Inquiring About Music: The Project (Part 1)

Now that the investigation is over, we needed to come up with the answer to our driving question: How can we create an area for students at our school to explore sound?  

First we had to figure out where a good place would be for this type of exploration area.  They decided the playground was a good spot because all the students go there. They went out and studied the playground then sat down on the grass with clipboards and created maps showing the different areas. Back in the classroom we brought up Google Earth on the Promethium Board to see our playground from that perspective. They worked on this map below using Google Earth as a model. 

They then used the map to figure out the best place to put it! There was much discussion on where it should go and why. Below they are each putting a marker to show where they felt the best place would be for exploring sound. Most picked the area the furthest point away from any classroom windows so that classes would not be disturbed by the sounds.

Now that we knew where it would go, we discussed what we wanted in an area to explore sound. Drums came up the most along with wind chimes. Some wanted electric guitars, violins, and pianos. This brought up a discussion about the need for things that could withstand the weather.  I also mentioned that I didn't have a ton of money for this project so we would have to create it using things that could be reused or bought cheaply.   They came up with a list of what they felt were attainable materials.

One friend dragged me to the home living area to show me these pots and pans. She felt these would be great for exploring sound!

The next step was to create plans showing what the area should look like. They put their engineering design/architectual skills to use by coming up with some fabulous designs to give me a visual of what they wanted in a sound exploration area.

The next step is for me to create a design based on the ideas they gave me. I will do this and present it to them for approval.  

We were wondering how to raise money to create this area and came up with a fabulous idea!  They are creating poetry in Writer's Workshop. We decided to take one poem from each student and create a Class Treasury of Poems. The kids will bind the books and sell them for $2.00 at the Poetry Tea we will be having for our parents. We will be creating order forms so that we will know how many to make. This way, the kids are really invested in the process of raising money for this Sound Exploration Area. It will also motivate them to work hard on creating a beautiful Poetry Tea for our parents. Our Poetry Tea will be on May 2nd at 2:30. After that, we will get the materials and start the construction of our Sound Exploration Area. 

On another note, during our exploration time, some friends were really getting into Bayblades!  They created designs for their Bayblades, then worked together to create a battlefield for the Bayblade Battles. 

Our wonderful student teacher has been working on an inquiry about the sun, moon and stars that she will be starting next week! I'm excited to see what happens with it! It will be a busy time with a lot going on! They will be busy, busy, busy exploring, inquiring, and working on our Poetry Tea all in the next couple weeks!