Let's Build

This week we started our new study about buildings. This study features five investigations that we will explore. The investigations offer children an opportunity to learn more about the characteristics and features of buildings, the people who build them, and the role buildings play in our communities. Each investigation will also explore science and social studies and strengthen their skills in literacy, math, and the arts.

For a team building exercise, I asked our students to build a city. We discussed what we wanted in our city and what each group would build.

One of our focus questions was, "Which would you use to build your house: straw, sticks. or bricks?" Each child had a chance to pick and tell the class why. We tallied our answers and then read the book, The Three Little Pigs. After reading the story, we discussed the materials used for each house and the definition of the word "collapse."

Our students observed two boxes with different items in them, I asked "Which has more, the box with the pigs or the box with blocks?" Each student recorded their answer by placing a mark under pigs or blocks. We then counted the items to see whose prediction was correct.