The Legendary Marble Challenge

A few years ago I was wondering what to do with some marbles I had in my classroom cupboard. The marble challenge was created, and it has become a lesson that students hear about, and look forward to. The challenge is to build a ramp, or ramps, which will make the marble take the longest time possible to roll down them. Students are only given a sheet of tag-board, masking tape, and marble, and access to a timer. Groups work together over two class periods to build their ramp construction. Students test their ramps and make changes, sometimes redesigning the entire structure. Finally, it is time for the "official" timing. Each groups gets three chances, and their longest time is recorded. Although there is a competitive aspect to this lesson, the main point is for students to learn to work as an effective team, to understand to adaptive nature of design and science, and to test their predictions. Can they do all these and still have a great time? Absolutely!

The Process Begins...
Today we started the formal writing part of our class. The first lesson focussed on "Writing Territories", a lesson from the book, "Lessons That Change Writers", by Nancie Atwell. Each day during our writing time, students will be taught a mini-lesson and have time for structured or independent writing. By the end of the year, students will have learned to write in a variety of genres and will have taken several pieces completely through the writing process. It will be a busy and productive year, but by spending quality time each day writing, these sixth graders will become proficient and confident writers!

The first few days of school are the most important of the entire year. The classroom tone is set, expectations and procedures are established, and the students begin to form a community of learners. One of the fun activities that students participate in is the "Straw-Tower Challenge". This lesson helps students see that working as a cooperative team, they can be successful. Group work in class is a part of almost each day during the year. Students need to be self-sufficient, but they also need to learn how to work together to accomplish a common goal.