3rd Grade Chicago neighborhoods & 3D design: Part 2

The next step in the third grade neighborhood study and 3D design challenge was reflection. Students had their notes from the see/think/wonder thinking activity looking at the history and architecture of the three neighborhoods they studied. Students also went on a field trip visiting the three neighborhoods to look at the details, architecture and to learn more about the history and culture of the different areas. Students were able to take pictures throughout the field trip. When students returned after their field trip we introduced the next step of the project. Students learned that they were going to use the 3D design software Tinkercad to create and print an object that was connected to something they learned or saw during their neighborhood study. Students spent time looking at their notes and pictures to identify something that they really connected to in one of the neighborhoods they visited. Students then wrote up a reflection on their inspirations. Students thought about the what but also the why. They wrote down why they were focusing on this inspiration and how that was connected to the neighborhood culture and the history that they learned about.

Third graders were introduced to Tinkercad 3D design software, www.tinkercad.com . Tinkercad is a free software program that is a great way to introduce students to get them started in the designing and printing process. The first step was to have students look at the different shapes that are available for them to design with. We had the students sketch out their ideas first, think about what shapes they could use to make their inspiration. Third graders were also shown how to change and rearrange the different shapes, make them larger or smaller, cut and reshape them and layer and build with the shapes. Then the students started designing. Some of their designs worked but many of the third graders needed to think and rethink their designs to make it work in the Tinkercad program. Students also had to get comfortable with the 3D design process. They needed to change the angles and rearrange the views so they could see their designs from all angles to make sure that their 3D design was complete. 3D design can be frustrating and take many iterations to create a final print. This project was a challenge for many of the third graders as they learned the program.

After students sent their final prints to the library’s 3D printers. The final step of the process was for students to create a Google Drawing poster with information about their project for the all class share out. Third graders included a picture of their inspiration, a screenshot of their Tinkercad design and a writeup of their explanation of their projects. Students included what they were inspired by, why they choose the project, and what connection the object had to the history and culture of the neighborhood.

Third graders did a great job on this project. They were excited to make deeper connections to the neighborhoods and city that they live in by learning more about the history and people that inhabit it. Students also really embraced the challenge of thinking about a building, sculpture, or historical event that they connected with to design a 3D object inspiration. They took on the challenge of learning the 3D design software. It was interesting to watch the students as they struggled to figure out how to make their designs work and the challenge of taking on learning a new skill. It was a struggle sometimes to take a step back and let the students figure out how to fix their designs on their own but it was worth it see the excitement and pride on their faces as they finished their designs and sent them to be printed.

3rd grade Chicago Neighborhoods & 3D design Part 1

At the end of the school year third grade students study the city of Chicago, its history, neighborhoods and immigrants and people. Students spend time learning about the different immigrants that moved to Chicago, the Great Fire and architecture of the city. To end the school year we also wanted to do an extension project in the library project time that connected to this central topic. Third grade had not been introduced to Tinkercad 3D design software and the 3D printers. I decided to combine these areas for our last collaborative project of the school year.

To start the project students focused on the three neighborhoods that they talk about during their immigration study, Bronzeville, Pilsen and Chinatown. Bronzeville is a traditionally African-American neighborhood that was settled during the Great Migration. Pilsen has been a neighborhood of immigrant working population for over 140 years, the last 40 years it has mainly been home to Mexican immigrants. Chinatown was founded in the early 1900’s for the thousands of Chinese Americans that migrated to Chicago from California with the building of the transcontinental railroad. In each of the deeper studies of these neighborhoods we focused on different aspects of the neighborhoods that highlighted the cultures and histories of these distinct areas.

Our first neighborhood of focus was Bronzeville. The focus of this study was looking at the Great Migration and individuals that it brought to the neighborhood. Students learned that the Great Migration was a movement of more than six million African-Americans from the racist south to the North where there were more jobs and opportunities. They still faced prejudice and discrimination but it was not as overt as the Jim Crow laws of the south. Students then looked at images from Jacob Lawrence’s painting series about the Great Migration. Next students learned more about African-Americans who moved to the Bronzeville neighborhood during this period of time. They learned about Bessie Coleman, Louis Armstrong, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Ida B. Wells. Students read articles about these individuals and looked at archived images of the people and connections to some of the places in Bronzeville.

