This past Friday, we celebrated the end of the week with a STEM activity. Fidget Spinners have become the latest trend. We tried having Fidget Spinners in the classroom; however, they became toys not tools, which goes against the purpose of a fidget. Since the students love them so much, I incorporated them into a lesson, which allowed the students to use them in the classroom for the day. We started off by reading a comprehension passage about the origin of Fidget Spinners, research that has been conducted by NYU, and the purpose of fidgets. The students loved reading about different trends and how fidgets help certain people to focus. We then answered comprehension questions that correlated with the passage. After reading, we started some rotations. The students rotated from a writing center that required them to write a persuasive essay about what Fidget Spinners should or should not be allowed in the classroom. Another rotation was the STEM station, where the students used Legos and other materials to create a fidget of their choice. Many practiced how to create a fidget that rotates similar to a Fidget Spinner. The final station had students testing different types of Fidget Spinners. They used IPads to time the length of time a Fidget Spinner can spin. They discussed different factors that effect the length of spin time.
Mrs. Iacobelli welcomed baby chicks into our classroom this year, so of course, Room 7 could not resist visiting with the babies! Check us out playing with the little cuties!
We had the opportunity to participate in a very difficult, but interesting Breakout Box with Miss Young's 5th grade classroom. Although it was definitely a challenge, we were able to work on our collaborating and problem solving skills, as well as our mathematics skills. Check out our pictures below!
This was our very first Breakout box and the students LOVED it! We worked together to find clues around the classroom to unlock locks and break open the box. The students had a goal to find The Cat in the Hat's missing hat. They had to collaborate with one another to find the clues around the classroom and crack the code. This required a great deal of teamwork and higher order thinking. We broke out with time to spare and only needed 2 hints! Way to go Room 7!:)
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