Class in Session: 221B in Tennessee

In Shannon Carlisle’s classroom at Moore Elementary School in Franklin, TN, it is always 1895.

Shannon, the accelerated learning teacher, has turned her classroom into 221B. Ann and I visited recently and were bowled over her methods of using Holmes to incorporate critical thinking into both language arts and math lessons for fourth graders.

From the front door on, it’s obvious that something special is going on in Shannon’s 221B. Visual reminders are all over the place.

There is even a delightful Sherlock Holmes Museum housed in a former cloakroom. 

And in this room, there no doubt as to what constitutes a Sherlockian. One of the dozens of signs posted proclaims:

If you are a “true” Sherlockian, you believe:

• ·         Sherlock Holmes is still alive, is retired from consulting detective work (for the most part) and living in South Downs, Sussex.
• ·         Dr. John H. Watson wrote the Canon (the 4 novels and 56 short stories) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was his literary agent  

Not surprisingly, the Beacon Society presented Shannon with the Beacon Award in 2013 for her work in introducing Sherlock Holmes to young people. She directs the Society’s one-year-old Junior Sherlockian Society -- check out its fabulous website! And last year she was invested as a member of the Baker Street Irregulars.

We were delighted to come and see this wonderful classroom for two fast-moving hours, but there was almost too much to observe!