Beanstalk Elevators

The graphic novel, "Jak & the Nano Beans," was the springboard for our next stop along the journey. It's a fractured fairy tale based on Jack and the Beanstalk. My group of Gr. 4/5 students loved it and the book led to all kinds of ideas of where to go next.  We decided to make a beanstalk to the ceiling and there are key words on the leaves. I gave several questions for them to ponder and write about on green index cards or in their journal, such as, "How does the story change if the characters are different?" The kids also have plans to make a huge cloud on the ceiling with the giant peeking through.

We decided that Jack might need a safer way to get down the beanstalk with the golden eggs. So I gave them a design challenge to build an elevator. We looked around the room for available materials and they could bring extra materials from home. 

I'm currently reading Launch by John Spencer & A.J. Juliani and LOVE it! Here are some quotes that really spoke to me recently:

• Children are already researching before they ever learn to read. (p. 110)
• Research isn't about reading; it's about learning. (p. 111)
• Real research is messy. It's fun. Its' a hop-scotch game to and from ideas and concepts and facts. It's an exploration to a distant land. It's a mystery that you're dying to figure out. True research requires structure but only enough to make it work. (p. 116)
• Expand your definition of sources. (p. 117)
• Video, pictures, and audio resources make concepts come alive in a way that reading alone does not (p. 121)

So, I reminded them about Kiddle (which is a kid-friendly search engine) and showed them how to do an efficient search. Their "homework" was to watch some videos on Kiddle about pulleys and elevators or cranes to get more ideas and refine their thinking. I almost never assign homework but this flipped classroom style of research was appealing to me. I was curious to see how it would turn out. If they did that at home, we'd have more time to make the elevators in class.

Keep in mind that these students all struggle with reading and/or writing. They have been called "at-risk" or "reluctant" learners by some. The next day, they came rushing into class; they all excitedly reported that they had looked at some videos at home and they knew exactly what they wanted to make. So engaged, so happy, so eager! I know from experience that assigning reading as homework never got this response. These kids are curious and innovative; they want to learn and create. While it is my responsibility as a reading intervention teacher to help them improve in reading, it's just as important to introduce them to other ways of learning and knowing.