As part of a lesson on landforms and bodies of water, second graders at Hillside developed various model types representing the shapes of land and water in an area. 

With help from their families, they used a three-ingredient recipe to make salt dough. Back in the classroom, they took the dough and molded it into islands, incorporating the lessons they learned. Once the salt dough dried, they brought color to their islands with a little paint. 

“It was messy, and the teachers were covered in flour, but fun was had by all!” said Second Grade Team Leader Dianna Clarke. 

In the coming weeks, they will make maps of their islands, including a compass rose, symbols and a map key—part of another lesson on how to read a map. They’ll also be writing postcards to someone special using their creative writing skills, pretending to visit the landforms and bodies of water on their salt dough island. 

When asked what they enjoyed most about the project, students in Ms. Clarke’s class said:

• “I liked painting the salt dough and I like the volcano and pond I made the best,” Aurick said.
• "I like painting them and shaping the salt dough," said Emina.
• “It was really fun to learn about different landforms and bodies of water. It was fun to make them and get messy!” said Ezra.