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Interestingly the common children's story 'Goodnight Moon' does exactly this. The text on one of the pages says "Goodnight nobody" and the page is otherwise blank.
Any child who recalled that could presumably just copy (thus benefiting kids whose parents buy them lots of books, presumably). But outside of that, I agree it's a task that would have made me a grumpy kid, but as it's only one question in a large bundle and does have some value conceptually, I'm not going to lose sleep over it.
It doesn't tend to reward creative thinkers over literal thinkers, but that might be a good thing since so much of schooling does the opposite.
Drawing pictures: The whole episode keeps reminding me of this story that I once read. I hope it is pertinent. During the WW II years, a theory was being bandied about that you could determine how emotionally stable a child was by watching the pictures he drew. A teacher decided to try it on her students. She gave them paper and told them to draw anything they wanted to draw.
Walking around the room, she spotted one picture that was totally black except for one corner in the upper right. Alarm bells went off but she decided to be calm about it and asked the child what he had drawn. (Remember this is during the war years.) He looked up at her like he felt she should recognize it and said "It's a blackout.". Ah, good. But why the white corner? "Someone left a light on."
I was reading a New York Times article about the new Common Core Curriculum. A teacher of first grade special education said one of the questions was "Draw a picture of the word nobody". What? I could. You could. Unless you suddenly wonder if they mean using that word in the picture or picturing what 'nobody' means. Anyway -- a question for parents of first graders. Would your six/seven year old understand that question? Could he "draw a picture of the word nobody" with no prompting from a parent or teacher? Skip the burden of being a special needs student. Just a regular first grade student. Could he do it with no prompting from an adult?
My kids are older but I could see them drawing a picture of a head, arms and legs with no body.
I was reading a New York Times article about the new Common Core Curriculum. A teacher of first grade special education said one of the questions was "Draw a picture of the word nobody". What? I could. You could. Unless you suddenly wonder if they mean using that word in the picture or picturing what 'nobody' means. Anyway -- a question for parents of first graders. Would your six/seven year old understand that question? Could he "draw a picture of the word nobody" with no prompting from a parent or teacher?
It's an illegitimate question because "nobody" refers to an abstract concept and not any particular physical world reference. It is thus impossible to draw "nobody". A sheeple-minded teacher (who is probably a nobody) might think it is a cute question, but in reality it is nonsensical.
In first grade I would have turned in a blank piece of paper, and, if pressed, told the teacher that was stupid. In 12th grade I would have done the same thing. I was identified gifted, but I lack an artsy creative gene. I'm the analytical type.
I'll try to get my kids to do this exercise tonight.
A picture of mice playing, which illustrates that "nobody" is there to represent the cats, who are away. I would recognize a seemingly "nonsense" assignment as a challenge to be logically creative. A concept that school children should be exposed to fairly early on.
Why would even a first grader equate "nobody" with "nothing". One could draw the inside of his refrigerator -- there is "nobody" in there.
Drawing pictures: The whole episode keeps reminding me of this story that I once read. I hope it is pertinent. During the WW II years, a theory was being bandied about that you could determine how emotionally stable a child was by watching the pictures he drew.
That's true. I was in school in the 50's and they used the same technique. In the first grade we were asked to draw our families. I knew they were trying to find out what our home life was like, which I thought was ridiculous, so I drew my dad in a tux and my mother in a gown and a tiara. All the other kids drew Mom in an apron and dad watching TV.
I liked messing with the system even when I was six.
I keep asking myself, though: The question said "draw a picture of the word nobody". Of course, "nobody" would then be in parenthesis if correctly-written. Who knows? I'd still like to know what first-graders would come up with if left to their own devices.
I asked my second grader this last night. She tried for several minutes to get me to explain what I wanted, and I just kept repeating the question.
Finally, she drew a picture of a little girl with long straight hair and freckles. I asked her to explain the picture (thinking, great, she failed, she drew a person!).
She said "This girl is nobody real and she looks like nobody I know."
I told her she did a great job.
My first grader fell asleep early last night so I didn't get to ask er.
I asked my second grader this last night. She tried for several minutes to get me to explain what I wanted, and I just kept repeating the question.
Finally, she drew a picture of a little girl with long straight hair and freckles. I asked her to explain the picture (thinking, great, she failed, she drew a person!).
She said "This girl is nobody real and she looks like nobody I know."
I told her she did a great job.
My first grader fell asleep early last night so I didn't get to ask er.
I'd give her an A+.
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