Being Thankful

I’ve often pondered how to encourage my students to work within time frames but think more creatively at the same time.

As our term came to end, after an incredibly busy term working on their PYP Exhibition, (they were all pretty tired!) I considered how I might construct a task that helped them work within a time frame and think outside the box at the same time.

Here’s what we did - and they were so focused!

We chatted about our term , what they had achieved and the different things that had happened that allowed them to achieve the things they had accomplished throughout the term.

I gave them 3 minutes to think about something they were thankful for (or grateful for - they could use the word they felt most comfortable with) and what they would use to build with.

Their challenge was to use Minecraft Education Edition, lego, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks or maths shapes to construct an object that connected in some way to what they were grateful for.

They then had 18 minutes to build.

Once the time was up, they had to take a photo and use the long press option in the Photos app to save the image with no background.

From there they went to a collaborative Book Creator and needed to use their self management skills to navigate the fact that they were all working within the same book. 😉

They claimed their page, uploaded their image and used the record audio option to explain the connection between what they had built and what they were thankful for.

If time allowed they could then get creative with their backgrounds. 

Every student was successful with this task - and we now have a lovely book we can share with our families and reflect on next term when we revisit this activity.

When I reflect and think about what it was that made this task successful I think it was:

• The students had a choice in how to show their thinking
• They knew I was going to be firm on the time frames
• We have used the long finger press option often so they were familiar with how to remove the backgrounds (I wasn’t introducing something new)
• They could record their thinking verbally rather than having to write it
• They are really familiar with Book Creator

You can check out our book here. 

How do you encourage your students to reflect on what they are grateful for?