Woodhull Classes Put Spin on
Hands-on Education
There's always something new at Woodhull Intermediate School. That's what makes it a fun place for students. Youngsters in sixth grade teacher Allison VonVange's classes recently put a fresh spin on the phrase "hands-on education."
On a beautiful late spring day, the whole "blue team" gathered on Woodhull's lower field to create a human periodic table. "Each student made a model of an element from the periodic table and then placed themselves in atomic number order," Mrs. VonVange said. "This activity helped the students remember the elements."
During the unit, Ms.VonVange played a catchy song about the periodic table that also helped students to memorize the elements. She aired the song at the beginning and end of classes and it wasn't long before students started to sing along. The song had all the element's names and the students seemed to really enjoy giving their vocal chords a little extra exercise.
Another fun and educationally helpful "blue team" science class activity was a periodic table game. Here's how it played out: The students would line up around the classroom and Ms.VonVange would ask each youngster a question about the periodic table. For example: "What is the atomic number for gold?" If a student answered a question correctly, they stayed in the game. An answer that was either incorrect or beyond the time limit resulted in the student having to sit down. The last student standing was the winner of that particular game.
"All these activities really helped the students understand and memorize the periodic table," Mr. VonVange said. It appears these sixth graders are ready for the science class challenges that await them at J. Taylor Finley Middle School.
(Woodhull students Sydney Van del Valentyn and Alexandra Heuwetter contributed to this article.)