Students worked in teams to identify a problem and create a working solution to that problem. They were also able to choose how they wanted to solve the problem by picking a "station" that allowed them to work with tools about which they were passionate (sewing, 3D printing, video production, cardboard design, or robotics).
The students created games, places for astronauts to hold their art supplies in space, a bracelet that recorded messages, and so much more. Makerspace allows students to use Design Thinking, which is a non-linear process using a cognitive and empathetic approach to problem solving, to be creative and come up with solutions to real world problems. 4th grade will finish their unit on space exploration at the end of October when they will be building and launching bottle rockets on the field!
Second Grade Deep Dive into Native American TalesDo you want know what a Native American “Trickster” does? Ask a JCDS second grader! Second grade Deep Dive is all about Native American “Trickster” Tales. Throughout these stories students have learned about elements of tradition and how certain aspects of Native American culture came to be.
With the Literacy and Library Specialist, Ms. Jen Currie, second grade students broke down the literary elements of the book Traditional Stories of the Northwest Coast Nations.
Students then worked with Ms. Currie and their classmates to create a "story mountain" to plan the parts of the story which included: setting, character, problem(s), climax, problem solved, and lesson(s) learned. Following this process, students can better visualize the steps that go into creating the plot of a story; helping them in the next portion of the Literacy Deep Dive, writing their own trickster-inspired tale.
As the students undertook the writing process, they took the themes and concepts learned from the Native American stories they read and applied those to their group story and they were able to come up with something great!
Leading up to this Deep Dive, second grade completed a unit on Native Americans in Global studies.
“We have learned all the tribes in the United States and what location they are in. We learned about traditions and customs that are tribe specific. For example, the Northwest tribes, the Chinook, lived in long-houses, did a lot of fishing and hunting, and they told stories by creating totem poles” said JCDS second grade teacher, Ms. Beth Roberts.
Of course you can’t learn about totem poles and not create one yourself! To complete their unit, second graders colored totem pole print outs, made a 3D totem pole, and designed their own using various animal designs!
Sixth graders spent their Deep Dive week addressing what it means to be a responsible digital citizen with our School Counselor Ms. Liz McNairy who has been trained to facilitate this course from the Monique Burr Foundation for Children and Teen Safety Matters. This lesson emphasizes the importance of character development and social responsibility among students as they navigate the online world.