Like all writers, the second graders are finding that there are a lot of commitments that can get in the way of finishing a project--everything from April vacation to things like math and spelling. But they are back!
They had already done a lot of research, interviewing workers and watching them work. But it never hurts to do some more, especially on a beautiful sunny day when the workers were putting up the wood townhouses directly across from our school's front door. So off they went!
The second graders have learned that observation, or looking at things very closely, is a very important part of research. The kids immediately saw that THREE cranes were very hard at work. Since the bodies of the cranes were blocked from view, they wondered which one was the Big Giraffe. Andrea looked carefully at the walls going up--inside and out. She commented that the insides look like hay.
Then one student asked why two of the buildings have walls (actually frames) built with steel while all the other buildings have wooden ones. Good observation. The kids talked about this for a while and finally thought of the story, The Three Pigs, in which three piglets build three houses--one out of straw, one out of sticks, and one out of bricks. They wondered if steel would make a stronger building compared to wood.
Nice question, Ms. Murphy's class, you aren't the only ones wondering about it. Luckily we have the answer for you in our last Ask The Expert post. Take a look!
Meanwhile be certain that no Big Bad Wolf can blow ANY of these houses down!
