Invention Convention Success!

Our young third grade inventors dazzled us with their imaginations and applied knowledge of simple machines at our “Invention Convention” this past Thursday. This event is the culminating project in the Simple Machines unit for the Room 29 and 21 science classes. Each student invented a compound machine which performs a task and is built using at least three simple machines. The inventions have catchy names that reflect the task such as “Water Wheel Wonder”, “Balloon Poppin’ Machine” and the “Dog Treat Retriever 5000”. The children also completed a report about how their machine worked which included a discussion of changes the student had to make when things did not work out as originally planned. Some of the best inventions such as the Popsicle and Post-It notes are the result of a “mistake” . With this in mind, the children also discussed changes they had to make as they built their creations such as making a lever shorter to avoid launching a stuffed animal past its target. These projects are a wonderful display of the power of imaginations and simple machines. Congratulations boys and girls on a job well done!

Check out the slide show "gadget" to the right for a slide show of all of our students with their creations.

Playing Four Corners with SWOOPS!

Yesterday our class played "Four Corners" with our school mascot, Swoops, the Elmwood eagle. Playing a game with our feathered friend was the award the children voted to receive after winning a class pompom award. The pompom award is earned after the class receives 25 unsolicited complements (ask your child what this means! ) from school staff for things such as working hard, listening well, supporting each other or extra good behavior. For every compliment, a pompom is moved into the award container. Once all of the pompoms were earned, we held a class vote for the special award the children wanted to receive. This two stage voting process is a lesson in democracy !

Playing Four Corners with Swoops won by a landslide victory with a 4 to 1 margin (math is everywhere!). Four Corners is a favorite indoor recess game and it is also the game that our class plays to celebrate student birthdays. A special thank you to Swoops and his handler, Ms. Wiggin, for making this award come to life. Watch the video for a look at our celebration!