"But when are we going to REALLY make something?" 

The words cut through my heart like a knife.  I had just finished sharing the guidelines for the coding project assignment. It was simple-- meant to review basic coding and logic skills.  MOST of the students jumped right in-- eager to make their animated projects showing one friend helping another solve a problem.  

As I checked in with each table, I was pleased by the many creative ideas in progress. Some students even went above and beyond what I showed them last year!  Then, at the last table, I asked one sad-eyed third grader if he was okay.  He replied, "Yeah, I'm okay.  But when are we going to REALLY make something?"

I pushed my defensive feelings about my lesson aside, but I was still curious about what he meant. I decided to get some advice from my gloomy little learner.

"What do you mean by your question?" I asked.  "What do you wish you could make?"
I knew exactly what he was going to say.  His seat is next to the shelf of recycled "treasures", so I was sure he would say, "I want to make things out of all this stuff!"

Instead, I was shocked by his response.  "Cats don't talk.  Everything is not true.  I want to make a true story.  I want to make a REAL scene."  And just like that, I realized he was talking about fiction vs. nonfiction.  At the very least, he wanted to do something realistic.

After more conversation, I realized that he wanted to know when he was going to make something like a grownup would make. And making, in his mind, included digital animation. Digital animation is making in my mind, too. Why did I assume that a child would think differently?  

Digital products can vary, and they do not have to be something in a neat little package with a bow-- something that tells a story with a beginning, middle, and end.  Learning needs to follow wonder, and for the following week, the plans had changed. 

As his class walked in the next week, he was the last one through my door.  I was so excited that I whispered in his ear, "We are making something REAL today!"  His eyes got big, but narrowed when he saw Scratch Jr. on the screen again.  

"Everyone think of a scene from your favorite place outside." I pondered with the class, and we began a list of all the things we see in different ecosystems.  Then we started listing verbs-- telling how things in nature react with other things.  Before we knew it, we had programmed, together, a nature scene.  Bats flying, stars twinkling, meteors shooting across the sky.  "Doesn't this look real?" I asked, as I gave one special student a big grin.  

Another student related what we did to Disney/Pixar productions.  Even fiction movies have realistic parts, they discussed.  I gave them some criteria, and they began "REALLY" making things.  Here is what I overheard next:

• "We have to make these smaller because they are farther away!"
• "A bat doesn't just glide through the air; it flaps it's wings at the same time!"
• "How do I make the grass move at the same time?  When a snake goes through grass, it will move a little, too!"
• "We can't have a bird and a bat.  It's not realistic.  One is on the night scene; one is on the day scene.  Is it okay if we make TWO scenes?"

The video clip shows a few of the projects.  The code was MUCH more complex than it was when they made characters move across the screen with speech bubbles.  To program a TRULY realistic scene, the students had to have an overall understanding of the complexities in nature.

The word "perspective" also came up in conversation.  The students had JUST learned about that in art class the week before.  They had been analyzing scenes, noticing how size is something that can vary to show perspective.  My students naturally combined that into their digital animations.  Hearing concepts used across the curriculum is something powerful our students need.  They were making sense of their world!

 Students "REALLY make something" when they can take pride in their work.  When they feel like they've made a connection to THEIR world, then it is REAL to them.  

Social Studies: It’s About OUR Lives!

Growing up, I was always the math and science girl of the family, while my sister was superior in language arts and social studies.  So before I became a teacher, I pictured myself teaching math and science to elementary students.  Little did I know, I would end up teaching all the subjects in a self-contained classroom.   At first I panicked.  I always liked reading books that interested me (NOT out of the reading book), and social studies was just more boring reading.  How could I motivate my students if even I was bored?  Going through the motions was never an option for me, so I had to find a way to make it interesting for myself (and ultimately, for my students).

