J is for Junk Modelling

Welcome to my posts for the A to Z Challenge 2016.

This year, I am posting 

Special School Stories

 tales from either my time as a teacher or teaching assistant within classrooms in the U.K. or from my own school days growing up around the country

One of the activities most children in my classes have always loved is junk modelling (making things out of old cereal boxes, washing up bottles, etc.).  Sometimes this activity is part of our history topic, so we might make castles, sometimes it might be science so we build mighty insects but often it will have a design technology slant to it too so we are learning about design features as well.

I often ask parents and grandparents if they would like to take part in these afternoons as having a few more adults around in class can be very helpful especially if sharper scissors might be needed or as was the case in this particular lesson proper woodworking tools!

The children were working in small groups to build the longest bridge they could that would support a particular vehicle that they would be asked to push across the bridge at the end.  They worked so incredibly hard and well together and the parents were very supportive and so we had an absolutely fantastic afternoon. However, when it was time to put tools down and go around the groups to have a feedback session about how they felt the project had gone, one of my most well-behaved and studious children decided that she could keep sawing (hands and saw underneath her desk) and of course managed to saw her finger!  It was the only accident of the afternoon and luckily it wasn’t too bad a cut but it went to show that even the best behaved can sometimes get carried away with completing their junk model!!