Every day a surprise

When I give an introduction about Dalton and classroom management I always promote the  “Surprise Box”.

It was a great pleasure to find an  article on the site of  ‘Teaching ideas’  with a similar impulse to keep the curiousity of children alive.They give several  ideas how you could use The Box of Secrets in your lessons:

· Use it as the starting point for a writing activity. Place the box somewhere prominent in your classroom and ask children to discuss what might be inside it. Where did it come from? Why is it in the classroom?

· Challenge your children to write a story that explains where it came from and what might happen if it is opened.

· Put something inside the box, linked to your current topic, and show one child what it is. Ask them to describe it to others without saying the name of it.

· Make a list of questions that might help you to identify what is inside the box.

· Choose an item to put inside the box and make a list of clues that will help others to identify what the object is.

· Use it to review children's understanding of 2D and 3D shapes in Maths. Put a shape inside it, along with clues that describe the shape. Pull out a clue and ask children to try and identify the shape that might be inside it.

· Put a historical artefact inside the box and use it to introduce a History topic to your pupils.

· Think about the different types of secrets that people have. Why do people sometimes keep secrets? Are secrets a good or a bad thing?