Summer SAVY, Session 6 Day 5, “Earth Science Rocks!” (1st-2nd)
Hello, families! Well, it’s always a little bittersweet to see the course end, but I’m always happy when I think to myself, “I wish I could teach these students all year!” Your children have been a joy to teach.
Today, we emphasized creativity and making creative products. This is done intentionally for them to synthesize knowledge with a creative product and process. Instead of focusing on information, process, and skills, we focused more on the “fluid reasoning” part of the brain. I like to call this “What can you do with what you’ve learned?”. So, our fantastic Classroom Associate Sam brought his guitar and we re-wrote the lyrics to “Lava Chicken” from the Minecraft movie to incorporate what the kids learned about volcanoes. It was short—but SO FUN!! It was completely collaborative with our lyric redo! Here is a link to hear their performance, and here are the lyrics:
Ma Ma Ma Magma, La La La Lava
Volcano’s rumblin’ and it’s ready to blow
Get off that mountain now!— you’re movin’ real slow.
Dust, rocks, and ash, now you’re runnin’ real fast!
Ooh, Mt. Etna, it’s a lava attack!
After this, the kids had to design a playground, again based on what they’d learned from the week. It had to incorporate various things—several had gigantic volcanoes with magma slides on the inside, and lava slides on the outside. One had 3 climbing walls that looked like all 3 main types of rock—igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. One had a “quartz cave” that was kind of see-through and led to swings designed to look like various minerals. What age are these kids???? Incredible!!! Such creativity.
One of the things I’ve loved this week is when the kids brought their rocks from home. The kids set up tables and shared between Lunch and ORA for 3 days in a row. This was always a highlight, and they truly enjoyed exploring each day.
After ORA, we had a special guest via Zoom—a Geologist and professor in California! The kids had several questions prepared in advance—Why is the Earth round? How did people mine gold and minerals in ancient times? Why do earthquakes happen? Dr. Rogers was so impressed with the students’ questions! It was a great way to finish off the week.
The students are bringing home their work and a geology book to extend their learning. I wish them well for their upcoming school year and the remaining summer! I enjoyed every moment of teaching these amazing students.