Earlier this spring, Grade 5 students in teacher Sheri Campbell’s class at Loughborough Public School participated in a hands-on woodworking project, creating their own cookbook stands. Here is what some of the students had to say about the experience:
Emily
“Building a wooden cookbook stand with my classmates taught me the importance of teamwork and perseverance. At first, I found measuring the wood pieces hard and I made a few mistakes, but my classmates helped me, and together we kept practicing until I became more confident and our project turned out well.
I began to understand how different construction tools are used and why they are important. At first, measuring was confusing for me, but working on a hands-on project helped me improve in ways I never expected. I learned how important accuracy is when building something.
Safety equipment was very important during the project. We wore goggles to protect our eyes from wood shavings while sawing, and gloves helped prevent splinters, cuts, scrapes, and bruises.
This project also helped me focus more during class time. Working standing up on this hands-on project helped me fidget less during class. I felt happier and less stressed. I felt proud of my work.”
“At first, I found sawing difficult, but later I became the designated person to saw. My group’s first wooden cookbook stand had some wrong angles, but we persevered and found a way to fix them by slowing down and double-checking our measurements until they were correct.
This project helped me with my patience, perseverance, and focus. It also helped me become more responsible, because if I was goofing around, someone could get hurt.
This project helped me better understand how to use materials, tools, terminology, and safety procedures. For terminology, it helped me learn the meaning of measurements, pilot holes, alignments, sanding, and finishing.
It was so much fun learning new skills and persevering through our problems.”
Isabel
“I learned how to measure and cut angles. This was challenging at times, but I got better at it. I learned how to use a hammer and nails. It was harder to make sure the nails didn't bend while hammering the wood, but we got through it. This project helped me learn how to use a drill and how to be safe with this tool. I learned how to follow instructions better than before.
Working with wood helped my mental health because I gained more confidence in myself. I was learning new things like knowing how to use a mitre box or sawing wood. I learned how to be a good teammate in group assignments, and how to help others when the objective is hard.
Another thing I gained was the ability to focus on what I was doing in the present moment. While working on this project, I had to hold the wood down to let the glue dry, and my group had to persevere because we cut a piece of wood too short, so we used wood filler to fix the problem. This project helped me relieve stress because it helped with my frustration tolerance and how I dealt with it. Overall, this part of woodworking was a big step in life and in how I deal with the future.”
Brea
“When our group first started, we didn't really know how to use a measuring tape properly, but now we measure with patience and integrity. This project helped me understand how builders and designers have to be very precise and know what they want. They also need to know what supplies are needed. This project helped me be in the shoes of people who are carpenters or build things for a living.
I felt proud of myself, my group, and everyone who got to experience this woodworking accomplishment.
Overall, making the wooden stands was one of the best things we have ever done at school, and I hope we can do more projects like this. Now I know how to use tools if we do more projects in the future.”
