My fourth graders came into the room yesterday holding a scarecrow drawing on cardstock. They asked if they could stay in their classroom to finish coloring them and cutting them out. I agreed, being the flexible teacher I am, but asked what the scarecrows were for.
K said, "I think we're giving them to the pilgrims or something."
I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows in surprise. "Oh," I said. "Do you know who the pilgrims are?"
K said hesitantly, "Um...Indians?" P who was with her, randomly said, "chipmunks?"
When I said that the pilgrims weren't alive anymore, K looked genuinely surprised. I tried to explain who the pilgrims were, but both were just concerned with getting back to class to get to coloring...no matter what the purpose of the project was.
Remember 2 years ago when we were talking about pilgrims in 1st grade and one boy said, "Oh you mean those people that wear the belts on their hats?"
I guess we can wait until they understand the concept of history (things happened before their time and that people lived differently in the past) before we introduce the truth that the first thanksgiving wasn't really like what happened in the picture books.
Gobble, gobble.
ahaha..oh. my. how does it happen that children walk away with ideas like these? well, i know how it happens. i'm just wondering if we could explain things a little better sometimes..maybe...in a way which engages them and therefore is memorable...? or not. the people with belts on their hat is a pretty entertaining response. and, it is true...in a way.
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