With the layout and storage situation in our library, I just haven't found a way to make it work yet. I have wanted to start a Makerspace in our library for a long time! An article I read quoted the Institute for Museum and Library Services saying that 65% of scientists with advanced degrees stated that their interest in science started before middle school. Through the MakerSpace, students are exposed to various forms of technology as well as elements of exploration, experimentation, creation, and design. The kids love this project and so do I so we may have to make it more a more regular event!Ĭlick here to download your copy of the Storybook Pumpkin Contest pack! It includes the parent letter, the student handout to be returned with the pumpkin, the judging rubric, and the judging score sheets. We had 95 students (which is about 1/3 of our school) participate in this year's Storybook Pumpkin contest! I honestly was not expecting that many to participate in a completely voluntary project. I absolutely didn't want to leave them in library over the 3 Day weekend to avoid the "Spongebob Incident of 2014" which you can read about here! We announced the winners on Thursday so that our students could take their pumpkins home that day (they were out of school on Friday). We had 1 winner from Kindergarten - and 1st Grade, 1 from 2nd and 3rd Grade, and 1 from 4th and 5th Grade. Each judge had a rubric and score sheet to fill out. Two of the judges were our instructional coaches and the other two were people from outside our school. I made the project due date on a Monday and allowed students that forgot to bring their pumpkins on Tuesday. Judging took place throughout the day on Wednesday. I explained the project to our students during their weekly library visit and sent a letter home to their families about 2 weeks before the pumpkins were due. Choose a character from that book and decorate a pumpkin to look like that character. Our Storybook Pumpkin Contest had 3 simple instructions:Ģ. The pumpkins are just a super cute bonus! My hope is that reading together becomes a regular thing in every one of our families! I want them to talk about the book, the characters, what they liked and didn't like. I am always blown away by the creativity of our students and their families!! My main goal for this project is actually not the pumpkins (although I do LOVE seeing our library filled with these works of art) is to get our families to read together and work on a project together related to that book. The last time we did Storybook Pumpkins was the Fall of 2014 so about half of our students had never done this project. I try to rotate several different projects so that the kids don't get burnt out on doing the same project every year. I'm hoping smaller groups will help!Įach year we do a special project in the fall to celebrate reading together as a family. Some of the centers are harder to do with larger groups or we don't have quite enough materials to go around. The past 2 years I have done a rotation of 4 centers for 4 weeks and had groups of 5-6 students. This year, for Year 3, I plan to take it back to 6 weeks (6 centers) and do smaller groups. I also increased the amount of time we spent in centers from 4 weeks to 8.and really I let them convince me to extend it an extra week or so to complete some of the centers. I discontinued a few that I didn't feel worked well and added a few as we purchased new items. I made some adjustments to how we did centers and the centers that we did for year 2. *I shouldn't hear "You are wrong." I should hear "What if you try it this way?". Remind them that failure is OK! Just try again! *No one should be being bossy! Teamwork makes the dream work! During the introduction week, we always discuss what I should see and hear as I walk by your center. Model what you want to SEE and HEAR in each center. Be there to support each center but don’t tell them what to do!ĥ. Children learn through play! Allow them the freedom to explore on their own and work together to construct new learning with their classmates. Involve different forms of art as often as possible! (Our school doesn’t have an art teacher so I try to incorporate art in at least one center for each grade level.)Ĥ. All centers should involve hands on learning and problem solving!ģ. Technology is more than screens! We definitely use iPads and chromebooks frequently during centers but I try to find a balance between centers that require screens and centers that don’t.Ģ. The last time I wrote about our STEAM Centers was the end of the 2016-2017 school year! I meant to post an update from the 2017-2018 school year and it just never happened! STEAM centers have become a favorite of my students, and we are all looking forward to beginning year 3 in just a couple of weeks!ġ.
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