Activity Description: Break the students into groups of three. Put the following list on the board and ask each group to come up with at least one thing that fits each category. Something that isn’t real but seems to be real Something that is real but seems not to be real Something you can’t tell … Reality Scavenger Hunt
Materials Needed (samples are available in the lesson plan attachment above): Pre-prepared cards with simple pictures on them Pre-prepared sentences to give to students Blank paper cut into card-shape sizes or blank index cards Warm-Up Activity: Write a sentence on the board that can have two different meanings. For example: “They don’t know how good … Activity: Language Game
If you have time, this lesson will work best over a few sessions so the students have time to work on their artwork for as long as they wish. Materials: Optional: One pre-prepared outline of a house for each student. You can use pre-prepared house outlines or have students draw their own houses from scratch. … Activity: Create Your House
Lesson Summary: Students will work with partners to draw an irregular shape described they their partners through writing. Students will raise questions about the process and outcome of this activity for philosophical discussion. Activity: One student will use their partner’s directions to draw an unfamiliar shape. Students will compare the drawn shape to the picture … Going Philosophical with Shapes
Part 1: Have each person think of a dream they’ve had recently. After giving them a moment to think, go around in a circle and have each person share a bit about their dream. (Elementary school students may get exceptionally excited about sharing their dreams and may want to share an enormous amount of detail … Dream Activity
Have each person right down on a piece of paper: Three things they believe Three things they know Once everyone has their statements, then have them pair up to talk about their claims, and why they put them in the category they did. This should get them started on a conversation about the difference between … Belief and Knowledge
Part 1: Present the following challenge to students: Think of something (e.g., objects, places, people) that you think is truly beautiful, but that at the same time you think others might not notice and/or consider as beautiful. What do you think it is that makes it beautiful? Take a couple minutes of quiet time for … What is Beauty?
Activity: Watch the videos ahead of time and review the potential discussion questions below. Tell children that you are going to show them two videos and you want them to pay attention to the messages of the songs. Show “Hakuna Matata” video to children, followed by “It’s a Hard Knock Life.” After the video has … Hakuna Matata or Hard-Knock Life: What is Your Responsibility?
Notes for teachers/facilitators: The years students spend in the classroom are some of the most meaningful for their self-awareness, identity developments, and opportunities for intellectual growth. This lesson provides a fun and tactile way for students to think about the concept of time: What is time? What is the tie between identity and time? Are … Time & Identity: A Visually Guided Discussion
A NOTE FOR TEACHERS: I’m interested in helping young people think skeptically and philosophically about concepts like knowledge, belief, evidence, fact, and theory. I developed the Vinland Map exercise for this purpose (in a philosophy of science class for gifted teens); I then wrote Noises in the Night as a way of starting similar conversations … Noises in the Night
PLATO is part of a global UNESCO network that encourages children to participate in philosophical inquiry. As a partner in the UNESCO Chair on the Practice of Philosophy with Children, based at the Université de Nantes in France, PLATO is connected to other educational leaders around the world.
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