Dr. Johnson's Reading Blog

Here is a quick video of one group working on their Rube Goldberg.

Friday afternoon, we had another opportunity to Skype. This time, we had a Skype session with David Fox, the maker of an app called Rube Works. We often used this app in preparation of building our Rube Goldberg inventions. David Fox talked about what goes into building an app. We were amazed at the amount of post-work that goes into an app such as revising the app as bugs become apparent.  We also took some time to reflect on what we have been accomplishing the last couple of days with each group's Rube Goldberg invention. I have to admit that not much had gone on the last few days but Friday seemed to be the day where every group hit their stride. Each group was to focus on getting two of their steps built, when in fact, each group probably built 3 or 4 of their steps. I have included a couple of pictures and will post a few clips of students running their invention.  One of the things students are really focusing on is NOT get frustrated when their machines don't wo

Mrs. Brutto wanted to let parents know that next week, Wednesday, May 21 at 8:30 am, will be the 4th and 5th grade music show. All parents are invited to attend this special event. We have been coming along with our Rube Goldberg study and today we have begun hashing out the specifics for our project. All Rube Goldberg machines must have a minimum of 10 steps, must contain at least 5 simple machines (3 different simple machines), and will be no bigger than one of our classroom tables. Each group will also be expected to discuss the directions for their machine and explain the force and motion behind the various steps. Each Rube Goldberg should be made of everyday items and have some element of humor. Several groups are using a theme for their machine. Students have begun planning and sketching out their designs; a few students have begun bringing in supplies. Each group has created a materials list of what is available in the classroom (Legos, Tinker Toys, CoinStruction, Snap Circu

Now that the end of the year is quickly approaching, I wanted to share with you our last project. Instead of doing the house project, we decided to begin a project that would be meaningful to us. You may have heard from your child by now but we have been studying Rube Goldberg. Rube Goldberg is a person and an adjective. Let me explain. Rube Goldberg was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist who wrote in a variety of genres between the early 1900's until his death in 1970. He wrote songs, wrote the screenplay for the Three Stooges first movie, drew political cartoons, and comic strips. It was the comic strips of his inventions which made him well known (see this website for examples of his cartoons). It is for this reason, Rube Goldberg is also an adjective in the dictionary used to describe any complex machine used to solve a simple problem. One of the best examples is this OK Go's Rube Goldberg video for their song "This Too Shall Pass." As part of our study of