How would your life be different if you were an individual that used a wheelchair? This was the question posed to Mrs. Taylor's first class after reading the story Sidewalk Patrol by Larry Brimner. The story focused on a woman that faced a difficult time using the sidewalk due to her disability. In the story, the children assisted the woman by removing obstacles from her path. Mrs. Taylor's class discussed how their day to day lives would be different if they were bound to a wheelchair. The majority of students found that playing on equipment during recess would be the most challenging. Mrs. Taylor reached out to her students' parents and asked for them to send in a picture of a local playground. The students looked at the pictures together and decided on one playground that they wanted to design a special piece of equipment for that a wheelchair bound child could utilize. After extensive research with the help of a 4th grade class, Mrs. Taylor's first graders divided into small groups, came up with an idea of a new piece of equipment, sketched a rough draft in their science journals and then created a commercial/explanation of their invention. Students had three choices for how they wanted to carry out their final project:
1. Use Pixie with a Voice Over
2. Use Google Drawing, export the drawing as a jpg and drag it to a PowerPoint slide to do a voice over
3. Use the iPad apps Doodle Buddy and Educreations
After viewing each commercial made by the students, please vote on which one you think would be the best addition to a playground. Voting will be open until 2/20! We appreciate your help!
1- Monkey Bar Lift (Google Drawing & Powerpoint):Monkey Bar Lift from Julie on Vimeo. 2- Wheelchair Slide (Pixie):
Wheelchair Slide from Julie on Vimeo. 3- Arm Stretcher (Pixie):
Arm Stretcher from Julie on Vimeo. 4- The Automatic Swing (Doodle Buddy app & Educreations):
5- Wheelchair Swing (Pixie):
Wheelchair Swing from Julie on Vimeo. 6- Science Dude (Pixie):
Science Dude from Julie on Vimeo. 7- The Mega Cart (Google Drawing & Powerpoint):
Megacart from Julie on Vimeo. 8- Swing a Lee (Pixie)
Swing-a-lee from Kelley Taylor on Vimeo.
Which piece of equipment would be the best addition to Springfield Park playground?
