You Probably Didn't Know That…

You probably didn't know that…
I was born in Hawaii. I was married on my birthday. I once ate fried worms. My dream vacation is to travel to Antarctica.
Who am I?

After sharing those unique facts about yourself, ask students if they think they know other members of the school staff very well? Ask Do you think all the adults in our school might be able to share some interesting facts about themselves that most others might not know?

With that introduction behind you, challenge students to brainstorm questions that might elicit interesting information from other members of the school's staff. Encourage students to come up with questions that require teachers to think and reflect; yes-and-no questions will not result in much useful or interesting information. The class might create a handful of questions. Then, if you like, you can use the think-pair-share strategy to get kids thinking about additional questions.

To use the think-pair-share strategy…

First, arrange students into pairs to discuss and list possible questions to ask.

Then merge two pairs of students together to create groups of four students. Have them discuss and add to the ideas they generated in pairs.

Next, merge two groups of four students to form groups of eight students. Have students create a new combined list of ideas.

Finally, bring all students together to share the questions they have brainstormed.

Finally, since you will have informed staff members about the nature of this project and obtained their permission to include them, students might ask one additional question:

Is there any other interesting fact you could share about yourself that others might not know?

You will want to limit the number of question to 10 or 15 easy-to-answer questions. Students might select their own favorites from the list of questions the class brainstorms.

When students have pulled together their list of questions, they will need to make an appointment with the staff member they have been assigned to interview. They must show up at the appointed time with their questions and a camera (so they can take a picture of the person they interview for the inside of the tent cards). If your school technology program doesn't have digital cameras students can use you might purchase a couple of disposable cameras for this purpose.

When students return from their interviews, their next step will be to draft "copy" for the cover of their "You Probably Didn't Know That…" card. Emphasize that they will want to include the information others will find most interesting or unique. Once they have drafted and edited the text of their cards, they are set to prepare their tent cards. You might integrate technology by having students use a word processing program to type the cards; students can select a font, then type the cards so the information will be easy for others to read.

Post completed cards on a hallway bulletin board under the heading "You Probably Didn't Know That…"

You might even number the cards and create a school-wide staff contest. If you do that, you will want to post just the top card during the contest period. Which staff member gets the most correct answers? After the winner is announced, students can create their tent cards so everybody can learn interesting trivia about the people they see in school every day.

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08/01/2008