BMUFSD: First Graders Build Houses Made Of Sticks, Straws And Bricks

from the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District:

Every STEAM class at Todd Elementary School begins with a read-aloud on the rug.

STEAM teacher Mindy Conciatori, who is filling in for Amira Lahlouh this year while she is on maternity leave, considers herself a literature-based teacher and keeps a stack of books in the classroom for each lesson.

Recently, first graders in Alyson Tully and Kim Andrews’ class had a lesson based on the story “The Three Little Pigs.”

Ms. Conciatori read to them “The Three Havalinas.”

“I always begin with a story related to the lesson and if we have extra time in the end I read to them picture books about engineering or science,” Ms. Conciatori said.

For the previous “Three Little Pigs” lessons she read to the students other versions of the story and students built houses out of drinking straws and sticks.

“We cut up the straws and they taped them together,” she said. “Some students made the straw houses in a triangular shape, like a tent, while others made it flat.”

After story time was over, it was time to build a house out of wooden blocks, which was used in lieu of bricks.

“With blocks, they are learning about foundation and use fine motor skills while attaching them with tape to make the walls,” Ms. Conciatori said.

“The foundation is a part of the house that is on the bottom,” she said to the students. “It is part of the frame.”

One of the parameters of the lesson is fitting cut-outs of the pigs in the houses.

“The goal is to see if the pigs fly out of the house when I use a blow drier,” she said. “There is also a cut-out of the wolf, but we keep him out of the house.”

According to Ms. Conciatori, students are learning mathematical concepts like perimeter and shapes, as well as problem-solving, engineering and energy, when using the blow drier.

“Using less tape will require some engineering on their part, so I want to encourage them to use as little tape as possible,” she said. “Some pigs did fly out of the houses that were made of straws, but with the houses that were made of sticks most did not fly, and part of it is because the students already knew the dynamics of the engineering after building the straw houses.”

She told the students that the group that uses the least amount of tape would get to play with a fidget toy while the class watches the blow drier blow on the houses.

Students worked hard on their houses.

“I’m making a pattern for the walls of the house,” Emma said.

“We fit the pigs inside but we left the wolf outside,” Mairead said. “He wants to get in but we won’t let him.”

After building the houses, the students drew their design on paper and when the houses were complete, everyone sat on the rug to watch Ms. Conciatori describe each house’s construction and use the blow drier.

“Little Pig, Little Pig, let me come in!” she called out, before blowing on the house to see if any of the pigs flew out.

Students and teachers clapped after each demonstration.

This press release was produced by the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.