Madeleine: Look. I found treasure! Real treasure! I found a coin!Leah: Where?
Madeleine: Over here!
Madeleine, Leah, and India start digging. Unfortunately, nothing more is found.
Carrying the penny through the sand area to show other children, Madeleine accidentally drops it. Leah and India support Madeleine in searching for the penny. Leah finds it and grabs it quickly in her hand.
Leah: Now it’s my penny!
Madeleine: But I found it first and I was going to take it home.
Leah: Well, now I found it.
Leah and Madeleine begin to wrestle over the penny with Madeleine trying desperately to pry the penny from Leah’s grasp. Teacher Jess approaches to support the girls through the conflict.
Teacher Jess: Leah, I’m going to hold the penny so you and Maddie can come to a solution using your words.
Leah to Madeleine: Well you see, I really need the money for my family.
Madeleine: Well, I don’t even have any other money.
Teacher Jess: This penny sounds like it is really valuable to both of you. I wonder how the person who lost it is feeling.
Madeleine: Probably sad. I really wanted to sleep with it, just one night.
Teacher Jess: Do you think the person who lost it will be missing it tonight when they go to sleep?
Leah: Yeah.
The girls decide it should be returned to the person who lost it. Now they have to decide the best way to go about locating that individual.
Leah: We could put it back where we found it in the sand.
Madeleine: Or we can put it on the deck so it doesn’t get lost in the sand again.
Teacher Jess: It’s the end of the day so I am worried the other children won’t have a chance to see it and it will get lost again.
Madeleine: We could make a note.
Madeleine and Leah create a “found penny” sign. They draw a detailed picture of the front and back of the penny and hang the sign on the front door of the school so that everyone will see it on their way out for the day.
As a teacher witnessing the initial excitement of finding a penny in the sand, my immediate thought was, “I need to bring a roll of pennies to school and sprinkle them in the sand so every child can feel this sense of discovery.” Upon seeing Leah and Madeleine’s friendship challenged over ownership of the penny, my thoughts shifted from “individual discovery” to “care for community”. I was struck by how much emotional value ownership of the penny held for them. How could this moment and feeling encourage them to consider the well-being of others in their community? Reflecting together, the children were able to put someone else’s feelings and needs before their own. The penny proved itself invaluable when, with care and genuine empathy, they crafted a sign in an attempt to return it to its rightful owner. Had I followed through with my initial thought to dump 50 pennies in the sand area, I would have missed this valuable learning opportunity.