Lower School Library Maker Month
May 20, 2015
By: Brooklyn Friends School
Our first two themes, “ART OF WORDS” and “BOOK ARTS” have activated the BFS Lower School! All students in grades K through 4 are involved in our library Maker Month. With design thinking as a framework for jumpstarting making, we invite students to try new skills and share old ones, while thinking about the processes of ideation and creation and evolution. We ask them, “how can we approach these materials in a new way?”
The ART OF WORDS brought students experiences and skill-shares in magnetic poetry, letter writing to authors and illustrators, creating word clouds of the academic year and, as always, the option to read quietly with a stuffed friend.
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| Letter to Pippi Longstocking |
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| Magnetic Poetry |
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| Magnetic Poetry Sample |
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| Students creating word clouds on iPads of their 3rd grade year |
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| Reading to stuffed friends |
BOOK ARTS gave students time to experiment and crowdsource ideas for making summer reading journals, upcycling old books (Say what? We can cut these books?), creating comic strips extending their favorite books or taking the point of view of a favorite character, or using the app Chatterpix Kids to share a favorite book as an animated summary or by taking on the persona of a favorite character from the book. Students found themselves on varying levels and shared strategies and ideas to create and yet extend a truly unique maker experience
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| Upcycling old books |
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| Book arts creation |
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| Front: comic strips of favorite books/characters Back: creating summer reading journals |
Why Makerspaces? The nature of sharing and gaining new ideas is always changing. Adults and children and ideas are much more connected – especially digitally. Since the PS/LS Library has stopped circulating books in order to prepare for the summer break, the librarians have found this a perfect time to weave in the opportunity for students to experience part of a vibrant 21st century library and sharpen old skills and gain new ones. Stop by to see what’s happening!