After exhausting our study of simple machines the class insisted on exploring complex

machines! And with this idea came all their thoughts and questions! “Back hoe loaders have

many parts like levers and inclined planes and wheels and axels,” Davis pointed out. Of course

this class would need to get more complex! Also, they were not satisfied with just looking at the

machines that other people have designed. Aaron was very disappointed that we couldn’t find a

“Snap jaw crane, with an alligator head” somehow attached to it. We decided we needed to

make our own machines.

Le

May 24, 2013

What good are blue prints if you

never build the thing that you

designed? It was time to get to

work! We followed the design for

the “water lifting machine” to

build a complex machine that we

could use in class. We also found

that using screws and wood glue

worked much better then tape,

which was one of the suggestions

on how to hold everything

together.

Since we had the blue prints, we needed to build

individual machines. This took several days. The kids

stayed so focused as they each created their own

detailed machine! After working for two days on his

machine Aidan asked “Can we keep working on these

tomorrow. I really need to add a few more parts.” The

answer was “Yes of course keep working, keep

focusing, and keep exploring!” We were so proud of

them!

In small groups we drew step by

step blue prints for a machine that

we wanted to make. Although, the

“snap jaw crane” incorporated

Ella’s idea to use a bucket as a

base and Aaron’s idea to make the

top of the crane a jaw, it wasn’t

exactly what either of them

wanted. So the class designed

individual blue prints for the

machine that they wanted to build

on their own.

Emma was so impressed with the

museum she invited Pre-k,

Kindergarten to come view our

museum.

The machines were way too cool

to send home without a big to do!

The machine museum was a great

way to show off our designs and

our hard work.

Gigi’s Grandpa and Grandma

even came in to talk to us about

what it means to be an engineer!

He answered all our questions

and even brought us hard hats!!

You were Awesome and we love

you!!!

We wanted to send a special thank you to all of our Green Room Parents for working with us this year. We

have loved getting to know your children and watching them grow! A very special thank you to our class

parents, Michael DeGeorge and Cynthia Sterbcow for all their hard work this year. We couldn’t have

done it without you!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

It has been such a fantastic year we really can’t believe it is all coming to an end. We are so proud of all the

hard work the children have done this year. Their creativity, imagination, and humor have really made this

year amazing. Who would have thought that three and four year olds could study geography and maps, put

on a play that they wrote for their parents, and build machines off of blue prints! We are going to miss all of

the children so much but we are confident that they are more than ready for Pre-K. We can’t wait to see

what they come up with next.

Just a reminder that our last half day is Wednesday, May 29th

! We dismiss at noon that day. We will

have a closing ceremony at 10:30 in the Salem Theatre and our class party at 11 a.m.! We hope you

can join us.

Have a great summer and come back and visit!!!

Ms. Kruse and Ms. Rebecca