Plato Was Wrong!

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

David A. Shapiro is a full time faculty member in philosophy at Cascadia Community College and Education Director of the Northwest Center for Philosophy for Children at the University of Washington. He has been doing philosophy with young people in kindergarten through high-school classrooms since he was a graduate student back in the 20th century.

Plato Was Wrong is full of stimulating activities that can help philosophy come alive for students from elementary school to college. With clear and easy-to-follow descriptions of how to implement each activity, the book is a valuable resource for active ways to engage young people in thinking about the large questions of philosophy. -- Dr. Jana Mohr Lone Kudos to David Shapiro for this collection of wonderful philosophical exercises to engage in with students! Everyone who wants to encourage young people's interest in philosophy should run out and grab a copy of this book. They'll discover that Plato definitely was wrong and that philosophy can be fun at any age. -- Thomas E. Wartenberg, author of Big Ideas for Little Kids: Teaching Philosophy Through Children's Literature and creator of the popular website, teachingchildrenphilosphy.org