Landing and Launching: Installment #3

2 FRUIT

Preparation time: None

Materials Needed: None or a bowl of mixed fruit

Procedure:

1)      Ask students if they were a fruit what sort of fruit they would be today and why.

2)      From a bowl of mixed fruit ask students which fruit looks most like them.

Suggestions:

l  This procedure is best with a bowl of real fruit.

l  It can be all the same fruit but it is best if they are different varieties and shapes.

l  If more concrete thinkers have difficulty with abstractions you can assign a few definitions to get them started:

l  Apples: Knowledge

Grapes: Passion, Excitement

Bananas

Kiwi Fruit

l  Pears

l  Strawberries

Warning: Middle school students may use this an opportunity to use the word “fruit” as a derogatory slur. This can be a teachable moment about put downs.

3 SPORTS TEAMS

Preparation Time: None or up to one hour

Materials Needed: None, cut and paste logo symbols on cards or a variety of sports memorabilia (make sure you cover all the teams within a sport if you choose this option.)

Procedure:

1)      Ask students what sort of sports teams best represents their values.

2)      You may get blank stares when you ask about values and go beyond mere brand loyalty. This is often a teachable moment.

3)      Ask about individuals on the teams and what qualities that person has that students  would like to emulate.

Suggestions:

1)      Although this could seem to be a shallow activity I have had it lead to deeper discussions about loyalty and connections.

2)      Often loyalty to a sports team is connected to a parent present or not who introduced the student to that team and it was a shared activity.

4 SUPER HEROES

Preparation Time: None to considerable but fun. I highly suggest you begin to haunt toy stores and garage sales to accumulate your own collection of super heroes.

Materials Needed: None or a substantial collection of superhero figures or pictures of superheroes or old comic books (although the true comic book aficionado would shudder at the thought of third graders rifling through their collection)

Procedure.

1)      Place a basket full of action figures in the center of your circle.

2)      Ask students to pick a superhero that represents how they are today.

Suggestions:

1)      Although I try to avoid supplying meaning for students some prompts can be helpful:

Batman: guardian of the city

Invisible Man: appears just when you think you're all alone

Cat woman: Haunted sometimes good, sometimes bad

2)      I avoid action figures that are destructive and exist only to wreak mayhem.

Alternatives:

For creative groups ask members to create a superhero that is most like them.

(1)   What special powers would it have?

(2)   What would be its one weakness?

(3)   What would s/he do when not saving the planet?

(4)   What is its alter ego?

Notes: Like movies, superheroes can be a way for you to glimpse the sometimes hidden inner world of children of all ages. The old school superheroes were predominantly male. The new generation seems to be a little more equitable but make sure you have both genders well represented.