 |
I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers. Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.
*******A great day! We explored engineering for Pete Seeger's Abiyoyo...this story is a big hit with the children, and they threw themselves into creating devices that could stand up to this big giant!
(I apologize in advance for not having as many photos as I usually do for this work.)
Here's what I asked them to do -
Problem: Abiyoyo
scares everyone away.
How to Solve? Make something that is not afraid of Abiyoyo.
Test: Place
device on table. Have student bang table
with hands – see if device falls over.
We had a very busy centers time, with children very engaged at cutting tape, working with recyclables to create their devices. Here's what they made -
Shaan – a magic
wand
Lily – a rocking
chair with fire on it
Helen – a house
for Abiyoyo
Jasmine - a house with a kitchen and a bedroom
Seymour – a trap
Evan – a magic
wand
Bernie – a trap –
it looks like a candy store, but these are pills and it puts him in here and it
gets covered by a net – it is a trap
Charlie – it’s a
truck – it carries Abiyoyo away
Eloise – a cave
that traps Abiyoyo
Amelie – this is
a monster that scares Abiyoyo
Ashley – a store
for Abiyoyo – I don’t know why!
Lavinia – this is
a telescope so I can see Abiyoyo
Caroline – I’m
making a trap for Abiyoyo – a trap and a sled. I catch him in the net, where
the trunk is.
Micaela – It will
make Abiyoyo get scared and run away. This rope and tape have super powers and
make Abiyoyo smaller and be soft and nice
Ellie – it scares
Abiyoyo and makes him disappear
Ian – this is
Batman movie. Abiyoyo will be scared.
Hughie – this part comes up and saws Abiyoyo and smacks him
Zuren – A monster
that can’t be scared of Abiyoyo
Ada – a Stop
Sign, so that he doesn’t come by my house
Nico – a house to
keep me safe
Alyja – something
that is a sled, and I slide away and get to my house
Julian – I made a
monster and his feet and his mouth
I will have to let you know how the engineering test goes - we never got to this part of the fun, today! There was too much building and creativity happening with the devices.
Too much creativity was the very best problem of the day!
AHH! WHAT A COOL PROJECT!
ReplyDeleteAnd I just absolutely love the trends in the 'bad guy evading" plans of little ones. Just like my kids' Big Bad Wolf stories, your kids split in to categories. Some try to make themselves stronger to stand up. Some try to neutralize Abiyoyo as a thread (make him smaller, magic wand him a way). Some try to offer him solutions in an almost restorative justice kind of way (build him a house! reason with him). It's so interesting the way tiny minds work for self-empowerment.