To think 'show & tell' in year 4 is dire.

[civicxx]

My DD hasn't done 'show & tell' since year 1. DD is in year 4 now (new school) and has been asked to do show & tell on Friday, what on Earth is she meant to take in?!

When she was little she'd take in favourite teddy etc, favourite baby doll (that you could feed, cried etc) she's dumbfounded at what to take as am I. She said her class mates have brought teddies in but she doesn't want to do that as she felt it was babyish and the questions people asked were boring & I don't blame her!

Help!

Do you have any souvenirs from any interesting holidays or trips you’ve taken?

Ds has brought in a birds nest (that had been abandoned), a remote contro robot he made, and some very old coins.

Favourite book?

Hope this doesn’t come across as mean, I’ve had a bad day. But surely the purpose is to share experiences? So does your DD do an activity maybe? Like cheerleading or rock climbing or brownies or literally anything she’s interested in? Then you take a token related to that, explain what the hobby is and answer questions. Surely it’s not that hard to manage?

My son's in year 4 and would probably quite like it! He's into science so would probably take in something science-y like a microscope or an experiment he's trying out.

I think it's a nice idea if it's based on the children's interests and a chance to talk about a hobby or a sport they like to do.

I'm not sure about teddies though! I think the children should be encouraged to bring in something a bit more interesting or creative to talk about!

A musical instrument
A favourite book
Souvenir from holiday
Something she’s made if she’s crafty
Something relating to a hobby e.g. ballet shoes, football kit, horse riding helmet, badges from brownies etc

It's not that weird! She can take something related to a hobby, a sport, a brownies related thing, an interesting item from home - the more unusual the better.

I am amazed they are asking children in year 4 to bring items in to discuss with their peers, even most Reception classes no longer do this. I would try and find a souvenir or historical item maybe belonging to a relative that she could bring in and discuss.

Is she expected to only do this once or will it be an ongoing activity? Finally where the heck are the school finding time to fit this into their daily timetable

There are so many learning opportunities from show and tell.

Firstly, it's not show some random object. In year four this could be a poster or even PowerPoint about a country or object or hobby. The opportunity allows your child to speak in front of the class and to plan a presentation.

It also allows the rest of the class to think of pertinent questions. So much classroom time is teacher talk. It's good for children to do this!

@HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's ridiculous.

Apparently a term thing, which is cool if your kid attends tons of after school clubs and has a ton of hobbies. Unfortunately (and not for much longer) me & DP work 60 hours a week on shift, thinks like gymnastics etc aren't possible at the moment as we work days & nights & cannot commit to anything where you must attended each week. School holidays she gets to pick whatever she wants to do, we do!

We had a good holiday this year in Turkey and she attended a horse camp thing that she has a certificate for, she could maybe take that.

I agree children taking in teddies is rather boring!

Thanks for the replies!

@folduptheocean

Asking them to do a presentation for homework would be awesome, but that's very very different to show & tell with 2 days (one day if you factor in she told me this evening) notice! I don't think teacher is expecting presentations, presumably from the class so far just teddies & rocks!

Oh god, now she's asked if she can take in her birth certificate?!

The horse riding certificate would be great.

I’m a Y4 teacher and my kids love bringing in things for show and tell every now and again. They’re only 8/9 fgs! Nothing wrong with them being excited about things they have done.

How cynical

Firstly, it's not show some random object. In year four this could be a poster or even PowerPoint about a country or object or hobby. The opportunity allows your child to speak in front of the class and to plan a presentation.

Which is great if the teacher sets it up in this way sending out a letter to parents outlining what is expected. If the expectation was for the opportunity to be used for developing ICT skills or creative skills encouraging the children to create a poster or presentation.

That does not seem to be what is happening here. Children are bringing in generic items from home such as teddy bears with no thought or planning. They do not appear to be encouraging the class to create presentation or think of in-depth questions so it is hardly a learning opportunity, it sounds more like a 15 minute time filler.

Horse camp sounds perfect.

Horse Camp sounds ideal. I assume show and tell is done at this age to improve confidence for public speaking etc. I am glad to see it. It wasn't really pushed in schools here for a long time.

@StitchingMoss

What sort of items do children bring in? DD has said everybody this week has brought in a teddy. A few people last week brought in rocks they had painted. & some of the boys Star Wars figures!

DD isn't best impressed. She attended an activity camp in August too where she did absolutely all sorts of outdoor activities & that certificate is more accessible than the horse one so she can take that! I may run her through a mini presentation breakdown of points rather than her just rambling, I hadn't thought of show & tell in a better light than..
'This is my first teddy, he's called Jim, my Nan bought him me, he's super fluffy' as we haven't participated in it since this kind of thing was acceptable haha

I have a very enthusiastic class this year. They love bringing things to show their class and their teacher but it’s been taking up a lot of time. For that reason I have set aside a slot one afternoon to get all the things shown. It’s not compulsory by any means. Just a way to still look at their precious things but not spend time each day on it.
Could this be the case here?

My child made a full size model of a Soyuz capsule because Tim peak had just come back at a similar age. Sounds short notice though as normally dates are given at the beginning of the term

@civicxx actually that's pretty dire organisation from the teacher so get why you are annoyed. I do a timetable so each child and parent knows when it's their slot.

Show and tell is a wonderful thing for kids as it gives each of them an equal time to shine. The ones that might struggle to get a word in actually gets their few moments. It helps to teach listening skills, speaking in front of an audience and is important for self confidence.

You can take anything in. My 4 kids have been a lobster claw she salvaged from a chinese restaurant, grass balls found on the beach in Tunisia, conker shells, a first hair curl from a trim, black and white pics of great grandparents, a hatched tortoise-egg shell, an african land snail, an apple peeler corer slicer and a bag of apples, a jar of honey and some bee information, a mix of seeds/nuts that had been labeled. It really isn't difficult and tbh if you can't think of anything at all then that's really kind of sad and I feel for you. I am always encouraging my kids to look below the surface, to question stuff and look for more info.

@civicxx, everything and anything tbh! The adventure certificate would be fab - if you can prompt her on how to talk about it even better. This kind of stuff is so good for children's speaking and listening skills - and the digital age these skills are becoming ever poorer.

Most children don't prepare so their 'talk' can be a little dull and stilted at first but these things come with time - and I encourage the other children to ask questions to help the talker share more about their item.

We don't have teddies or toys tbh - mostly the children bring in medals/trophies, leaflets they have picked up from places they've visited, souvenirs/artefacts or photos.

It is hard fitting it all in but I make sure they all get time to bring in special things and celebrate them - how crushing would it be just to dismiss them as boring, because they sure as hell aren't boring to the child they belong to!

Children love showing things! We have time to show children's items (upper ks2) but it's not a 'Percy does it this Friday, next Friday is jennifer' sort of thing. More of a flexible approach, if a child has something interesting or that they're proud of they're able to bring it and share with the class.

I agree with the poster who said it's cynical to think these children don't want to share. They're still very young!

My son really wanted to take in his £100 coin!! I made him take a fossil instead.

Oh happy memories of "show and tell". Ds1 once took in the section of pipe that had burst and flooded our downstairs. Ds2 took our pet tortoises (I supervised and took them home straight after) who surpassed themselves, charging around the carpet, crapping and then starting to copulate. Happy days!