KINDER/FIFTH GRADE PARTNER PROJECTS

Our professional development work in Yonkers with CTSC has taken us to a small primary school off the Hudson line, where kindergarten kiddos and fifth graders are teaming up to learn about healthy lunches! Students get to work with one buddy for the month, discussing their dream lunches and healthy alternatives. Today they used free educational app ShadowPuppet to make videos of their work, resulting in some amazing mentors and creative thinking all around.

When making videos on ShadowPuppet, students have the opportunity to explore the app without step by step instructions. For the fifth grade leader, we specifically allowed them to get lost before they could publish their first video. The results were amazing -- more students were able to discover how to add text and stickers through their own initiative. In turn, when teaching the kindergarteners, these fifth graders realized the importance of "the journey" as an inherent part of project based learning. Looking forward to a potentially new generation of constructivist-minded educators from this lesson!