"What If" Detectives

As the students walked into the room and gathered in The Hive, they were confronted by two signs. On the left was a street sign that said “Curiosity” posted on the blackboard under the phrase “Where Are We Going?” On the right, “No answers allowed!” was projected in large red letters onto a large white screen. The teacher walked to the front of the room, stood with a puzzled, curious look on his face, and asked the class a question: what if no answers were allowed for an entire class? As a student began to explain what it might be like, the teacher pointed to the sign that said, “no answers allowed”. Another student raised his hand and proclaimed how fun it would be to have no answers and the teacher, yet again, pointed to the sign.

Silence.

More Silence.

A hand hesitantly raised and a young, shaky voice asked, “What if we could play all day long?” The teacher’s face lit up with excitement as he proclaimed, “Interesting question!” and handed the 4^th grader a What If Detective sticker. Several hands shot into the air, one after another. As each student asked their question, they were handed a sticker. Once every student had obtained a What If Detective sticker, they were told to grab their sketchbooks and pencils and head to the door. As the students were taken on a journey throughout the school and around the playground, they excitedly shared “what if” questions with each other, feeding off of each other’s curiosities and writing down the questions that they found particularly exciting.

Check out some of their curiosities below!

What’s next?

4^th Grade students will share their curiosities and receive feedback from their peers. Once narrowing their ideas to one intriguing question, the students will begin to plan an art project that will explore their curiosity!