Lately we've been learning about the Spanish Missions in Texas, so the Safe Spaniards Mind Mission fit right into our Understanding by Design unit. In this mission, the learners were challenged to build a "tall, tall tower" that is strong enough to withstand the wait of one "lookout," represented by a pencil.
I decided to add a few changes this time. Throughout the Mind Mission curriculum, the learners use many of the same supplies each time: labels, paper plates, paper clips, straws, pipe cleaners, etc. One of the things our school has worked to establish, as part of our STEM initiative, is a Innovation Station. In this room, we collect a variety of supplies that are donated by learners and families. I did a little "shopping" in our Innovation Station, and I found some toilet paper rolls and large paper cups. Perfect! The kids were excited to have some new supplies to work with.
Another change we made this time was the way in which we would ask the learners to reflect on their Mind Mission experience. Instead of having the learners write the answers to our reflection questions, we invited them to participate in a closed chatroom discussion. In doing this, the learners were able to share their reflections with each other. As an added bonus, both Miss Peccarelli's class and my class were chatting at the same time, so our learners were able to communicate with the learners in the classroom down the hall. It was really fun to watch the kids communicate in this way. The response was totally positive. In fact, one of my kids said, "This is so cool. It's just like texting."
I made a quick video while the learners were working. Within this video, you'll see both 4C and 4D learners building and creating. Feel free to take a few minutes to check it out.
