Maker Space Week

Maker Space Week in the Joy James Library was a great success!  Our students and teachers had a great time creating and exploring with different activities.  Just to give you a quick reminder of what activities we focused on, here is the schedule from the week.

On Tuesday, students were challenged to build a boat from the following supplies:  

  - a sheet of tin foil 

- plastic straws

- Popsicle sticks

- a piece of paper

- tape 

Students worked in teams to design and build the boat.  They then tested it in a tub of water and added passengers (buttons).  We talked about how the buttons were a good representation of real passengers because they came in all sizes and shapes.  

To get them thinking about boats, we watched a Brain Pop video about the Titanic and discussed caused the Titanic to sink.  This led to great discussion about the design of their boats as well as how it needed to be sturdy at the bottom as to not allow any water to enter the interior of the boat.  

Students ended with reflecting about the process as well as what they would do differently if they were to build another boat. 

On Wednesday, we explored Slime...or Oobleck.  The kids loved this activity.  I started out by showing them a cup of slime that I had made and had them discuss if they thought it was a solid or a liquid.  I showed them how it appeared to pour out of the cup but then allowed them to feel it to see that it felt solid.  

Students then worked with a partner and created their own slime from corn starch and water.  They then used their senses to explore it and discussed whether the slime was a solid or a liquid.   

  

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to be architects.  I found this great blog with a marshmallow and toothpick challenge for kids - Learn with Play at Home

Her idea for getting the kids talking about architecture was great.  We looked at pictures of different buildings in Dubai and talked about similarities, differences and what made the buildings strong. There were tons of oohs and aahs as we looked at all of the pictures.  I then challenged the students to create a building of their own with marshmallows and toothpicks.  

Here are some of their creations: 

On Friday, we ended the week with a volcanic blast in the library.  We discussed volcanoes, parts of the volcano and what causes a volcano to erupt.  The students then build their own volcano from play-doh and created an eruption with baking soda, glitter and vinegar.  

Here are a few of our volcanoes in action.  

           I am looking forward to lots of awesome maker space activities in the library next year!

End of Year Library Report

What's been happening in the Joy James Library?

App Smashing!!

For Earth Day, our students created some awesome App Smashes using Tellagami, Word Mover, Pic Collage and Pic Play Post.  Students worked in groups to write a poem about Earth Day and then transferred that poem to either Word Mover or Pic Collage.  They chose the app based on the format of the poem - acrostic poems worked with with Pic Collage and diamante poems worked best with Word Mover.   They then recorded themselves reading their poem with Tellagami.  Both creations were then smashed together using Pic Play Post.  

  

 Bad Kitty Birthday Party!

 Last Friday we had classes come together in the library for an awesome event!! Bad Kitty's Birthday.

Students worked together to decide on the following things for the Bad Kitty Birthday party: 

 - Guest List (It was so exciting to see invitations for Pigeon, Garfield, Pete the Cat, Elephant and Piggie, Junie B. Jones and many more!)

 - Venue, Date and Time

 - A shopping list (Each team was given a budget and had to shop for food and party supplies.)

 - An A-Z birthday wish list for Bad Kitty! 

The kids had a great time while working on Math and Language Arts skills in the library. 

Maker Spaces??

I just sent out an invitation and a schedule for our first annual Maker Space week at the Joy James library.  I am just a little giddy and beyond excited about what this week is going to bring to our teachers and students.

The first question that was posed to me was this - "What exactly is a Maker Space?"  I was so excited to be able to explain the vision and reasoning behind Maker Spaces and Maker Space activities.  

So...what exactly is a Maker Space? 

 "It is an area that provides hands-on, creative ways for students to design, experiment, and invent as they engage in science, engineering, and tinkering.” (definition from edutopia)

When students are given the opportunity to experiment and learn on their own, the learning becomes so much more authentic and real to them.  They are truly engaged in the process and therefore take away so much more than they would in a traditional learning situation.  

I also love the idea of connecting literature with Maker Space activities.  I found this awesome list of books that can be used to springboard Maker activities on this Smore.

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires (Love This!)

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty

Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty

Mr. Farris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis

Awesome Dawson by Chris Gall

Monkey With A Toolbelt by Chris Monroe

Going Places by Peter Reynolds (Love This!)

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet

What Do You Do With An Idea by Kodi Yamada

Another great idea for Maker Space activities is to use Legos in the library.  I allow my students who come in after school to tinker and play with Legos and have even challenged them to create their own videos with their Lego creations.  They come up with the most amazing ideas.  

We've even done some math with Legos in the library.  

Branding Yourself

So, I've had a week to think and mull over everything we discussed in our mini Digital Leadership training on April 3rd.  One of my colleagues wrote an elegant blog about the importance of being brave and taking the step to do the hard things that need to be done....such as branding yourself.  

Branding yourself is a daily, ongoing task that never quite ends.  I find that I must constantly be aware of how I am presenting myself to those around me.  If I truly believe that the library is the hub of the school, then what am I doing to reinforce that belief on my campus?  How am I ensuring that I am providing point of need assistance for my patrons on a regular basis?  How am I inspiring others to be creative, innovative learners? 

I think that I have found the secret, the one thing that makes all the difference.  That one thing is passion.  People can tell if you are passionate about your work and what you do.  They can tell if you really believe in what you do.  When you are passionate, people want to listen to what you have to say and want to connect with your vision.  So, when I think about branding myself, I have to go back to my passion for literacy and learning.  

April Newsletter

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