How would you like to go to Lego school? That’s just what some kids will get a chance to do, when the new International School of Billund opens in Denmark this August.The school was built by the owner of Lego, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, who lives in Billund. He is the grandson of the man who founded the company.
And, just like many kids have built Lego towns, billionaire Kristiansen and his family have used their money to build a church, an airport, a library and a theatre in the town of Billund (population 6,000 people).
The school will be start with kids aged three to seven and expand to include kids up to age 16 by 2015. Half the children will be Danish and half from other countries. It will cost parents about $537 a month to send their child to the school.
But students at the Lego school won’t just be playing with blocks. They’ll get a complete and well-rounded education including language, social studies, math, physical education, arts and science, just like in most schools.
However, the Lego school’s philosophy—what it believes in—is that kids learn best when they are encouraged to come up with their own questions and then find out the answers. It’s called “inquiry-based learning.” (Here, “inquiry” means “asking questions.”)
Students at the Lego school will combine “logic and reasoning with playfulness and imagination,” according to the school’s website.
The school will have playgrounds, a music studio, bike routes and, of course, tons and tons of Lego blocks.
Kristiansen also heads up the Lego Foundation, which donates money to research into child development.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
At the Lego school, students will be encouraged to ask their own questions and find out the answers. As explained in the article, this is called “inquiry learning.”
Do you do inquiry learning at your school? If so, what questions have you investigated?
What is a current question that you would like to answer? How would you go about finding the answer to this question?
Reading Prompt: Extending Understanding
Read the article and imagine what the Lego school will be like. How do you think it will be different from your school? In what ways would it be similar? Create a t-chart to compare your school to the Lego school.
Primary
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Intermediate
Extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Grammar Feature: Rhetorical Question
The article begins with the following question: “How would you like to go to Lego school?” This question is called a ‘rhetorical question’ because the journalist knows that you can’t answer her directly.
Why do you think the journalist chose to begin the article with a rhetorical question?