Surprisingly, the social studies book was much more interesting than I remembered.  It made so much sense, and after living life in the real world, I could see how all the chapters connected.  Unfortunately, when I thought about it from a third grader’s point of view, it still looked very dry.  It started with the study of the climate, land, and resources on the earth.  Then it moved on to some history of how the United States grew over time, inventors and leaders of whom made the country better, and our government. Eventually there was the chapter about economics.  That woke up the math part of my brain, and it was from that chapter where all inspirations of building a town grew.

An Idea Snowballs

Initially, I planned to have each student create an imaginary business and do a business report presentation that included important concepts and vocabulary from the chapter.  That still seemed a little dull as we were about to move through testing season, so I decided to liven it up by having each student create a model of their business out of a cereal box.  I knew this would be a great activity after a morning of state testing.  Looking around my room, it became clear that we would need some kind of background structure for the businesses.  I would want them to see each other’s businesses so they could discuss how they would affect each other economically.  It suddenly became obvious to me that we needed an actual town. This town project could bring in the entire social studies book, and it would be important to the students.   I could hardly contain my excitement! 

Meeting to Order – Citizens Come Together to Settle the New Frontier

I could hardly wait to get math out of the way so I could move on to social studies (WHAT?!).  When students transitioned into social studies, I called out, “Meeting to order!” First, I got suspicious looks, but I repeated, “Meeting to order!” in a deeper voice, and used my stapler as a makeshift gavel. Being third graders (always up for a great imaginary adventure), they gathered around and listened intently to their crazy teacher.  I announced that our classroom was now the state of “Pencil-vania” where I was the governor, and we were in the country of the “United States of Mars-Area” where the principal was the president.  I went on to explain that there was a new frontier at the edge of our state, and they were the citizens selected to settle it into a town.  I was there as governor of the state until they could create their own government.

Imagining the Lay of the Land

We talked about what the frontier looked like for our town.  Some students even got out their social studies books so they could have a list of possible landforms.  They took turns choosing the climate, landforms, and natural resources until we knew enough about our town to begin planning and settling.

Arguments & Chaos = A Need for Government

As governor, it was not my job to micromanage the citizens of our new town, so I let THEM discuss the details of building the actual town… for a while. It was fun to watch excited citizens plan, but as one idea after another was tossed out in excitement, the dream town of one child was replaced by the new ideas of another.  Eventually the excitement turned to some arguing, and before war broke out, the governor stepped in to help out.  I asked the students about what was happening.  In the heat of the moment, citizens started to tattle on one another.  We stopped the meeting, and I had the them open to Chapter 4: Government.  As they skimmed through, I heard a few students let out an “Oooooh!”  This was a first-hand example of why towns need government.  No decisions could be made without some leadership.  I recommended having an election, and they agreed.  The homework for the evening was for students to write a campaign speech (paragraph).  If they were really interested in being mayor (with all of the responsibilities), they put a star on their paper.  The next day, we had about eight students interested in being the mayor.  I put all the paragraphs on the screen anonymously.  Students voted on the one they felt supported the town’s needs the best.  Before long we had a mayor.  I made it so 2nd place became city council president, and the rest were members of city council.  No one complained.  It was awesome!  They were ready to build.  In random order, students chose businesses to create based on the land and resources.  For example, because the town was near a lake, there was a fishing and boating store. The next day we would have our first official town meeting led by the mayor.

All Those in Favor

The new mayor’s mother had the great idea to have her say, “All those in favor…” That is exactly how she ran the meeting.  I could hardly believe how well the mini citizens did.  They discussed important issues, and thoughtful decisions were made.  They decided to put the homes on the hillside (like Pittsburgh), and put the businesses down in the valley.  City council made committees for roads/signs, parks, culture, police, fire, sanitation, and schools (just like in the social studies book).  I made sure everyone had something to do, and then they went to work.  As students finished their businesses, they were allowed to work on joint businesses with someone or work on committee work.  By the end of testing week, we had all of our roads, homes, businesses, and parks.  Before the weekend, the students did an analysis of the town and realized we needed: parking lots, a hospital, a library, garbage cans on the streets, trees, shrubs, flowers, more stop signs, and crosswalks.  One student argued that if we didn’t have cars, we didn’t need stop signs and crosswalks, SO I allowed them to bring their toy cars in.  The students left the room on Friday with lists of items to bring.  It may have gotten a little out of control at this point, but they were loving it.

