Once upon a teaching time, show and tell was a weekly and even daily activity in most lower elementary classrooms. Though today’s busy schedules and rigor may not allow for it to continue throughout the whole year, show and tell can be a great way to help get to know your students and for students to begin to connect to one another at the beginning of the year.
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Prepare Students for Public Speaking with Show and Tell
Show and tell is more than a fun activity for students. It provides an opportunity for the sharer to develop oral language skills and become comfortable speaking to a group which will help prepare them for presentations in the future. It also provides the student audience with the practice of social skills such as attentive listening and waiting their turn to talk.
Using Oral Language
Oral language proficiency holds a pivotal role in school success; verbal engagement must be maximized across grade levels (Kinsella, 2010). In order for students to become thinkers and proficient speakers in science, social studies, mathematics, fine arts, language arts and reading, and career and technical education, they must have multiple opportunities to practice and apply the academic language of each discipline (Fisher, Frey, & Rothenberg, 2008).
Introducing the Concept of Show and Tell
Whenever you are going to allow students to bring things from home to share with the class it is best to establish some ground rules prior to the sharing. If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t! by Elise Parsley is a great picture book to read to begin that discussion.
In the story, when their teacher tells the class to bring things from nature for show and tell, the students bring sticks, bird nests, and shiny rocks. However, Magnolia chooses to bring an alligator. The story tells about all the trouble the alligator gets into during the course of the day. In the end, Magnolia must go to the principal’s office and decides that alligators are NOT a good choice for show and tell.
While your students surely won’t bring an alligator, you’d be surprised how many might sneak in a live animal. This book has tons of fun illustrations to make your students laugh and is the perfect springboard for a discussion on what is appropriate to bring to school to share with the class.
After reading the book, consider making a chart with good examples of things students could bring to school and those that would be better left at home.
Communicating with Parents
Unfortunately, you can’t rely on your students to explain to their parents what is appropriate for show and tell. For example, Mr. Johnson may have been in the Army and have lots of cool memorabilia that he is excited for Susie to share, but that is probably better left to a visit on Career Day. Share this free show and tell reminder with parents and students when it is their turn to present to the class.
Resource Ranch
Rhonda is the author of Resource Ranch. Most of her classroom experience has been in early elementary. She has also taught Title I Reading, ESL, and gifted students. She is certified as a Texas teacher in grades 1-8 and as a K-12 librarian.
