Against Malaria 4/30

On 4/30 I taught kids from the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades about malaria through jeopardy. I made a master sheet for myself. I had all the malaria related questions, the answers and their difficulty level. I did the activity with Aaron, Mickey, and Zaran. We all played a part in the process. Aaron told the students what malaria was, Zaran kept score, I explained the rules and read the questions, and Mickey kept time. Some of the questions were about history involving rulers that were infected by Malaria, their statistical questions, and there were science questions about the parasite and how it infects the body. I really do think that a lot of the kids walked away with a full understanding of the disease and what they could do to help out. At the end of the two periods we had a question and answer time. Most of the kids wanted to talk to their friends and hang out. I understood this. After class, all I want to do is talk to my friends, not have a thorough discussion of what we did and learned. Knowing this first hand from being a student. I had decided to let them relax for a few minutes. However, something struck me as I saw a fifth grader raise her hand in the back of the room. Everyone quieted down to let the girl speak. I called on her and I just heard her shy little whisper of, “What can I do to help the kids in Africa?” I was stunned in the best way possible. I had made a kid question, and that to me was amazing.