Beginning our study of Identity

Our theme for the months of November and December is Identity. It's a rich, wide-open topic that we're eager to dig into. This morning, we started that by conducting a class inventory of traits. 

Students answered a series of (mostly) yes or no questions: 

1. I have detached earlobes.
2. I can roll my tongue. 
3. I have dimples. 
4. I am right-handed.
5. I have freckles. 
6. I have naturally curly hair.
7. I have a cleft chin. 
8. I have allergies.
9. I cross my left thumb over my right when I clasp my hands together. 
10. I can see the colors red and green. (I am not color blind.) 
11. The hairline on my forehead is straight. 
12. Are you male or female? 

They then polled their classmates on their responses, generating a set of data on the entire class. We'll be using this data next week in Math, and in STEM as we begin to explore the idea of heredity and genetics. We'll also be tying it back into the dichotomous keys we made earlier this year. 

It was a fun morning, watching kids trying to roll their tongues, asking each other if they had detached earlobes or not, and examining each others' hairlines (very carefully, of course, for fear of inviting the return of the scourge of lie...). 

Today, I learned that it's really, really difficult to convincingly draw someone rolling their tongue.