Show and Tell

James’ class studied astronomy this week (which is probably one of his favorite subjects).  For Christmas, James got a kids-size space suit from NASA and told his teacher all about it throughout the week.  He was so excited when she agreed to let him bring it to class to show his friends!  (I think he was also excited to have a platform to “teach” his class… no fears of public speaking for this guy!)

Even though the kid loves the spotlight, I thought it would be good to prepare him for his show and tell presentation to help him stay on track with the information he wanted to share with his classmates.

We googled “orange astronaut suit” to learn more about it.  We read some information together and I asked him what he learned from it.  I told him it would be a good idea to write a few questions down so that he could remember to answer them while speaking.

You will notice that some public speakers, pastors, leaders and politicians will state their bullet points in question form; this is a great way for kids to give and receive information as well.

James grabbed his pencil and paper and wrote:

1.  When do astronauts wear these suits?

2.  Why do they wear these suits?

3.  Why are the suits orange?

Little brother wanted to write a speech too…

1.  Astronaut?

He worked really hard to write his question down 😉

It also helps to practice a few times (but don’t over-do it because that can add to the nerves).  Give them short and simple reminders to speak slowly and loudly so everyone can hear.

Anyway, I wouldn’t let James just bring the astronaut suit to school shoved in his backpack, so I brought it to school for him (and of course I waited to see him give his presentation, camera in-hand).  Y’all… my heart was just so proud…

Here is the link to the video.