Maps and Milk Cartons

Well, Spring Break sure went quickly, but based on a survey I did with the class this morning, it sounds like everyone had a wonderful time.  The trees outside of our classroom are fully leaved, the daffodils have come and gone and mason bees are buzzing the clover and dandelions in the field.

In the coming weeks we will be embarking on a study of Portland geography and history.  To start off  we will be making a three dimensional map of Portland.  I stopped by the Ace hardware on Woodstock after school to pick up a canvas drop cloth. We will use a projector or overhead to blow up a schematic of Portland that the kids will paint.

Which brings us to milk cartons.  I casually asked Kathleen if it would be possible to get some milk cartons for rendering Portland architecture and POOF! there were two large sacks of rinsed milk cartons on my carpet when I got back from picking the kids up at recess.  The class quickly found ways to manipulate the cartons so that they would be easy to work with. They were so engaged in ways to fold and stack.

As soon as we have the canvas "terrain" ready to go, 2nd-graders will be creating 3D versions of important building in Portland.  3rd-graders will be creating their renditions of Portland's iconic bridges.

We will need lots of help bringing this all together so be sure to drop me a line if you have a moment.  Look for updates regularly on Twitter by following our class @LewisRoom5.