This past week, the second graders have had an introduction to woodworking in the art room. The young artists learned how to measure and mark wood using a right-angle tool. They had the opportunity to come to the art room during Community Time and worked with resource teachers to cut their wood planks. They positioned and secured their wood using a C-clamp and used a straight saw to cut it into four separate sections. Using the tool was a new experience for most students. They found they had to work hard and with determination to get through their first cut, but often found that their cutting became easier as they gained experience.
After their wood was cut, the second graders came to the art room to begin making inventions out of wood. They were tasked with the challenge of creating an object or creation for the teddy bears that they sewed in their classroom. The second graders thought like designers, imagining what their client would want and what scale and dimensions would best accommodate them.
They were soon busy adding and gluing pieces of wood to create armchairs, beds, sofas and even skateboarding parks, hover boards and rock-climbing walls. The students used trial and error to stack pieces, testing what balanced and what needed to be adjusted. These type of open-ended projects foster creativity, flexibility in thinking, problem-solving and empathy through designing to fulfill a need for someone else. Keep your eyes out to see the lovely second grade teddy bears and creations in the hallway soon!
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