For a short unit on Design Technology, First Grade students were given the task of building a truck out of everyday building materials. There were two requirements: the truck had to be able to transport an apple and it had to be able to roll. Students were given a tour of the available materials and then told that they could go to work.

For the first 15 minutes of that work period, a total hush came over the class. I have never heard the students be so quiet! I could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was so busy thinking, concentrating and planning that no one spoke for a long time. Once students had a picture in their heads of what they wanted their cars to look like, the room got louder again as people gathered supplies and brainstormed together. I loved watching students help each other problem solve and volunteer ideas back and forth. The room had a really nice community feel to it.