Finishing Touches

Monday morning was crazy.  Arriving by the masses were cars, school buses, fire trucks, and even a blimp that I hung from the ceiling.  I remember overhearing one student say, “I pulled all of these trees out of my old first grade dinosaur diorama!” Another girl had made a corn field for a farm, and she had a bag of some of her brother’s farm equipment for outside of town “in the rural area.”  When I thought I had seen it all, a little guy came in with a few airplanes and a paper airport, complete with a landing strip.  His mom drove him to school because he didn’t want it to get crushed on the bus.  “We need an airport!” he said (as if he had saved the world).  Between the farm and the airport, my room was overtaken with…town.  [Note: This is why I no longer have students use cereal boxes for buildings.  We use snack boxes, and maybe in the future, Band-Aid boxes. HAHA!]

With some help from the governor, the citizens made it all fit.  We had the airport on top of the class mailboxes, and the farm was over on the bookshelf outside of town, but that was okay.  No one cared. I thought. A day later, during indoor recess, they asked for yellow construction paper and yellow pipe cleaners.  In a matter of minutes, there was a big, yellow, Pittsburgh-style bridge being built from the town to the bookshelf.  It kept collapsing until someone realized they could tape it to the wall! That little town was a hot mess, but it was fantastic!  I even had fun helping them arrange things to fit. In fact, I realized we were missing something… PEOPLE.  I gave a few citizens “press passes” so they could take pictures of the founding citizens of the town, the governor, and even of the president! 

That night I went to work printing all the little people, then figuring out how to make game-piece bases for them (in year 2, I made students do this). As students arrived the next day with more things for the town, they realized there were two tiny people in the town (the president and governor).  Of course the governor was at the ice cream shop, and the president was at the coffee shop.  They were tickled to see people in the town.  They were even more thrilled to learn that they could put themselves in the town if they finished their morning work.  By the end of the day, the population of the town had grown, and all founding citizens were present.  That mayor’s mom had another great idea (I love parents).  She sent in crepe paper for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The town was complete… or was it? 

Always Changing, Always Improving

That town was only going to be up for a week or so, but it ended up taking up the real estate in the corner of the room until the last week of school.  When students finished work, they would go to the town for a few minutes and check things out.  Sometimes they would find something else to add or change (or they could move their little person to another business).  One morning I received a note from a mom, “Dear Mrs. Hinrichsen, Michael would like to bring in his train for the town.  Is this okay? I can drop him off tomorrow.  He knows how to set it up!”  Of course, we needed an operating train!  

In addition, the committee in charge of cultural activities ended up working together to make a schedule of events.  They had movies in the park, carnivals, and parades on different holidays.  Sometimes at the end of the day, I would see all of the little people in the town gathered around a certain place, so I knew there had been some event that day.  The students took this town so seriously.  It was real to them.  And they also took social studies much more seriously.

On the day of the business PowerPoint presentations, some students came dressed in character.  I never told them to do that.  After all, it was only a presentation for the students in our class, but it was important, I guess. A boy came in with a suit and tie, carrying a briefcase his dad had loaned him.  The pizza shop owner was dressed in her old waitress Halloween costume, and a borrowed pizza pan from her kitchen.  She “didn’t think” her mom would care.  When the presentations began, I was impressed.  They used social studies vocabulary like it was everyday language; they spoke like authentic entrepreneurs.  It truly was a dream town. 

