It’s May! In May, kids are bursting with energy. They start trying things they’d never have done a few months ago, and not the good stuff, either. (I didn’t catch a photo, but yes, those were our mature, responsible fifth and sixth graders playing a “game” of stealing crackers off of each other’s napkins yesterday.) The month of May can challenge all of the community-building and learning we’ve achieved.
But oh, the focus! the collaboration! When it was time to work on our projects, the room buzzed happily with children researching, planning, sketching, questioning, problem-solving. They’re pouring their May energy into one final project.
By fifth and sixth grade, our project format is so familiar that it’s not teacher-led; the children themselves are driving the process. They channel their crazy May energy into a project that shows their ideas, a project of their design, and their creation. It’s kind of magic.
