Mark Twain Elementary School Hosts Special Balloon Parade
A group of 5th-grade students at Mark Twain Elementary School held their own special version of the famed Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.
To help kick off the Thanksgiving holiday, they participated in a balloon parade on the top floor of their school on Friday, November 22.
They were met with loud cheers and applauds from their classmates as they streamed through with their works of art.
It was all part of a STEM/STEAM project which was connected and integrated into reading, writing, math, science, and art.
Their teacher Leslie Stewart came up with the idea. She says years ago her class read a book called Balloons Over Broadway.
It helped provide inspiration for the project because the book utilized vivid pictures and wonderful designs.
Stewart says she did some research and determined that her students could incorporate balloons into their STEM project.
“We had a rubric they had to go over. Their big word was articulate. In order to get an A, it (balloon) had to articulate.
They also had a group working score too. They could still boost that B up to an A, even if it (balloon) didn’t articulate,” said Stewart.
Students were required to brainstorm and visualize their project. That was followed up with research, sketches, design, planning, and preparation.
Stewart challenged her students to be creative as they possibly could. Some of the balloons resembled cartoon characters, such as SpongeBob, Elmo, and Big Bird.
They also created fun animals, gumball machines, centipedes, and a whole lot more.
Stewart says she was extremely proud of her students who worked very hard on the project. “They were frustrated, (balloons popped) but they had to problem solve. Okay, why is this not working? What can I do? I saw more learning in this project than a lot of other things that we have to get done. There was buy in with this,” said Stewart.
Stewart says Principal Sandra Egidy had a lot to do with the success of the project due to her support of STEAM activities. “STEM and STEAM are so important. I love to see that worked more into our curriculum,” said Stewart.