It was sad when we had to tear it down, but someone had the great idea to evacuate and have a natural disaster.  If my memory serves me correctly, the first year was an earthquake; other years it was tornados or a hurricane. This year, we had a volcano erupt.  Each year, I always assured them that we would build it back the next year.  I could not imagine a year without a town. 

NO TIME FOR A TOWN – The Year the Social Studies Textbook Changed

I have done the town for six out of the seven years I have been in 3rd grade.  Last year, we adopted a new textbook.  I forgot to take into account the order of chapters and the timing in the year.  Before I knew it, the end of the year was approaching, and we were out of time.  The students were a little disappointed, but we did other things, and they understood.  The alumni (siblings), however, were irate.  On open house night, I heard, “Where’s the town?” in sad little voices over and over again.  My heart broke.  They let me know that the town was their favorite part of 3rd grade, and it helped them learn about business. Even some parents said, “No town this year?”  I really missed it, too.  Social studies just wasn’t the same.  Students were not as engaged.  It was content with no meaning. So, as long as it is applicable to my curriculum, I will never skip doing the town again.  We built it back this year, and the future looks bright for that small piece of real estate in the corner of the room, even though natural disaster hits it every year. 

No Limits

There are many more cross-curricular extensions for the town project, and I’m working to create a global collaboration project with this concept. 

Doesn’t it give you some comfort, knowing our future leaders will have had some experience running a town?

A few years ago, a colleague asked me to join her class to do a Wax Museum of Presidents and First Ladies.  I'm always looking for projects to bring the curriculum to life, and this one literally does that.

Before President's Day, each student researched a president or first lady, then wrote the speech from the first-person point of view.  Of course we finished the project with the big presentations-- the actual Wax Museum filled with students dressed in character and patrons there to press the buttons.  It was a successful day, and there was 100% engagement.  The best part of the project, however, was behind the scenes.

Leading up to the big day, the students spent every free moment reading books, websites, and encyclopedias trying to find  information about "themselves" that was interesting. 

"Can You Believe that my husband's family didn't even come to our wedding?"  I overheard Julia Grant say to little Martha Jefferson.  "My husband was against slavery during the Civil War, and my family owned slaves!  It was so sad, and I was embarrassed that we had slaves."  Julia actually blushed.  Then Martha tried to make her feel better.

"Well, my husband was not really the president.  It was my dad.  My mom died before he was president, so I was the first lady."

"I helped you a lot, though!" added in Dolley Madison.

They were having conversations like they were the first ladies.

Abigail Adams started telling her group about her pets when Barack Obama interrupted,  "Where did you find out about your pets?"  She pointed to the book up front, and then three of the kids rushed up to the front to be the next in possession of the book.  

Eleanor Roosevelt was very busy online.  "Can you help me find my newspaper article?  I wrote a newspaper article called 'My Day' and I want to put a picture of it on the back of my speech!"

Just then, George W. Bush, who had just learned that he used to be a cheerleader, called out, "Oh my goodness, Mrs. Hinrichsen!  Is Sarah Eleanor Roosevelt?  I saw her in Chapter 5 of our social studies book!  I'm sorry, I peeked!"  Just then my little Eleanor Roosevelt dove into her social studies book to find more about herself.

Not only did the students do research and give speeches, but they also made some pretty in-depth verbal comparisons.  They did this because they cared.  It was real to them. Yes, it took a few extra days to move through Chapter 4 and into Chapter 5 of social studies, but it was time well spent.  What my students did learn should stick with them for a while. It has been over a month since students presented their speeches, and I still catch them reading books or watching online videos about the presidents.  It isn't uncommon to hear them back in character, chatting away, either.

Just after 9:00 in the morning, quiet cheers rang out, and students hurried to get the materials they needed for the lesson.  No, it was not time for science.  It was time for math!  What happened to make them so excited to begin?  I simply gave them one direction:

"Take out your devices.  We are going to have a little quiz before we begin math today."

