RC Murphy JHS, Stony Brook, NY
[ESPRIT 23 Aug 2006]
Hi everyone,
On the first day I have students work in
groups to build the tallest free-standing straw tower. Rather than just
giving them the challenge, I have few different rules. I give each team
of 3-4 students ten straws and about 1 foot of tape. I tell them they
have 12 minutes to build their tower and it must be free-standing. I
also tell them they can earn more straws &/or tape when I spot their
team working well togther. We have a brief discussion about "working
well together" looks like. Then I rotate around giving out extra
supplies to teams in which every member is helping. (I'm also getting a
chance to meet the kids in smaller groups.) More supplies gives them
an advantage to having the tallest tower.
Once the towers are built, we measure them
as a class. We discuss that we are going to use the meter stick to
measure. I pick their brains a little to see who remembers how to
convert from centimeters to meters, etc. We record the heights of the
towers on the board and I usually give the winning team a ticket to
choose their own team for an activity later in the year, since I usually
choose the teams for them. It turns out to be a lot of fun plus I get
to teach a little, review a little and set ground rules for what group
work should look like.
Beleive it or not, I've done this with my
8th grade classes but I've also done this with teachers in inservice and
grad classes that I teach. They all had a blast and without fail,
everyone is involved on the first day!
Have a great year!
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