Rockford — An app-assisted device to track and locate missing dental retainers. A box that always ties hockey skates perfectly. An automated tool to clean up after the dog in the backyard. Those were just some of the innovative ideas students came up with during a recent Core Knowledge Language Arts unit at Cannonsburg Elementary.
As a culminating activity for a CKLA unit on inventors and inventions, fourth-graders broke into groups to research, develop, map out, and in some cases build prototypes for inventions of their own before trying to sell judges on their ideas during a mock game show, dubbed “Pitch it or Ditch it.”
Thirteen groups took turns presenting their ideas to a panel of judges composed of Cannonsburg Principal Teya Cotter, Rockford Superintendent Steve Matthews, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Mike Ramm and instructional coach Kendra Austin.
After delivering their brief presentations, each group asked the judges the same question: “Well, what do you think, Rams? Should we pitch it or ditch it?”
A “Pitch it” ruling meant the ideas were good enough to advance to move forward in the development process, while a “Ditch it” ruling would have meant the ideas needed more work. Judges evaluated groups based on collaboration, communication and presentation skills such as clear speaking and eye contact.
Ideas Taking Shape
Emilia Osburn, Kalli Streich, Ansley Weisenborn and Linneah Mitra went as far as to build a prototype of their invention, a modified snap-on bracelet designed to keep pant legs from getting stuck in the gears of a bicycle.
The group repurposed magnetic snap-on bracelets to be worn around the ankle, holding pants in place. They added fabric and padding to make it a bit more comfortable, Emilia said.
“What was some of the research like for this unit?” Austin asked the group members after their presentation.
“It was kind of hard,” said Emilia. “We had to see, like, is there already something like this out there? Because if there is, we couldn’t do this idea.”
Emilia told SNN the group came up with the idea because they all faced a common problem.
“Our pants kept getting caught in the chains of our bikes, and that made it really hard to bike without, like, having an accident or getting hurt,” Emilia said.
Ian Fullmer and Liam Greenman pitched an idea for a box designed to deter cats from scratching carpets and furniture. The “Scratchy Box” would be specially designed with carpet and other feline favorite materials.
“All our cats scratch furniture, carpet, all that. So we decided to make the Scratchy Box,” said Ian. “We basically designed it as a circle, so the cat steps and sleeps and claws and makes biscuits.”
During their presentation, Ian and Liam described their invention as the “purr-fect” thing for cat owners.
Teamwork Pays Off
There was no need for anyone to “ditch” any projects; every group’s pitch got a thumbs up from the judges, who applauded the students’ hard work.
The fourth-graders said they had a lot of fun with the assignment.
“It’s been an awesome experience,” said Liam of the unit.
His fellow students felt the same way.
“My favorite part of this experience was … presenting to the leaders of Rockford Public Schools,” Ian said.
Kalli and Ansley said they enjoyed the social aspects of the project.
“My favorite part was working together and just talking together and doing it all,” Kalli said.
Emilia said she learned that the saying is true: “Teamwork makes the dream work.”
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