In kindergarten, the students explored through STEM activities this past week. The objective was to create a trap for a lion from our story The Lion and The Mouse. The students worked collaboratively to build this with using the materials of marshmallows and spaghetti noodles. The students were able to manipulate and try many different strategies on what the best idea would work the best.
This idea was borrowed from Mrs. Graff, a 6th grade teacher at Goodrich. This activity was shared as a collaborative learning strategy that was presented to staff in efforts for our staff to share ideas to further develop our collaborative learning in the classroom. We adapted the lesson idea to fit the kindergarten level and used it as a cross-curricular activity in our classroom. It came with positive outcomes seen with the students communicating, engaging, and experimenting with one another to build a great structure.
The students noticed from looking at one another's that each group's structure looked different which helped the students acknowledge that we all have different ideas that are good and work. This was one that the students did not want to stop doing and it allowed for students to engage in exploratory learning.
I like that this is something simple that we can try at home.
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