Sensory Walk
By:  Danielle Bolthouse

Project at a Glance :

First graders will research what sensory walks are and how they help children.  Then they will develop a walking area in the lower el hallway for students to use if they need to take a break from their classroom. 

​Driving Question:

What might we put in the hallway that will help kids get their wiggles out and get back into their thinking brain?        

Standards:

• Recognize that everyone has different strengths and ideas.  No one is any better than another while working in groups.

Team / Culture Building:

• Use the Collaboratiion Tower activity as  a way to get the kids thinking about working together in a group.​

Entry Event:

• Explain to kids that we get to create something that has the ability to positively affect all the kids at Peach Plains. 

Stakeholders:

• ​Peach Plains Elementary students
• Peach Plains Elementary Staff/Administrator

Empathy Building:

• Stakeholders Map
• Empathy Map ​​

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Students will have background knowledge about the thinking brain from the Feeling Buddies SEL program.
• Conduct Interviews with 1st grade students from another school who currently have a sensory walk in their building. What do you like best about it? When are you allowed to use it?
• Interview the School occupational therapist about what types of moves would be good to have on our sensory walk.

Incubation:

• KWL 
• Share ideas using the turn and talk protocol.
• Use the Idea Quota protocol to generate ideas for movements that help us get our wiggles out.​​

• NUF Test​

Checking in:

• Each day during morning meeting the teacher will ask different kids what the driving question is and why we are creating a sensory walk?

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Solution Building:

• The class will create a theme for the Sensory Walk.
  
• Students will use the Dot Voting protocol to determine themes and then look at solution ideas to determine which ones fit best with the theme chosen.

Critique and Revision: 

• Each group will discuss their ideas and how they fit into the theme.  
  
• Students will create a  prototype their vision for the sensory walk.
  
• Show ideas to the first graders interviewed earlier in the project for get feedback.  Make revisions based on feedback.

Authentic Audience:

• School principal will be the first pitch in October.
• Once the project is complete in late March, the authentic audience will be the students at Peach Plains.

Final Presentation:

• Final solutions will be presented to students in the lower elementary hallway class by class so they know how to use the walk appropriately.  The class will create a short video to share with the rest of the school so all students will be aware of the tool and how to use it.
  
• The children will be able to decide how they want to present.  Perhaps one group will make posters to explain their thinking, while another group creates a skit. ​​

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

• Use the I like and I wonder protocol and single point rubric for feedback.
• Once the project is complete, students will go on Seesaw and make a post of what they liked about the project and what they would do differently. ​

Meet the Educator:

Danielle Bolthouse teaches 1st grade at Peach Plains Elementary in Grand Haven, MI.

     "All children need authentic learning so they have the opportunity to not only  demonstrate their learning to others but also realize they have the potential to make the world a better place."