Were they excited to take a quiz?  Yes, in a sense.

The main reason my students were so excited was because I said, "Take out your devices."  My students all have an Interactive Response Device.  We call them "devices" for short.  They are used to gather data from my students (in the form of little quiz questions), and I use the immediate feedback to drive my instruction throughout the lesson.  They love using the devices.  Here are some of the ways I use the devices to keep students engaged EVERYDAY.  

Expectations
As with any routine classroom procedure, my students know the expectations for using the devices.  They know I have the ability check to see exactly how they are voting.  This keeps students from just pressing any old answer. I also set a timer on the "vote" so students have to respond in a timely fashion.  They know they cannot get "points" if 100% of people do not vote within the specified time.  See below in "Team Work" for more information about the points.  They also know that these "quizzes" are not graded, so the stress level is kept to a minimum.

Team Work
My class works as a team to help each other understand the questions.  It is not unlikely to hear students asking each other for help, or to overhear a student explaining a good strategy to his/her group.  This part of my math lesson plays an integral role in the daily instruction.  Just listening to the dialogue between students allows me to understand so much about where they are in the learning process.  What does this have to do with the devices?  For every question where 100% of my students get the right answer, the class (as a whole) earns points towards a classroom reward.  
There are times when 90% get the right answer.  Students beg me to give them another try.  I do, only if a student volunteers to explain what the 10% incorrect probably did wrong.  The computer never shows the class who answered incorrectly, but I say, "Listen carefully to [so-and-so] if you missed this!"  After a student passionately explains HOW and WHY the correct answer makes sense, there are usually a few more students ready to chime in with more tips.  I also use this as a time to remind students to use math vocabulary in their explanations, but oftentimes, students will beat me to it.  They REALLY work hard to make sure all students understand so they can get points!  On days when the class is especially engaged, I award extra class points!  

Step-by-Step Check
We use devices to answer questions throughout the entire lesson.  Not only do I see what students need to learn, but individuals realize it immediately if they are missing something.  It gives us all immediate feedback.

Each day begins with a review of old material.  Usually students have already completed the questions for morning work, so it is a quick review.  It is easy to see what needs clarification before moving on.  

Before the new lesson begins, I ask a few questions that will be used to check for understanding at the end of the lesson. I also pose them at the beginning to see where my instruction needs to begin.  Students respond with devices, and we keep track of which answers have the most votes. I do not tell the students what the correct answer is.  They know they will have those questions again at the end, and the right answers will be revealed then.

As the lesson progresses, I ask various questions.  My favorite type of question does not require students to complete a whole problem, but rather they are to answer a thinking question.   I may just ask something like, "Do we need to regroup?"  Throughout the lesson, I often ask many yes/no/? questions.  The ? allows for students to show they just do not understand without guessing.  I slow down or speed up depending on the immediate data.  As students show more understanding, I demand more independent work.  

If I get to a part of the lesson where about eight students are consistently missing answers, I give the whole class independent problems to work on as I privately check to see who the struggling students are.  As everyone works quietly, I walk around to check on those specific struggling students.  I do not make it obvious with overwhelming attention on them, but this really helps me with my instruction. 

At the end of the lesson, we go back to those questions from the beginning.  I give students the chance to clarify anything or give tips to the whole class.  Then the students vote on the answers again.  Oftentimes, 100% of students get the correct answer on at least one of them.  When we can, we take time to reflect on why they were able to get the correct answer at the end.  I say, "What did you learn that made the big difference?"  If a student does miss the final questions, sometimes he/she will come to me quietly and ask for a little more help, but if they do not, I can go to them.  I can always privately see how each individual voted, or answered.    

If we do not use the devices, my students are really disappointed (and so am I).  They feel like using them makes lessons more interactive and fun.  I know that using them makes me a more effective teacher, and the learning process is much more efficient.  The devices are... bah ha ha ha ha ha... my secret weapon!