January has been quite a busy month here in first grade! We have continued working on becoming mathematicians...exploring combining numbers and playing partner math games to help reinforce those skills. We have also begun exploring subtraction and creating our own math stories!
January also saw HTe's 2nd Annual Engineering Week! At HTe we believe that children are natural engineers because of their innate curiosity and eagerness to try and try again. With that in mind, we designed a series of engineering challenges! On Monday we read the Three Billy Goats Gruff and identified the problem of the story. Students were then given the challenge: How else could the goats get across the river if they don't know how to swim and if they can't take the bridge. There were some amazing ideas...like helicopters, motorcycles, boats, and slingshots! Students then built a prototype of their solution...take a look!
Later in the week, we read The Three Little Pigs and identified the problem in that story. I then gave students their next challenge: to work in partners to build a house for the "4th little pig" that the wolf couldn't get into and that he couldn't blow down. Students worked for a few days on their designs and then we brought in the wolf (a hair dryer!) and tested them! Students then made some changes to their designs so that they would better withstand the wolf's huffing and puffing!