We allow students to find their own way through Village. Some spend a lot of time creating a business; others pursue a degree; some work at the store or bank; some spend a lot of time serving in the government. One thing we require of all villagers is to build a structure of some sort. The skills that students develop as they create a building are just too valuable to allow anyone to miss out.
Planning the House
Students must create a plan for their house. They begin by drawing what their house will look like from various angles. Most students then construct the house out of paper to be able to see all of its pieces. They create a net of their house so they can see what pieces they need and then they figure out the area and cost of each piece. For many students, this means finding the area of parallelograms and triangles. Some students also learn the pythagorean theorem to be able to know the length that their roof pieces need to be.
Once the wood is paid for, students use a T-Square to mark their pieces out on plywood. The use of the T-square is not intuitive and takes practice. Students learn how to create the best layout for the tablesaw to cut.
Time in the Woodshop
Students are often eager to nail their house together but there are a lot of steps that must come first. During the course of building their house, students learn how to use a square, hand drill, coping saw, hand saw, keyhole saw, hammer, screwdriver and vice. Doors and windows are drawn on with a square. Corners must be drilled out and then a coping saw is used to cut everything out. Lots of sanding is needed to even out the edges.
Painting comes next. Students learn how to care for their brush. Many students apply wall paper with Mod Podge.
Students cut posts and beams for the corners of their house. Walls are nailed to the beams and the house becomes three dimensional.
Things rarely go as planned. Students must learn to problem solve and come up with creative solutions when walls don't quite match up or the wood splits just as you are hammering in the last nail. It also takes a lot of perseverance.
Finishing Touches
Most students put "glass" in their windows and use mouldings for a finishing touch. Many students add hinges their roof and door, a step which is very time consuming. Most peeps choose to shingle their house to make it more weather proof. This year, hard wood flooring is especially popular -- one child even put in a herringbone pattern.
Then comes the interior decoration - couches, tables, chairs, mirrors, paintings, carpet, tiles, lighting...there are so many tempting things in the store and so many wonderful peep craftsman to buy things from.
Then, of course, there is landscaping to consider...
Putting it all together
Students write a real-estate description of their property, trumpeting its features and showing off all of their hard work. These are shared with our appraisers on appraisal day (June 6 this year). Being an appraiser is a great way to see the depth of student work up close.
Next time...
Already I am hearing fourth graders talk about their plans for their house next year. One is going to take the time to cut out windows. Another wants to try a more adventurous shape than the cube she made this year. A third wants to put in wood floors. With the disruption of the last two years, it's exciting to see students planning for next year. Students are so much more confident their second year in the woodshop -- we can't wait to see what they create and how they support next year's fourth graders.
The Return of Family Workshop!
After two years away, we were able to re-open the woodshop for families on Memorial Day. It was fun to see younger sibling trying their hand at sawing and older siblings (and parents and grandparents) lending a hand with house building. -mmm
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