. She included places she would like to go and things she would like to accomplish or do.
The learners listened attentively as she shared and, after she was done, they had several questions. Some of their questions were about her and what she had shared, but many of their questions informed expectations for the assignment, so the teacher asked them to help her co-construct the criteria for the task. This included expectations related to the number and type of items, designing and decorating the bag, time expectations on presenting orally, audience etiquette and follow-up questions, class scheduling, and so on. The room was abuzz, and the learners expressed that homework assignments suddenly seemed a little more exciting! Before wrapping up the lesson, the teacher led a discussion about symbolism and what it meant before asking the learners for examples they could think of in the world around them. She then sent them off with their own brown paper lunch bag and some time to start brainstorming for what they might put into their very own “Me in a Bag.”
Over the next week, the learners were each scheduled their own time slot to share about themselves. A follow-up mini-lesson about communication and oral language skills when making a presentation occurred before presentations began. Also, as determined by the learners when they co-constructed criteria, classmates were asked to use their best active audience skills and record two interesting facts they learned about their classmates on a graphic organizer, as presentations rolled out.
Me in a Box also works!
