The Pigeon Has to Go to School

 Who doesn't love the Pigeon from Mo Willems? He is one of my favorites and everyone knows. Beginning the year for 1st graders is fun when you tie the Pigeon, an iPad and levers. I love getting to read to firsties and think it is great to tie a literature connection to a STEM activity. After reading we watch 

I give them a marker, a plastic soon, and a cutout of the Pigeon. They test where to place the marker and/or spoon while practicing how hard or soft to strike the spoon to launch the Pigeon. It is quite fun to watch as they learn from one another what works, what doesn't, what will get your Pigeon higher and watching with amazement as they launch all over the classroom.

 Then we work on aim and strength of the strike to get the Pigeon closest to the school. After we work through this we work on back to school puzzles and even learning how to draw the Pigeon and send him on our own adventures.