K-Nex are K-Neat!

 

Angela Haan Grades: 3-6 Topics Covered:  Language Arts, Critical Thinking, Mathematics

 

Content: Stories from literature can be the foundation for a classroom’s unit learning. Children enjoy books that pull them into the story, and what better way to do that than to turn the classroom into the storybook!

     

Challenge: Goldilocks has gone into the woods and has stumbled upon someone’s home. Inside the home, she finds some objects that she wants to learn more about, like 3 bowls of porridge, 3 chairs, and 3 beds…there are other objects in the house too. Tragically, when Goldilocks left the house, she dropped her glasses on the floor near the window. The heat from the sun was magnified by the glasses as it came through the window, and set the carpet on fire. An insurance adjuster was notified, and he asked the 3 bears to make a detailed list of their belongings. Your job is to build the objects that were in the fire, so that the bears can have their home back.

 

Objectives: The students will improve and develop language arts skills by discussing "how" to build the props. The students will improve math skills by counting out and using the K-Nex in the most efficient way that they can. The students will realize that planning is an important step to creating, but that trial and error will also be important.

 

Resources: The book Time

 

Materials: K-Nex Paper Pencils Rulers Compasses

 

Procedure: The students will read the story. The students will organize in small groups. The students will be given a copy of the book. The challenge will be read to the students. The groups will discuss with the teacher, which props to design so that a variety of props are created. The students will have time to create their props on paper using the math supplies. The students will begin construction.* The groups will be given several days to work on the project. The groups will explain, upon completion of the project, how they designed and built their prop. *Talking during this project will be a self-motivated integration of this project. Please do not prohibit them by labeling their discussion as noisiness. PLAN for their excitement.

 

Assessment: The groups will rotate. If they can figure out what the object is, and what it is used for, then they have successfully created their props. Because these props don’t come with building directions, the projects will be assessed on effort, and planning. Each group will be asked what they did to prepare for the project and what they figured out on the way that they hadn’t thought of in the original plan.

 

Feedback: After assessing the final projects, discuss what the students would have done differently. What did they like about their project? What did they dislike about it?

 

Redesign: Each group will be given an extra day to fix anything about the project that they did not like, or that might improve the prop. They will then turn the final project in to the teacher.