Tag Archives: Maker Studio
4th Grade Learns More About Fibonacci
Today’s blog post is brought to you by Athasi.
Today in GT we watched a math video about the Fibonacci sequence and spirals by a someone named Vi Hart. We learned that lots of things in nature use Fibonacci numbers. We also learned how to draw perfect spirals. Next we categorized different jobs into different MI. Then we did Genius Hour. Finally, we did Hands on Equations and Maker Studio.
3rd Grade Starts Genius Hour
3rd Grade watched a short “trailer” for Genius Hour today, and brainstormed ideas for projects related to the brain. Their questions were great, and everyone has a good topic for starting next week on their planning sheets.
They also learned about parentheses in Hands-On-Equations, and solved a math-related “Would You Rather” question.
During indoor recess, the students tested out another app that is in beta right now from Tangible Play. It’s called “Doodles”, and the iPad recognizes what you draw on a piece of paper. Your goal is to draw a line on the paper that will drive the falling balls on the iPad screen to the star. It’s a little glitchy, since it’s still in the early stages of development, but the kids seemed to enjoy it!
In our Maker Studio (B.O.S.S. HQ), the students helped me finish up building a paper roller I bought at Ikea. I also taught them how to use the 3Doodler – our 3D printing pen!
5th Grade Has our 1st Genius Hour Presentation of the Year
Today’s blog post is by Aubrie.
Today in G.T. we spent a lot of time on Genius Hour. We did the (extremely) evil challenges as well.
We also read ‘The Giver’, and discussed the chapters we read.
Lastly, we did Maker’s Studio, now called ‘B.O.S.S. HQ.’, which stands for Building of Super Structures. Only people who were on level 3 (we rank ourselves based on the number of Class Dojo points we have), (which means that you have 21 points and up),could do it. In B.O.S.S. HQ., we got to paint the sign reading:B.O.S.S. HQ., use mini electronic ‘robots’ called Little Bits, and use the newly-acquired 3Doodler pen, which can melt plastic and make 3-dimensional pictures!
See you next week!
B.O.S.S. HQ is Now Open!
This post was co-authored by Mahli and Athasi.
Today in G.T we read “Tuck Everlasting “by: Natalie Babbitt and took a vote to see how many people would still drink the magic water that makes you live forever, and very few of us raised our hands . After that, we did some hands on equations which is pre algebra. Also we revised our Genius Hour projects to meet the criteria that we talked about last time and many of us started our projects. Then, students who were on level three got to choose either to paint the sign to our maker studio, which is called B.O.S.S. HQ (Building Of Super Stuff) or create hands on programs with little things called Little Bits. For those of us who were not on level three, tried some challenges on the iPad using the programming app “Hopscotch”. Also, report cards went home today, along with our G.T folders, full of the cool stuff we do in G.T.At the end of the day Emmett showed us some things under the microscopes at the Genius Bar. There was also a question on the Genius Bar that said,” Should you always listen to the opinions of others?” A lot of us said no, but a few of us said yes.Today in G.T was a good day to show the creative side of yourself.
5th Grade Explores Cubelets
The PTA recently granted me an EXCEL grant to start outfitting our Maker Studio next door. One of the items that will be available in the Studio is a set of Cubelets. These magnetic cubes can be combined in an endless number of ways to create different types of robots. The order arrived last night, so I asked the 5th graders to explore them today and give me some feedback.
Even though the set is large (20 Cubelets), we found that it is definitely ideal to have no more than 2 or 3 people using them at a time. The extra battery Cubelet that I ordered has not arrived, yet, but that will make it easier for a couple more people to work the challenges at the same time. The kids all agreed that they are awesome, though!
We also worked on Genius Hour today, and the students learned about some “Villains” to avoid (such as “Decoy Boy”, who tries to distract you from your task). They were offered Genius Hour Challenges, too, which made the time a bit more exciting. Some had to go the entire hour without talking, one had to switch partners for a day, and another had to use her non-dominant hand for today’s session. And those were only Level 1 Challenges! The cards go up to Level 5, so it will be interesting to see who is willing to try the harder ones!
Here are some photos from today:
