Rocky Woods Feast

Teaching third grade in Medfield means that I have the great fortune to be part of the ultimate learning experience with my students...The Rocky Woods Feast.  Our students had an incredible day, working and learning through doing in an event that epitomizes a culmination of learning.  Thank you for all of your support in this enormous endeavor.  It could not happen without the support of the community and parents.  Here are some pictures from the day.  I'm sure more will come!

 Fire Tending

 Food Preparation

 Fishing

                                                                        

 Dough Boys

 Archery

 Dough Boys

The Hike

 The Great Feast

Feeling Crafty at Pilgrim Craft Day!

 Painting our napkins!

 Beading beautiful necklaces.

 "Sewing" our pockets.

Braiding belts.  

Plimoth Plantation!

Five Chaperones and twenty-two third graders ventured on a journey to Plimoth Plantation this week on the yellow Mayflower!  Our students started by touring downtown Plymouth.  They had the chance to hear about Plymouth rock and what it symbolizes for different people in our country.  Our students also had the chance to see a working grist mill.  They learned about how powerful water can be!  They also had the chance to "play" with child-size versions of a grist mill, grind corn with a mortar and pestle, and learn more facts about the grist mill.  Finally, our boys and girls got to tour Plimoth Plantation and all it has to offer.  They saw a mishoon being made in the Wampanoag homesite and they had the opportunity to step inside of a wetu.  They also met Wampanoag Native Americans.  They toured Plimoth Village, stepping into the year 1627.   They even met Governor Bradford in one of the pilgrim houses.  We truly had a wonderful day!

 Grinding grist at the grist mill!

 Plymouth Rock

 Two third grade pilgrims!

 Half of our class in downtown Plymouth.  

Time to ask questions...what was life like for a Wampanoag child in the 1600's?

Answer: Great freedom!

The Common House and its cannons!

A view of the rock!

Governor Bradford tells our third graders his story.  

Grist Mill

Paper Chain Challenge

Today our boys and girls worked very hard on their first STEM challenge of the year.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  STEM challenges encourage our students to work together and use skills within these four areas to solve a problem.  Today our students were posed with the following "challenge":

First, the students worked independently for 10 minutes to sketch and write about their own ideas.  This helped them begin the planning process.  Next, they worked with their groups (2-3 students) to share their own ideas and determine which ideas will work the best.  

Finally, the boys and girls had 30 minutes to build their chains!  They implemented their plans and made adjustments when needed!  At the end, we measured all of our chains.  Check out the pictures below and the final measurements!

The final  paper chains! 

1. 21 feet 4 inches

2. 15 feet 3 inches

3.  9 feet

4. 7 feet 1 inch

5. 4 feet 1 inch

6.  3 feet 11 inches

The challenge proved that every person and group approaches problems differently!  What a fantastic job!