Raiz Roots Homeschool Month 2 Update: The Wild Robot Book Study

We just wrapped up month two of the 24-25 school year at Raiz Roots Homeschool and in doing so, we completed our first unit’s study of seashores learning about coastal and predatory fish, marine mammals, birds, and plants. A review at the end of the unit even revealed that our children had retained information from our first month, solidifying the belief that when students have input into their learning, they are not only more engaged, but can transform short-term knowledge into long-term knowledge.

Alongside our seashore study, and in preparation for the streaming release of The Wild Robot, we began a novel study of Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot. Our children were engaged from the very first chapter, and willfully participated in conversations about community, standing up for what’s right, and the different ways families look. Our children empathized with how Brightbill felt to have a mother that didn’t quite look like him, as even though I carried them each for 9 months and nurtured them from my own body, the difference between our skin tones often raises questions from those not in our immediate family.

We celebrated the completion of our novel study by making Roz Puppets. I created this Cricut Space Project, and used my Maker to cut each of Roz’s parts out on craft paper. The children then colored each of the parts to their liking, glued certain parts together, and used split pins to attach Roz’s limbs and maintain movement. We then used Roz’s torso to complete our book reports. The children were then asked the question, “What was your favorite part of the story?” and their responses were recorded on Roz’s torso. The true animal lover came out of our son, as he loved that Roz took the time to learn to communicate with each of the animals. When asked which animal he would like to speak to, he said that he would love to be able to communicate with catfish. Our daughter’s favorite part was when Roz used flowers, muds, and twigs to camouflage and protect herself. We had all become so invested in Roz’s safety, so she was relieved when Roz was able to use camouflage to get away from danger.

As is, this Roz Puppet Book Report was already amazing, but STEAM made it even better. Arturo had already taught the children about Electrical Simple Circuits, so we thought, how about we bring Roz to life. We used miniature light bulbs and low voltage battery holders to make Roz’s eyes light up with a series circuit. The children were so excited to put their previous knowledge to use, and are getting closer to their goal of being able to build a real robot from scratch.

They did so well with this project that we rewarded them with a movie night, where we made treats inspired by the novel. Everything from iced robot cookies, acorn cookies made from Nutter Butters and Hershey Kisses, and even marshmallow flowers, which we ended up eating before the movie even started. I have always said that the book is always better, so it was hilarious to see my children come to this realization on their own. Don’t get me wrong, they loved the movie, we all did! It was so cute and I’m a huge fan of Lupita Nyongo, but they changed or omitted so much from the original plot that we felt was pertinent to the storyline. For my kids, it was all of the animal poop that helped Roz’s garden thrive. For children around this age, poop is life.

We have truly enjoyed everything we have done up to this point in the school year, and are excited to see what experiences our study of Grasslands will bring us.

If you are interested in making the Roz Puppet but don’t have access to a Cricut Maker or a similar machine, don’t worry! I created a similar Roz Puppet Printout that only requires a printer, crayons, scissors, glue, and split pins.

Happy learning!

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