Too much time in the ivory tower and not enough in the real world. Yesterday was the exception. Along with one of my recently graduated elementary education majors, we did some hands-on activities about sound. The last time I taught this topic with 3rd graders, it didn't go so well. The concepts of pitch seemed too far removed from their observations about vibrations. This time, the 5th graders seem to catch on. It wasn't until later that I discovered that the curriculum the district is using was actually written for use in third grade.
My host teacher was less than delighted by the children's behavior. While they were less than angelic, they were no more rowdy than one should expect on the day before a predicted snow day and less than a week from Christmas. Most of the kids were able to fashion "musical" instruments out of drinking straws. The moment of pure teaching brilliance was when we made the students put down their tooters and write down the steps involved in making these devices. They were focused and diligent. Here was what Andrew created:
procedure
Step 1: yous scizors to stratin straw and on a edge cut small triangles on It.
Step 2: If you want a claranet take the hole puncher and stratin the stem and punch holes and you have a clerenet.
Step 3: If you want a trambone you take the small straw and a big straw yous the infromation from Step one and just put the small one into the big one and pull it in andout and you have a trumbone.
That pretty much captured the essence in terms of what was done during the activity. That morning as I was preparing to depart for the school, the joke about prerequisite clothing was tossed around the house. From now on, I have a command I can issue for future excursions: "It's time to do some science: Bring me my pants!"
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