The children were asked to work together with the other people sitting at their table to stretch their thinking and answer a simple question: What are things that are red? Each of the four tables practiced working collaboratively to choose a recorder (someone who was a good speller and listener and also has neat handwriting) and construct a list with as many ideas as they could think of to answer the question.
We talked about important rules to keep in mind (also called our "norms"):
- All voices should be heard (everyone should be participating)
- Take turns speaking
- Be polite
- Stretch your thinking…don't give up!
Here is what each table came up with:
Table 1: books, apples, cars, headbands, baseball, bat, folder, colored pencil, blood, hair, shoes, lunch boxes, bag, water bottle, tie dye shirt, picture, shorts, rose, necklace, vampire, kite, butterfly, American flag, ball
Table 2: apple, clock, pepperoni, car, bird, grapes, American flag, roses, stop sign, tomato sauce, necklace, lips,
Table 3: apple, chair
Table 4: apple, stop sign/red light, lips, heart, bricks, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, red aunts, blood, roses, Jello
Afterward, we came together and shared our ideas as well as our reflections about our learning and how the activity went.
What other ideas do you have? Can you think of other items that are red? Leave your responses in the comments section.