The spring craziness continues in the form of cardboard and
it’s CRUNCHTIME!
Next Wednesday my students will take their hard work and
dedication to the County Cardboard Challenge. I am so excited for them! They
have put hours into their research, reports, and projects! I cannot wait to
show you the final product but I also want to take the time to explain how much
work they have done.
Today’s post is dedicated to the work they have put in and
next week I will showcase their final results!
First, as many of you know, each child researched a college
or university. We created brochures and will bring those along.
In addition, students have started to write their speeches
that the will “present” to parents and community members at the challenge.
Since we have never been, we aren’t quite sure what this will entail but I
assume it will be an open house feel. To ease students’ nerves about speaking
to strangers we are also creating posters! (LOTS of creating over here)
And now for the fun part…the cardboard!
Students started with pictures and created a blueprint. Then,
they got to work measuring pieces they needed for their project. From then on I
was a one-woman custom cardboard business. My charge was one “please” and “thank-you.”
Many interesting requests were made…and for the most part we got creative and
request were filled. Take a look at the progression:
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| First step, a well though out plan. |
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| "Teamwork makes the dream work!" For some reason this quote is hilarious to my kiddos. |
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| Making sure we have EVERY piece exact! |
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| UNI friends...take a guess at what Maytee is making! |
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| This project got me with the glue gun 3 times today!! All I could do was wince and laugh -- sometimes my teaching filter even surprises me ;) |
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| This is what you call an OCD breaking point, even organized chaos is hard to manage! |
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| The Earth is 71% water? Well Room 21 is 71% cardboard. |
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| "Someday I'm going to be in this building because it's for vet classes and that's my dream." |
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| Can you believe this?! "Ms. Buikema can we let people know that I printed the Seminole? I don't want them to be misled." |
I loved so many things about this project! Beyond the great STEM
opportunity, critical thinking skills, and creativity my students amazed me by
building their confidence, collaboration, and problem solving skills. I can’t
tell you how many times a shy student broke out of their shell in this two
month process. I loved the one-on-one time it created, the lightheartedness,
and the deep conversations we could have while holding cardboard in place while
the hot glue dried.
It also was an opportunity for students to shine in class in a different way! I can honestly say EVERY project is unique and created a million
questions from their peers, it was fun to see my quiet ones take pride and
explain their building and how they made it. My only regret with this project
is that it’s April – I wish we did this in September…what a way to welcome them
to third grade!! Always tweaking and learning, next year we will have “STEM
Fridays” and will do a different – much shorter – project that promotes similar
skills! Pinterest is full of amazing activities, I recommend checking them out
and implementing STEM in your classroom!
I CANNOT wait to share the rest next week!! Until then, we’ll
be cutting, gluing, glittering, painting, and having FUN learning!
PS. Today we had TWO exciting moments!
ONE: Our shirts were delivered from Iowa! WE loved opening the box to find our special surprise. I am extremely lucky to have parents that make a difference in my classroom from 1,00 miles away.
TWO: The University of Oregon retweeted my students Hayward Field project! 89,000 people who follow Oregon were able to see Isiah's hard work and we we're ecstatic! I love that our enthusiasm is heard all over the world. (Remember to follow us @Room21Tweets for daily updates on our learning!)
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