Lewis and Clark Learns

This is our first year using Bloxels.  We acquired 15 sets through a LSDF grant that involves sharing materials between 3 elementary buildings.  I LOVE what Bloxels have done for my kiddos.  We have worked through our design thinking framework and the thinking is so evident!  I have had to learn right along with and beside the kids.  My kids are planning, problem-solving the basics necessary to create a game (saving, building, failing, fixing), helping one another, watching tutorials to learn, consulting kids who have mastered the game,  learning more at home, redesigning where necessary and having fun in the process!  What a great way to end the school year. Watching a tutorial for the second time. Mastering the Bloxel app. Collaboration! Teamwork! Watched tutorials, consulted the pamphlets, plan in front of her, and now ready to begin learning more at home, redesigning where necessary and having fun in the process!  What ...

Early release days foster choice, play, fun,  and conversation... 

Time for second grade MakerKid's Club...two sessions of fun, learning, creativity, and exploring.  So many possibilities! Lego WeDo Dot and Dash Creation Station OSMO ArtBots Bookmarks Creation Station Sphero littleBits OLLIE

This morning over 175 moms, dads, grandparents, and kids gathered at Lewis & Clark to participate in a Saturday morning of play.  From 9:00-11:30 families created, built, played, laughed, smiled, and connected with one another.  It was so heartwarming to see families having so much fun together.   Stations were set up in five different areas of our school.  Cardboard arcade games made by our 3rd graders and PVC pipe building was located in our gymnasium.  Stop motion animation and FLOORS video games created by 4th graders were located in our 5th grade commons area.  In the library, families worked on Lego WeDo building and programming.  In the MakerSpace families could create with cardboard and recycled materials.  In the cafeteria, families could build with Legos, K'Nex, and TinkerToys,   Familes could also yarn bomb and play marble mazes designed and built by our 1st graders.   Mrs. Norton, one of our kindergarten teachers...

Yarn bombing was a hit during our 4th grade MakerKid's Club.   These girls have big plans!  I have a feeling that many parts of our building may suddenly be covered in beautiful yarn!

My kindergarten kiddos are ending the year with a great learning experience that included inquiry, note-taking, and making.  The idea came from Lori Riedel, the teacher librarian at Warren Hills Elementary here in Liberty.   We didn't just jump into this research project.  We worked up to it throughout the year by working on several small inquiry projects such as researching as classes to identify an unidentified animal skeleton we had found in a dusty old closet. Each student adopted a beanie baby animal to measure, weigh, label, and use as a spring board for questioning. Utilizing PebbleGo, my little researchers set out to answer their questions and some basic background information as well.  Following the research portion of their learning, the kids set out to build a habitat for their animal based on what they had learned.   My kiddos learned so much from this project.   How great researchers record their learning. What to do when they ...

About a year ago I set out to bring a MakerSpace to my elementary school library. Because of a grant that I was awarded, a write up about our library program through MASL (Missouri Association of School Librarians), and a Principal team who often presents PD around the area, I have had MANY visitors to our library MakerSpace.  After spending countless hours answering emails and questions about the space, I have finally taken some time to formally write down a bit of what I have learned along the way.  I certainly am not an expert on MakerSpaces and continue to learn everyday how to make my program better.  I continue to read professional materials, visit other MakerSpaces, and search far and wide for new opportunities for my students.  However, I hope the information and experience I now have can give others a step up in... Planning and Implementation of a MakerSpace!

I love all the little treasures that students/staff drop off in the MakerSpace.  It encourages me that making, and all the thinking that comes from it, has become an integral part of our school. Kids bring in tubes, plastic bottles, boxes, broken toys and even furniture to be used in the space weekly.  The little pile of goodies below was dropped off this week and will become part of an amazing creation...maybe a pinball machine or a pulley system.  I just never know what our kids will create!  So, thank you families and staff for supplying our space with materials that move our learning forward.

Grade 3 makers started their Monday morning early with a new session of MakerKid's Club.  We started with a challenge and we ended with... We will pick up here next Monday and reflect on the process, design, decisions, failures, teamwork, and results.

Our Week Students setting goals, tracking their learning, and reflecting on their progress.  We are driven, passionate, collaborative learners.  I can't ask for anything more!   Costumes and props for a play:   This group is collaborating to write a script, determine casting, and they will soon be learning how to shoot a quality video and edit their work.  They will need to schedule time in our new production room as it is ALWAYS in use! Crochet: This student is   starting small and working up to a bigger project.  Many of our students who are working on "yarn arts" are helping one another, consulting how-to books, and viewing videos to learn the stitches.  Tinkering:   Whew!  This one is keeping me busy trying to figure out how to best manage this particular passion.  Next year, I will definitely be modifying how tinkering will run in the MakerSpace. Squishy Circuits:   Squishy circuits have prov...

                                      Our Week: thinking, learning, problem solving, collaborating, building, tinkering, designing, planning, and LOVING our larger MakerSpace!