Graceland Park O'Donnell Heights Elementary School is slated to be rebuilt, and some kindergarten students there used the upcoming project to work on a model of their own.
Benjamin Johnson, who teaches kindergarten, got Blueprints for the renovated building, brought them to class, and had the kids build their own version of the new school. The project was a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) effort that turned out to be a huge success.
Using the blueprints and a 3D printer, the students came up a building that was built, at least partly, from edible materials. The kids started the project by using Play-Doh to learn what shapes were needed, then they used those shapes to construct the building. The solar panels they put on the roof were created by the 3D printer, while other parts were made of graham crackers. Johnson notes that once the children realized they could eat graham crackers if they broke, they lost a lot of crackers.
The project took about two months to complete, and that was the real lesson—that it was possible to finish a huge job by working on it a few minutes per day. Johnson said that for five-year-olds to remain engaged and enthusiastic for the weeks it took to finish was a real accomplishment.
Schools like this can benefit by distributing Presentation Folders to help children keep papers together.
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