I'm always trying to find ways to incorporate STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) into our classroom and Mrs. Ward and I thought what cooler way than to do a fun STEM experiment and then write a narrative story about our experience?! This was a two day challenge. On the first day, the kiddos were given 20 pieces of spaghetti, 1 yd of string, and 1 yd of tape. They had 18 minutes to build the largest tower they could that could...get this...hold a marshmallow on top without toppling over. I personally don't know how I would have done it but here are some pictures from the first day. Day 1 was super challenging, and we had a lot of failures, but the kids couldn't wait to come back the next day and try again. I saw that some had been plotting their success the night before with architectural designs. So on day 2, they got all the same materials plus 10 mini-marshmallows. Those things are small but mighty! Here are some pictures from day 2... They had a blast and their writing about their experiences was fantastic. The most important aspect I got from all this what that they all felt like even if they failed, the succeeded by putting in their best effort. And they learned the importance of team work and compromise! Success in my book :)
I'll have a video posted soon! This past week was character counts week and we all wore red one day to celebrate character counts! Love the classroom spirit!!
A few weeks ago, we became experts of the different regions of the United States! Each group was responsible for one region and presented to their studious classmates who took notes and asked great questions!! What geographers we have :) |
Archives
June 2016
Categories |