"Show and Tell" fosters confidence, introduces little ones to the art of public speaking and presentation, and injects welcome variety (and uncertainty ...) into the daily classroom routine. Thankfully, this old-fashioned pedagogic technique has not gone the way of the Dodo, and is still practiced in many early elementary school classrooms throughout the country.
Nevertheless, some "cool stuff" really ought to stay at home.
An elementary school near Dallas was evacuated recently when a second-grade student innocently brought a deactivated hand grenade to present during his class's "Show and Tell" period.
The principal took the prudent step of emptying out the entire school until police could determine that the neutered explosive device posed no threat. Though it contained a pin, the grenade was empty and harmless, and ultimately no one was hurt.
Can you imagine the lecture this kid got? My ears burn just thinking about it.
An article in Yahoo! News documents the incident.
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