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*This lesson coincides with section 7, don’t be foolish, from A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech.
Lesson written by Theresa Marler
Grade level range: 1st grade
Length of time to teach lesson: 30 min and revisiting needed
Objective (Learning target) of this lesson: What: Be silly and different. Don’t follow the group once in a while to help solve a problem Why: to bring new thinking.
Resources/supplies/handouts are needed to teach this lesson:
--Puzzle grid with a jester or clown picture with key points on the back of each piece for each group of 3 kids.
Step-by-step teaching instructions for the activity/lesson:
1-Read objective to class.
2-Students put puzzle pieces together with key points on the back to create a silly picture of a jester/clown type person.
3-Teams of three work together to solve a problem on the team problem card. They need to solve the problem in a couple different ways choosing from these personalities: the funny person, opposite person, or the challenge person. Then the team ranks the solutions for which is the best solution to the team problem.
4-Bring the class back together and share problem solutions from the different perspectives. Also, discuss: what happened, why, and what now.
**Rough examples of the clown puzzle with information on the back of each piece. Also, rough example of a problem card and three creative ways to approach a problem. All language would need to be better thought out and put in 1st grade friendly terms. These were created very rough and quickly!
Problem and Communication Rubric: I would have the students write their names on their rubric. Then hand it to a different team member. The different team member would record on the rubric throughout the activity or at the end. Next, give it back to that person and that original owner of the rubric would record what grades they would give themselves in a different color. If they had a disagreement about one of the grades, the two students would need to discuss it. Finally, the original owner of the rubric would fill out the personal reflection and turn it into the teacher.
