Peak
Experiences
In this strategy, interview each
child individually and ask him to remember a time when he was
really happy, a time when he felt good and was having a lot of fun
an really enjoying life. Jot down each detail as the child
dictates his experience, then quickly sequence the details into a
short paragraph that is read to the child for his additional
comments. Then ask the child to keep his story secret because,
with his permission, it will be read to the group later and the
children will be asked to guess who told the story. (An
interesting variation is to tape record the interviews for
playback later.)
When the group meets, the teacher
reads each story and asks the class to guess who told it. Then the
question is asked, "From the story, can you tell what each
person values?" Example: "I remember a time when I was
about five or six years old and we went to visit my grandmother in
the summertime. She lived out on a desert. They caught me a horse
and I rode him all by myself. It was my first time ever to be in
the desert and I saw squirrels and lots of birds. It was also the
first time I ever rode on a horse and that's what made me feel
happy."
This child values: grandmother
(older people); deserts, summertime, squirrels, birds (nature;
riding by herself (independency, adventure).
The teacher can point out the
important things in the story to the group and perhaps summarize
the things each child values. |