As I am working with two 4th grade classes right now, I thought I would use what they are reading in their respective classrooms to drive the activity. In one class, they are reading Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner and in the other, they just finished reading Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson. For the activity, we placed students in groups and they had to decide a scene from their book to represent. The constraints I gave them were they could only use the Magic Nuudles, sponges (for water to stick them together), scissors, and their story scape had to fit in the tray they were given. Before they could start building, they had to come to a consensus as a group which scene they were representing and the job each person in the group was responsible for building before they could gather their materials. Once they had their plan, they were ready to build! We gave them the chance to do a gallery walk at the end and share what they had created with the whole class and see the different story interpretations and how the Magic Nuudles were used in different ways.
Stone Fox Interpretation
- Grandpa in his bed
- Little Willy's house, potato farm, and his dog Searchlight
- The trail Little Willy traveled as part of the race
- Little Willy, his sled, and dog racing team
- Barn where the dogs slept
Lost in the Wind Interpretation
- The bridge and basket that was used to transport supplies
- People that helped build the school
- Dr. Greg and the school
- The landscape of where the story took place