Fixing a Flat
2/17/2018
In our wheel study we have learned a lot about wheels, but we hadn't yet seen what was inside a wheel. This week we had a bike commuter visit our class to talk about how he uses wheels to get to work, to show us what was inside a bike wheel, and to demonstrate how to fix a flat tire. Our explores were excited to see the different type of bikes, naming the parts, explaining what they did, and comparing it to their own bikes. They were enthusiastic to help take a bike wheel apart and see all the components. The students had lots of good questions informed by what we had already learned about wheels, as well as their own experiences with bikes. We love having guest speakers come to our class. Guest speakers allow us to connect to our community, interact with experts on the topics we are studying, give us hands-on learning, and apply our studies to practical and real world situations. We are not just learning about wheels because they are cool toys, we are studying wheels because they are the simple machines that allow so much of our world to function. Guest speakers are also an important part of project based learning. Elevating our students' study means helping them learn from as many resources as possible. Adding conversations with experts to our learning, enhancing what we already do in the classroom with fiction and nonfiction books, experiments, collections, art projects, making models, and dramatic play, allows for deeper investigations and more memorable learning. Taking what we had learned from our bike commuter guest speaker, we drew our own models of bike wheels. Art projects are a great way for preschoolers to represent their learning. Our students decided whether their tires would be road tires or winter tires, how big and numerous to make their tire treads, how dense to draw their spokes, and what details to add (tube valves, hubs, tire color). Valentine's Day Celebrating Friendship and Learning the Value of Written Language How Long Can You Make a Tower? A Student Initiated Project Involving Teamwork and Engineering Family Breakfast
Thank you to everyone who came. I know it isn't always easy to attend, but it is validating and empowering to our students to be able to demonstrate and share their learning with you! Our next and final family event will be a lunchtime celebration in May. Comments are closed.
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April 2021
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