Integrated Subject: Social and Emotional Learning

The first graders were led through many of the stages of the Design Thinking process as they created an experience for their families to share. After having the first graders concentrate upon the experience of receiving a gift, they were asked to interview their parents about things that their families like to do together (Research/Deep Dive).

Back in the I-Lab, the students made 1-2 word summaries of the different things their parents had mentioned. The students then learned about the "Triple Why" and "Tell Me More" techniques. Considering each activity, they would ask themselves, "Why does my family like that?" (Developing Empathy/Looking Beneath the Surface)

For instance, if the activity was cooking pancakes together on Saturday morning, the reason might be that it is fun. Asking "why" a second time, the students might say, "because we like cooking." When asked a third time, "because we like to be together." Togetherness might then become a Focus for their further design work.

Students chose one of the focusing words on their lists and generated other experiences that would meet that need or desire (Generating Ideas). In homeroom, the students chose one of these ideas and conceived of a physical metaphor to represent it. They drew three ways they could build their metaphor. In the Innovation Lab, they worked to build one of these metaphors, which they then wrapped and gave to their parents as a gift. For example, for a movie night, one student built a movie projector from a box and a cup. The invitation to the movie night was on a strip of paper that could be pulled through the projector.

The first graders had a great time making these incredibly thought-filled and personalized gifts, and in the process they learned a great deal about the Design Thinking process.