Shadow Puppets

Shadow Puppets

3rd Grade 

Third graders practiced a lot of creative thinking and collaboration while creating their shadow puppet shows!  In small groups, students experimented with paper cutting to create puppets.  Students had to think flexibly to develop characters that would show up via shadow.   "You mean if I just color the face it won't show up?"  Nope!  What can you do instead?   Through the use of paper, brads, chopsticks, and hole punchers, students shaped many unique characters.  Finally, groups wrote scripts and performed their shows for the class.  Unfortunately, the files are too large to post on here, so screen shots will have to do.  Maybe you can use your imagination to create the stories?

Testing the puppets.

You may not realize it, but one of those men is Ronald Reagan.

Swiss Army knife character

Check out this fairy!

Setting the scene

Belle and Lumiere

Problems and Solutions

Rube Goldberg Machines 

3rd Grade 

Students began this project by looking Rube Goldberg’s famous machine cartoons including his "self-operating napkin."

Goldberg's machines full of ridiculous and complex steps, all to accomplish a simple task.  Students also watched OKGO’s music video, “This too Shall Pass,”  which is a complicated and entertaining chain reaction, inspired by Goldberg's machines.  If you haven't seen this yet, it's definitely worth a watch, or 5!

Students were then encouraged to think ridiculously in designing their own machine!

 Next, students participated in a brainstorming activity to think of real problems, realistic solutions, and ridiculous solutions.  After sharing the many ideas, students chose their own problem and solution to focus on.  It could be realistic or ridiculous!  Students planned out their idea and chose the materials they would work with.  Some created drawings or paintings, and many created 3D models.   Take a look at the photos documenting their work and creative thinking.

Finally, we practiced experimenting, collaborating, revising, and persisting through failure during a Rube Goldberg machine day.   We watched this awesome kid, Audri, create his functioning Rube Goldberg machine, and then we tried to make our own.  This is certainly a challenge in 45 minutes, but students did a great job experimenting and testing ideas!

Our machines:

problem solving 

Egg Transformations

Egg Transformations

6th Grade 

When these students were in 5^th grade, they took a trip to the Columbus Museum of Art.  We saw a lot of inspiring and interesting creations, but a crowd favorite was the "Art 360: Contemporary Art Hatching Across Ohio," project.  For this project, Ohio artists were given an ostrich egg with the challenge to transform it into something new

Artwork from the Art 360 exhibition

6^th graders began the same way, each creating paper-maché egg from a balloon. 

Students had a creative challenge day to warm up for this project.  In groups, students had to alter an egg carton based on two verbs they were randomly given (for example: to tear and to flow).  Groups then passed their altered egg carton to the next group.  This second group had the open-ended challenge of transforming what they received into something new.  Oh yeah, they had time limits for each part and limited materials!  Students had a lot of fun while thinking flexibly, fluently, and originally.  




Students then brainstormed ideas for their  paper-maché egg transformation, using either “What if?” questions or Richard Serra’s verb list.  

After landing on a final idea, students used their choice of materials to transform their egg into something new. 

Completed works: