Students Just Want To Have Even More Fun

Today was another day of cleaning and sorting out my classroom, and as I explained last week, I am mining some fabulous artifacts of my students' past work. Here are some more that I want to share:

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland Diorama

A diorama, in case you didn't know, is a three-dimensional scene, usually created in miniature. 

Heidi and I are huge fans of diorama craftsmanship, especially in our literature classes, because they allow our students to enter into the imaginary world of the novel. By choosing a particular scene and illustrating it in all its glorious detail, our students carefully examine the passages in the book, interpret the author's language through their own mind's eye, and then challenge themselves to recreate what they have read.

This diorama presents a scene from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, in which three gardeners, named Two, Five and Seven are painting white roses red in the Queen's croquet-ground. Check out the exquisite attention to detail: actual playing cards are used for the gardeners' bodies; their heads came from the original illustrations, resized and printed from an online source. The rosebushes, cans of paint and paintbrushes mesh perfectly from the text in the book; the fountain, roses, door and background round out this charming scene.

Don't assume that this example is the shining star among our students' dioramas. This is one example among dozens of equally clever and intricate dioramas they created over the years.

And don't jump to the conclusion that this sort of project is just a girl thing. The guys in our classes developed their own style and sly humor for dioramas - one borrowed his little sister's dolls to populate his scenes; another used the cardboard from a Diet Coke 12-pack carton in every one of his projects. 

In other words, all of our students found a way to make these projects fun, according to their own definition of the word. Clever them.

Charts and Graphs

As our students progress through the middle school years and on into high school, it is our job to pull them into the deeper waters of scholastic achievement. As coursework becomes more advanced, not every project can be populated with furry animals or sweet scenes.

Our Hotspots class was a perfect illustration of that progression. In the first part of the year, we explored the countries of the Middle East and became familiar with the region in general. But in the last months of the class, we dug into increasingly complex topics and historical events that required more of a facts-and-figures analytical approach.

Still, we challenged our students to keep making projects that were creative and fun, and this is a great example of how one student managed to devise an interesting and artful project while still effectively conveying important and sobering statistics. 

It's a great reminder to me that fun projects need not be simplistic projects. Advanced, mature themes and detailed presentations can still be fun.

The Chosen Diorama

Alright, I know that I've already ranted and raved about my students' beautiful, creative and mind-blowingly accurate dioramas, based on actual passages from our literature readings. I have nothing new to add to my enthusiasm for this hands-on and super fun method of engaging students in their learning, but I have to share this project with you.

Written by Chaim Potok, The Chosen is the story of a young Jewish boy in America, coming to terms with his destiny. Set in the 1940s, the plot unfolds with historical accuracy, allowing the characters to wrestle with topics such as the Zionist movement, the Holocaust, and the formation of the nation of Israel. 

The main character's bedroom is an important place in the story. As we often find him studying, thinking and dreaming in this place, the room physically represents his internal struggles and turmoil on the road to manhood. 

Here is one student's recreation of that room, and the attention to detail is phenomenal. The top photo shows an arial view of the room, looking down into the space.

The photos below zoom in on two of the most intricate walls, revealing just how carefully this student worked to ensure a precise recreation of the room, as described in the book. Doesn't it look like she had fun? Don't you kinda want to make one too? 

Lovely Parting Gifts

I'll be honest - this is not a student project. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Let me explain.

At the end of each of our courses, Heidi and I plan some sort of celebration. Most end-of-school parties are a chance to rejoice that finally school is over, but we take quite the opposite approach.

Our goal is to celebrate what has been learned, and to take one last opportunity to reflect and recollect on what we accomplished together during the year. 

Yes, we typically have refreshments, but that's just another day in the life for our classes. We like to eat at school.

We also plan some kind of activity or event to recap our learning - call it a final exam, if you will. And sometimes, especially with our older students, we do put the pressure on with a formal paper-and-pencil test. But there are many ways to evaluate what our students' progress, and often we use games, challenges, or even casual conversations to draw from our students what they have learned.

Heidi has a long tradition of adding one last special touch to these celebration days. She often prepares a small gift for each student. A bubble wand, a puzzle of the United States, or in the case of our presidents class, a little U.S. flag. These little gifts reflect the core learning of the class, and create a lovely sense of closure, like a bow on a perfectly wrapped gift.

Most importantly, she adds a few words to highlight the deeper significance of the object. Attached to our flags we found this lovely quote about the presidency that succinctly summarizes the truth of the presidency and left us with an important thought to ponder. Heidi's gifts push our learning out into deeper waters, challenging our students to take their learning to the next level.

Also, they are also just plain fun. 

* * * * *

Tomorrow I'm going back to school one last time, and I've saved a few other gems to share before the classroom is empty. 


Also, I'm going to take on the skeptics who say that real learning needs to hurt a little bit, and all this talk about fun is overrated. 


I will prove quite easily that fun learning works best.


Prepare to agree with me.