Origami
In this project, students were to read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and create an origami piece that represented both the book and themselves. They would then exhibit their work at some elementary classrooms by reading a meaningful chapter and showing them how to create the origami piece. In the end, students were to prove some folds in their origami piece (why the fold that was folded made that fold).
I didn't want to do what the book was mainly about which was folding a crane, I wanted to think outside the box. So I originally chose to do a heart. A heart represents love and care. Sadako's family and friend always supported her dreams and were there in her hardest, last days. How can that not be considered love? That family love is something that is extremely significant to me. My love goes exclusively to my family because they tolerate me 24/7 and help me pursue my dreams (as cheesy as it sounds). However, I did not do the heart as my final origami because I took initiative to be the leader in collaborating with the kindergartners who requested that we did animal origami since their previous project touched upon that. I tried multiple designs like elephants and foxes but I realized how complex some of the folds were and ended up doing a whale. Folding a whale did take a lot of steps but they were easy, folds the kindergartners could do by themselves without help to feel like "big kids".
Link to step by step instructions to fold a whale
For the proofs of specific folds, I decided to choose one from a triangle similarity packet where we had to prove a specific case. The first proof can be read on a separate document.
Reflection
As I mentioned before, choosing an origami piece took some trial and error but I ended up choosing a whale for its simplicity in teaching the kids. It took me about two tries to be able to memorize the process in folding the whale but I was able to master it rather quickly. The challenge in the folding came with the elementary students. They understood how to fold but didn't do so nicely. Folding a whale doesn't require crucial precise folding but having neat creases help when you try to "collapse"the folds and just make a difference in the final product. We had to refold the folds for them when they messed up which created more creases that were hard to keep track of in the end. But I'm surprised how well the kindergartners listened.
Writing the instructions for the origami folding was time consuming. I had to explain exactly the way the fold was being folded and the orientation of the layout. But the most time consuming was definitely taking the pictures, cropping them and dragging them one by one to their corresponding section. It would have been so much easier to just have done a video. That would incorporate both the instructions and the visuals that would be a lot easier to follow for the audience.
Origami is something I believe should be taught to more of the upper grades in elementary. Those who know how to do precise folding. However, doing it with the lower grades is still tangible if we had more time. I do not believe rotating to three different groups of three students in an hour period was efficient. I would have preferred getting three students for the whole period. That way we could calmly explain the instructions in folding the origami and stand besides them helping them with their hands to actually help them fold the origami rather than just doing it for them. I feel like having a longer period would have given us more of an opportunity to bond. For example, once we did finish it we could have added some extra designs to the origami and then even create a story, like a puppet show, that we could have presented to the class! That would have been really fun!
For the proofs, I have never really had to prove something so straightforward. For example, I chose to prove why a kite is folded the way it is to make a kite. My first thought is that when you fold something it becomes smaller and since we are only folding the top part, the top part decreases while the bottom part remains the same making a kite formation. It's just logic. The process is again time consuming. I just want to say that the reason the folds are created the way they are is just because they are! It is very very very frustrating explaining why. I know that is what High Tech math is all about (the process rather than the output) but it still really is complicated. I do not like doing the proofs and I am not confident in doing this on my own. I had no idea that triangle congruent postulates even existed! I'm sure I'll soon forget about it.
In the end, all these proofs do have a meaning. I'm sure there's people out there who are not only interested in why folding something in half cuts it in a square, but are genuinely interested in why things happen. Kids are always asking why? but why? why? and this logical manner could quench their questions. Instead of answering them "just because" you could have a specific reason that can go in detail. It's always a good idea to stay away from the phrase "just 'cause".