Daring Detectives

One of the books I'm reading now is The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, thanks to the recommendation of my friend Bea.  This book has been around for a while, and Rubin has some more current books out about happiness.  But this book is an easy read with lots of really practical ideas for growing and cultivating happiness in your life.  As I've stepped into retirement, I've learned that one of the guiding questions you can ask yourself often about how you are going to spend your time is, "Will this make me happy?"

One of the things I knew would make me happy was to go back and do some of the things I used to do when I taught drama at Griffith Elementary.  Those activities I used to do with the kids were some of the most enjoyable things I've ever done.  There's just something special about doing things that so many kids find delightful.  There's nothing like the reception I used to get when I walked into a roomful of students full of anticipation for the fun we were going to have.

At the beginning of the school year I contacted one of the teachers I knew at Griffith and asked if he'd be willing to let me come do some things with his kids once a week.  He was agreeable to the idea, and so I've been going for several weeks.  We are doing my very favorite unit, Daring Detectives.  In this unit I enlist the students to be detectives in my detective agency.  I have the students apply for the job and practice some observation skills before we start our case.

I play Detective Shirley Holmes with these third graders.

Today we began the case which involves a lady who has lost her dog.  I told the kids this lady is coming to talk to them about her case, but I have another case I'm working on so they'll have to get her information without me.  At this point, I went out of the room and dressed as the lady with the lost dog and reentered the room.  The kids were perfectly willing to go along with the ruse, so they began asking me questions about my dog and took notes in their detective notebooks.

Here I am playing the lady who lost her dog.

When I finished my dog story I told the students that I had to leave.  I exited the classroom and changed back into my detective gear.  When I came back into the classroom I asked if they had talked to the lady, and they excitedly began to tell me all about what she said.  Never once did any child ever say, "That was you.  You know all about the lady and her dog."  They spoke to me as if I were not actually in the room.  

It always amazes and delights me to watch this all play out.  There's just something so special about watching children use their imaginations and pretend to be something they are not.

In the coming weeks we will be investigating this "case," and we will have to use some spy gear and some disguises.  It will be lots of fun...for me and for them.  And it will definitely make me happy.  I'm sitting here smiling about it as I write this post.