action figures...

Yesterday we made caped action figures in wood shop, inspired by the student's study of "community helpers".... people who make our small city work for the benefit of all. I prepared for the lesson by making some caped action figures of my own. One is super librarian, made in honor of the librarians that keep our wonderful Carnegie Public Library in service to all readers.

The second was in honor of Friedrich Froebel's Charcoal Maker. I read students the poem from Mother Play about the Charcoal Maker and told how the Charcoal maker, frighteningly covered in soot, served an important role in the community and deserved the childrens' respect.  As the poem describes, the charcoal he made was essential to the blacksmith, and for keeping homes warm for the children inside.

One student made a hospital worker as shown. Another made an action figure in honor of his step-father who is such an important influence in his life.

I hope this lesson also helps my readers to understand a bit about how we plan projects. Making a model is essential in helping the teacher (me) to work out the process in advance and to provide a concrete example as the starting point of the child's labor and creativity.

Their main teacher had laid the groundwork for this project by arranging field trips to visit a variety of helpers in our small community. For me to know what the students were doing in their classroom studies helped me to select a project that would be in context.

The upper elementary students were so intrigued by what the younger students had made, they came into the wood shop saying, "I want to make one of those, too!" And so they did.

Part of the inspiration for this project came from a tiny hand powered Singer sewing machine. I wanted the students to have something to sew, and a small cape provided a beginning project. The students had made wooden dolls earlier in the year so they already knew a bit about the processes for the wooden part of the project.

Make, fix, create, and extend the opportunity for others to learn likewise.