Becca used her free time yesterday to draw. When she was finished she came up and showed me what she had made. "Look Alison, this is a picture of me on a beach in Hawaii!" As I marveled at this picture Becca had created, my mind drifted back to the news I had seen before I left for school; an 8.9 magnitude earthquake had hit Japan, creating massive destruction on the islands and prompting tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific. Before I had a chance to stop myself, I replied to Becca, "Wow, that's beautiful. But Hawaii is not a place I want to be right now!" Some other students overheard our conversation, and asked me why.From there I decided to explain what had happened in Japan. With the help of the students and the globe in my room, I explained how the ground shook in Japan for close to two minutes, and they saw on the globe how far away we are from Japan. After these were understood, they again asked me why I wouldn't want to be in Hawaii.
Then came the conversation about waves and tsunamis. I filled up a tub of water and tried to show how disturbances in the water cause waves.
The small group of students that had surrounded me couldn't get enough of our conversation, and I couldn't have been more delighted. One small comment had sparked an entire lesson, and from that, they were able to learn about current events and things that are affecting the world today.
Thanks for sharing this. What a great way to bring the events of the world to the level of understanding of a young child.
ReplyDeleteAnd to also give children an opportunity to feel empathy and to think about others who are in great need, when many of us here are very lucky.
ReplyDeleteNoah's question to me this morning was "when will the tsunami get here?"
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