Plato Was Wrong!

This book is a compendium of lesson plans for classroom exercises designed to foster philosophical inquiry with young people. It introduces the reader to a wide range of activities for exploring philosophical questions and problems with children from preschool age through high-school.

Introduction: Why Do Philosophy With Young People? 3
Why Use Philosophical Exercises? 7
How Are the Philosophical Exercises Organized? 11
How Are the Philosophical Exercises Used? 16
Tips for Successful Pre-College Philosophy Sessions 19
Lesson Plans 20
Topic One: What Is Philosophy? 21
Lesson Plan: Are You a Philosopher? 23
Lesson Plan: One Rule Game 33
Lesson Plan: The Three Questions 40
Lesson Plan: Energizer Activity-Word Association 44
Lesson Plan: Blind Painter 48
Lesson Plan: Keep the Question Going 53
Lesson Plan: Sense and Nonsense 56
Topic Two: What is Good Thinking? 58
Lesson Plan: Good News, Bad News 58
Lesson Plan: A Little Logic 63
Lesson Plan: How Many of These Do You Know? 70
Topic Three: What Do I Know? 74
Lesson Plan: "What's Your Reason?" Game 74
Lesson Plan: Two Trues, One False 79
Lesson Plan: The Egg Drop Game 86
Lesson Plan: Assassin Game 92
Lesson Plan: Hypothesis Generation Exercise 98
Lesson Plan: Which Story Is True? 102
Lesson Plan: What Do I Know (About this Strawberry?) Exercise 107
Lesson Plan: Confirmation Bias Exercise 110
Topic Four: What is Real? 114
Lesson Plan: Reality Scavenger Hunt 114
Lesson Plan: "What Makes the Team the Team?" Exercise 119
Lesson Plan: What Makes Me Me? 123
Lesson Plan: Could Anything Else Have Happened? 131
Lesson Plan: Got a Minute? 136
Topic Five: What is Art? 140
Lesson Plan: Aesthetics Scavenger Hunt 141
Lesson Plan: "Smoke" 144
Lesson Plan: Art Market 147
Topic Six: What is the Right Thing to Do? 152
Lesson Plan: Ring of Gyges Diary 153
Lesson Plan: Life Boat Exercise 157
Lesson Plan: What Do Rights Look Like? Exercise 166
Lesson Plan: The Red/Green Game 173
Lesson Plan: "Hand Dealt" 179
Lesson Plan: Fair or Equal? 190
Lesson Plan: Ants and Chocolate 195
Lesson Plan: Fish and Candy 200
Topic Seven: What is the Meaning of Life? 203
Lesson Plan: What's Worth Doing? 203
Lesson Plan: "What Is the Meaning of Life?" Game 206
Lesson Plan: Why? 209
Ten Recommended Readings for Exploring Philosophy with Children 211
Reading: Williams, Margery, The Velvetine Rabbit 220
Reading: Wiseman, B. , Morris the Moose 220
Reading: L'Engle, Madeline, A Wrinkle In Time 222
Reading: Koss, Amy Goldman, The Ashwater Experiment 223
Reading: Rowling, J. K. , Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 223
Reading: Baum, Frank L. , selection from The Tin Woodsman of Oz 224
Reading: Tashlin, Frank, The Bear That Wasn't 225
Reading: Steig, William, Yellow and Pink 226
Reading: Lewis, C. S. , The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 227
Reading: Mills, Claudia, Dinah Forever 227
Bibliography 229