The Balloons Over Broadway project at EJR involved art, persuasive writing, reading and robotics, all culminating into this one amazing activity!
Fourth-graders read about Balloons Over Broadway: The True Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade” by Melissa Sweet. The book is about Tony Sarg, the man who invented the puppets that the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade displays each year.
The students created their own balloons, designing them and making a paper version and a clay version.
They wrote persuasive letters, explaining why their balloon should be included in the parade! Their letters hung in the hallway with their paper balloons attached.
The clay version would sit atop a cup and in that cup was Spheros, which they have learned to program and run from a device. The students paraded their balloons down the hallways of the school, using Spheros, to the delight of the students and staff who came out to cheer them on!
Great engagement, terrific project!