"Go, Pack My Trunk!"

“Go, Pack My Trunk!”
“Why did you bring a baby stroller and a tricycle?” Jessie Virgin, 7th grader “I thought it was a cool way to start but at first I thought it was weird.” Fabian Jimenez, 7th grader “I thought it was amazing to fit a lot of stuff into a tiny space.  I wonder if we could fit more things?” Kevin Ayala, 7th grader “I wonder if the way the object is stored affects how much space it takes?” Emily Zamora, 7th grader “I thought you’re using us to pack your car & have everything ready for your vacation.” Pedro Flores, 7th grader “Did we scratch your car?” Alex Marquez, 7th grader
Being creative in how a new unit of study is introduced to your students can set the stage for some life long lessons for your students.  Grabbing students’ interest by challenging them with an activity, an interesting video about bungee jumping, a thought provoking question,  cooking your favorite dish, walking to the city museum,  designing a bridge online, introducing the Ninja Turtles, playing a round of miniature golf in the classroom, or something totally out of the ordinary will lead students to start asking questions and will capture their attention. PBL (Project Based Learning) incorporates different elements into its design - one of those elements is inquiry.  The concept of an Entry Event is embedded in this element as a way to get students to start asking questions.  The concept of an Entry Event is not isolated to only PBL - it can be used in any classroom and with any content area or elective.
	Last week, I completed the “What’s In My Bag?” unit of study with my 7th graders and the #MathInMyLIFE unit of study with my 8th graders.  This week it was time to introduce my next units of study. My 7th graders were about to start a unit of study on geometry.  I was struggling with how to introduce the unit so that I could create some excitement or intrigue with my students.  I thought about contacting UPS and having them visit the school to talk about packing boxes for transport on planes or vans.  But it just did not fit exactly with the content that I needed to cover.   Then last weekend I had a thought - what if I had the students pack the trunk of my car, literally!  So on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I took ‘stuff’ out of my garage and put it into the back of my car to drop off at school.  Wednesday I drove my car on campus and parked it outside my classroom - with all the ‘stuff’ outside my car.  My seventh grade class came around and I divided them into two groups - boys and girls. I told them that their task was to pack everything into the trunk of my car in the fastest time.   “That’s your car out there?”, “Where did you get all that stuff?”, “Can we put it in the driver’s seat?”, “Can I start your car?”  All questions that were fired at me as I asked, “What need-to-know questions do you have before we start?”   Off they went to my car!  To stand back and watch how one group tried to push and cram everything in the trunk while the other group put items inside of items to solve the problem was just awesome to see.  For me, it was not about who had the faster time but rather how each group solved the problem.   My hope was that this experience will generate questions that students want answered and that I have intrigued them just enough to wonder what this unit is all about.  The entry event was meant to be a hands on experience before embarking on our journey of geometry. I can use this experience throughout the unit of study to ask more questions of my students and see where our learning takes us.
”The goal is to grab the hearts and minds of your students.”         Myle Lee
By taking the time to create something unique to introduce a new unit of study, students will see that you have a passion for what they are about to learn.  Yes, you will need to give up some of your class time to do this type of activity - could be as little as 5 minutes or it could be the entire period.  However, the questions students will have afterwards can be an opportunity for them to make a connection with the real world around them.  There will not be answers right away but you have planted the seed and over the course of your unit of study it will not only produce predicted learnings (based on the standards we are required to teach) but also learnings that cannot be predicted because of a student’s unique question or idea.
	Think about an upcoming unit of study and start to list some different ways you may introduce the unit to your students - then try one of them.  Make a connection with the real world and your content area that captures your students’ attention and gets them to think. Still Learning and Loving It, Kevin
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