Houses of Wood and Straw

Houses of Wood and Straw

My 8th grade Engineer/Build class got to build doghouses for needy dogs this semester. This was bigger than any wood project that I've ever done in my life. I split the class into 5 groups and each group got a small, medium, or large house to build. We planned, designed, and wrote on plywood. We used T-squares, rulers, measured and measured again. I cut the wood on the table saw, but the kids did every other part. My students drilled, screwed in screws, marked angles with pencils, caulked, and waterproofed. They problem-solved when there was a mistake, they stayed late, and they came down during wrapup at the end of the day.

 

 

I'm proud to say that each group used critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity and successfully and proudly came up with a structure for each needy canine.

 

The icing on the cake was when local TV stations came in and reported on this project.  My class was on Cloud 9. I look forward to helping my kids help out their community in the future!

The HOWS Project is run by an animal-loving, tree-hugging, peace-wishing vegan named Stacey Norris. If you need a doghouse, you can contact her through this contact form or by calling this number and leaving a voicemail at this number (434)882-1847.

There are SO many needy dogs out there ... please consider helping ... you can donate your time or your money .... you can donate materials or educate others .... you can report needy dogs .... you can write to your legislature.

NBC29 Story on the Web "Albemarle Students Build, Distribute Free Doghouses"

CBS19 Story on the Web "Walton Students Build Dog Houses For Service Project"

-Jon Barber
CTE Teacher Walton Middle School
hoosjon@blogspot.com
twitter.com/hoosjon

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