The next neighborhood we looked at was Pilsen. The Pilsen neighborhood has been a haven for working class immigrants for more than 150 years. The neighborhood started out with Irish and German immigrants working in the stockyard and railways of Chicago. Then came the Eastern European immigrants, Czech immigrants gave it the name Pilsen. For the last forty years the neighborhood has been home to Mexican immigrants. Over the last several decades community leaders have commissioned artist to create murals in the Pilsen neighborhood that reflect the issues that are important to the people of the neighborhood. Students spent some time looking at the murals and learning more about the meaning behind the paintings. Many of the murals deal with the challenges facing undocumented immigrants in the United States. Students read an article that talked about the challenges facing this community and what that means for the Pilsen community.

The final neighborhood that we looked at was Chinatown. Students learned about the history behind the area. Third graders learned that many Chinese immigrated to the United States in the 1850-60’s coming to California. Many made their way East working on the transcontinental railroad. In the 1870’s there was an economic crisis and the United States government passed a law called the Chinese Exclusion Act that prevented immigration from China. The goal of this act was a racist law that wanted to prevent Chinese from coming to the United States and keeping the available jobs for white Americans or European immigrants. An additional effect of this law was that Chinese Americans living in California were the victims of hate crimes and horrible treatment. Many Chinese left California to move East in the hopes of finding a friendlier area. Chicago was a more welcoming environment for the Chinese but not a perfect one, they still experienced prejudice and racism here as well. Third graders learned that in 1902, leaders in the Chinese community in Chicago started to lease and acquire land in the neighborhood that is now Chinatown. The community leaders wanted the neighborhood to be a place that was welcoming to Chinese Americans and Chinese immigrants. They also wanted the area to reflect important elements of Chinese architecture, design and culture.

In each of these dives into the neighborhood students listened to articles or music, read background information about people, places or major events, and spent time looking at paintings and current and historic photographs. Students used many of our digital research resources for this study. Third graders followed the see/think/wonder thinking routines at each of these stations to keep take note of what they saw in the images and photographs, facts and information they connected with and what they were still wondering about. This thinking routine would help them as they went on a trolley tour of the neighborhoods they learned about and connected the information they were learning in their classroom curriculum about immigration and Chicago.

Next step: Neighborhood inspirations & 3D design

Kindergarten: literacy, coding & music, Oh My!

Working with kindergarten students I am always looking for ways to connect books and literacy with technology and maker skills. I want students to dive deeper into the books that we are reading and also connect this with deeper creation and technology skills that we can build on as they move up in grades. For the past few weeks my kindergarten students worked on a project that connected the book Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears by Corey Rosen Schwartz with music and coding.

We started this project by reading the book Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears. The book is a very funny retelling of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Students then talked about the important events that happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story and who were the main characters in the book. We also talked about what was the same and what was different about the Goldi Rocks version of the book and the original version of the story. Next I introduced the project to the students. I told them we would be planning and creating a dramatic musical retelling of the story. Students were assigned to a musical instrument that was in the book: guitar, piano, drums and cymbals. I shared with students that we would be building a computer to make our musical instruments. They were all excited to see how this was going to happen!

I shared with students the Makey Makey. This is an innovation kit that allows you to make your own keyboard that can then connect to everyday objects and your computer to create an interactive keyboard. The first step was to have the students create the sound and connect it to coding on the Scratch code website. We had spent sometime this winter sharing coding apps and robots with students so they were familiar with the idea of creating coding that instructs the robot on what to do. I showed students the Scratch program and each was able to record their musical instrument sound. Each sound connected to a key on the keyboard, in turn that key corresponded to a key on the Makey Makey board.

The next step was to connect the code and the fruit to the Makey Makey for each instrument. We used different fruits for our instruments. Students learned how the fruit connects to the Makey Makey board with an alligator clip, then the board is connected to them as well as through the earth key to connect the circuit. Each piece of fruit connected to an instruction that the students had created in the Scratch code they created for each of their sounds.

The final step was the dramatic musical retelling of Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears. Students “played” their instruments when it was mentioned in the story and there was a huge jam session at the end for the worldwide tour of the band Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears!

Students had a great time with this project. Each week kindergarteners retold the story of Goldi Rocks, recalling important elements of the story and focusing on the sequence of the book, an important early literacy skill. Students also made connections with what they had learned about how coding works and created their own code and connected it to the keyboard to create an interactive computer keyboard. This will allow us to continue to build on these early technology and coding skills as the students advance in grades to more complex computing skills. As a great bonus it was so much fun! The students had a great time finding music and making interactive musical fruit!