It doesn't help that two of my fifth graders have chosen to study Rube Goldberg machines for their Genius Hour projects, and have been constructing a roller-coaster like device that incorporates marble runs, dominoes, K'nex, LEGOs, Snap Circuits and cocktail umbrellas -- among other materials. I believe its purpose is to ring a bell.
I have, strewn around my room right now, a miniature physics museum for kids, a student-invented air cannon and more robots than the entire Transformer movie franchise.
Posters and tri-folds are tucked away in a corner; LEGO movie sets are hiding on high shelves (to keep kindergarten fingers away).
I have had kids begging to work on their projects at lunch, at recess, before school and after school. I promised my second-graders, who have lunch bunch tomorrow (a time set aside only once every two weeks for stories and bonding), that we'd make it a "working lunch" so they could keep typing up their research.
They are so engaged because of choice. I've already written about the LEGO robot dinosaurs. With my third through fifth graders, I've jumped on the Genius Hour bandwagon. Basically, they got to choose any topic or skill they were passionate about, then researched it to present at our GT showcase.
I created a rubric to ensure quality projects (we've talked a lot about quality this year), and they are definitely rising to the challenge. Will every kid finish an amazing project? Probably not -- I wish I had the key to motivating 100 percent of my kids, but I'm still learning what makes some of them tick.
Still, this year's showcase products are amazing me right now -- and we still have two more weeks to see what they come up with.
I just need to look at all that chaos, take deep breaths, and keep reminding myself of that.
I wish I could come see their work! I just love that they're so engaged in their projects and wish I could do something similar in my writing classes!
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