It has become a tradition at Emerson that after reading The Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet that we work to create our own version of the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Students in Kindergarten and 1st grade made puppets. They were held in front of a city street backdrop to create their parade. They were allowed to create what ever they wanted for a puppet. Some chose their favorite animal and others chose their favorite character.
For the first time the students in grades 2nd through 5th had to create their balloon in a coding program available on their school iPads, Scratch Jr. They had to code the balloon to walk down the street. This activity also taught them how to screen record, and upload a video in Schoology to send to Mrs. White. This will become the foundational skills used in later coding and video production lesson in STEAM.
You can view each of the videos by clicking on the links below: