Zheng He's Amazing Ships

Our Medieval China STEAM project was based around the voyages of Zheng He. A famous Chinese admiral who led 7 voyages with over 25,000 crew members and 300 ships. They sailed as far as Africa, bringing back treasures of jewels, gold, and exotic animals such as giraffes, lions, and rhinoceroses. The students built their version of these enormous treasure ships that could be 210 feet wide and 500 feet long. 

West African Djembe Drums

The djembe drum was created in West Africa approximately 400-800 years ago. It is an open goblet shaped drum traditionally made of a single piece of African hardwood with animal skin pulled taunt as the drumhead. There are many oral stories passed down through generations explaining the history of the drum. One definition includes the phrase, “Everyone Gather Together”. This describes the joy these drums have added to our class.

Syncopated Clock by Leroy Anderson: Move it Activity Music & Rhythm Practice

The students enjoyed practicing rhythmic patterns with scarves and balls to Leroy Anderson’s Syncopated Clock music.

Syncopated Clock by Leroy Anderson: Move it Activity (Original movement created Nobel Gabasan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwyL1eHCjKM

Caravan Board Game Project

While studying an overview of Islam during the Medieval Period, students learned about merchant commerce and the trade routes.  The students created Caravan Board Games, using materials (gold, jewels...) found in the Maker Space. They created rules for their game and designed their grid on large tiles. Some students also created a Caravan Cart. "It was really fun making my own board game," remarked a student. 

 

Prepping for the 90-Second Newbery Contest

 

As we prepared to enter the 90-Second Newbery video contest, the children read the book, Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt De La Pena. They created a storyboard for their video, working together and individually on the dialogue that would be used in their presentation of the story. The children also chose to have music play throughout the story. They chose This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, a song they learned to play on their ukuleles during Performing Arts class. To complete the filming, we took a short field trip to downtown Tacoma and filmed around the city. We look forward to editing our video and entering our finished film. 

Independent Passion Projects

A Passion Project encourages students to independently research an area of interest and create a way to share their learning with the class, Presentations included a math game and learning more about bones, cats, and leaves.

Snap Connect Circuits Build Classroom Engineering and Social Skills

Electronic Snap Circuits are a favorite during our math center time. Through exploration building and experimenting, the children have figured out how a circuit works, and how to problem solve connections when not working. They have also figured out that if they add additional batteries and create the shortest circuit possible, the lights will be brighter and the fan will spin so fast, it will fly off its post and hit the ceiling. Collaboration on builds, has encouraged better listening skills, and additional practice with our friendship and social skills. Sometimes it even inspires "The Happy Dance!"