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Planning In Action

Life Long Learning Skills (PDF 73.7 KB)
Lesson Study
Canoe Project

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory - www.nwrel.org/nwreport/nov01/nwteach.html

Eisenhower National Clearinghouse - www.enc.org/features/focus/archive/lessonstudy/

The Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession - www.cstp-wa.org

Teachers College at Columbia University - www.tc.columbia.edu/lessonstudy/tools.html

Lesson Study: A Japanese Approach to Improving Mathematics Teaching and Learning, by Clea Fernandez, Makoto Yoshida. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004

The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World's Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom, by James W. Stigler and James Hiebert.
New York: Free Press, 1999

At the beginning of the unit I gave each of my students a set of the canoe plans. They were required to read and follow the plans as their team did a portion of each day's work. At the end of the unit, each student wrote about one part of the learning experience, which was compiled into a class book.

The written plans had to be carefully transferred onto the sheets of plywood before we could cut out the three main pieces. This required exact measurement! After the boat was built we studied density as it relates to objects floating in water. Before taking the boat to the local pool, the students had to mathematically prove to our principal that it would float.

The project was part of a larger unit in which we studied Northwest Coast Native Americans*, for whom the canoe was an essential part of the culture. We compared and contrasted our canoe to that of the First People in our region, with an emphasis on using available technology.

*Storypaths, by Everyday Learning; Early Northwest Coast People

Throughout the project, craftsmanship and care was emphasized, particularly when we painted the boat. As part of our social studies unit, each student was a part of a clan, which had an animal as its symbol. The students studied the traditional art and decorated their canoe with representations of their clan's symbols.

Our P.E. teacher incorporated our project into her curriculum by teaching the students the technique of paddling. When our boat was finished, we carried it to the local pool where the lifeguard taught the class how and why they should wear lifejackets, as well as the process of correctly distributing weigh aboard a canoe.

We had a great time! To help these kids learn how to make a real boat and to see them work together as a team and take such pride in a project where every person played an important part was probable the most rewarding and exciting experience of my teaching career.