Making Back to School Great!

The Wonder Workshop blog is back! This first issue of the new school year is dedicated to having fun with back to school supplies. Check out the activities below, try a few and see which one is your favorite.

Once you create something, ask your family to snap a pic and share it with our community either in the comments or tag us on GV’s social media #gvmakes. Inspire others and keep the creativity growing!

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Make Your Own Back to School Supplies from Recycled Materials

In the Wonder Workshop we like to be earth friendly and reuse materials as much as possible. The following videos show you how to make your own school supplies from common household items. Try one or all of them.

Have fun, save money and the earth by making your own school supplies from common household items.

Hold your new pens and pencils in this super cute pouch. Use your creativity to personalize it just for you.

This tutorial uses washi tape & paint, but you can recycle wrapping paper, newspapers, calendars, or magazines to make your organizer colorful.

Fun School Supply Ideas

The following links show creative ways to make going back to school more fun:

• Ribbon & Paperclip Bookmark
• Back to School Time Capsule
• DIY Woven Basket

Like these ideas, then keep coming back each month for more creative activities that will have you thinking and making all year long.

Black History Month of Making Challenge:

This the final installment in our four part series- Black History Month of Making where we’re sharing some of our favorite maker moments and projects inspired by Black creators, makers, scientists, and inventors. Remember to let us know how you enjoyed these Black History Maker projects and show off what you made. #GVMakes

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As we move from Black History Month into Women’s History Month, we present a Maker Challenge Mashup inspired by two Black women pioneers in the field of aviation and aerospace. Bessie Coleman & Mae Jemison broke barriers and changed ideas about what was possible for Black women. What do you dream about doing or becoming? Keep going after what you want and who knows how high you’ll fly.!

Click the poster ⬇ to print or download the challenge and get the tutorial links.

too-fly-not-to-fly-challengeDownload

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Remember to share your creations with us at school or tag us on social media

Instagram: @grass_valley_ousd Twitter: @GrassValleyousd Facebook: @grassvalleyelementary

Black History Month of Making Challenge: Design a Paper Lantern

Lanterns created by GV 1st & 2nd graders for our Fall Maker Expo

Part Three in the Series- Black History Month of Making where we’re sharing some of our favorite maker moments and projects inspired by Black creators, makers, scientists, and inventors. This one is just in time for some weekend fun. Remember to check back next week for a new hands-on project.

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Lanterns help shine light in the darkness. This week’s maker project is inspired by Black inventor Michael C. Harvey who patented an improvement on the wick for oil lanterns. See how creative you can get making your own lantern and shine your light bright!

Check out the design challenge below and scroll down to watch a video of some of our GV students to get even more inspiration. Click this pic ⬇ to download the challenge and get the tutorial link.

Downloadable Lantern Design Challenge + Tutorial Link

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Want to get even more creative?! Check out this video from our Fall Maker EXPO featuring Mrs. Coleman’s 1st & 2nd graders. They learned all about the scientific aspects of light and then combined that knowledge with the arts to make lanterns highlighting their special qualities and created a dance to showcase their maker brilliance.

Remember to share your creations with us at school or tag us on social media

Instagram: @grass_valley_ousd Twitter: @GrassValleyousd Facebook: @grassvalleyelementary

Make Your Own 3D Glasses

Part Two in the Series- Black History Month of Making where we’re sharing some of our favorite maker moments and projects inspired by Black creators, makers, scientists, and inventors. Remember to check back next week for a new hands-on project.

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3D-Glasses-BHMM-freebieDownload

Click the freebie above to access the tutorial & video links.

Share your creations with us at school or tag us on social media @grass_valley_ousd #GVMakes

Bay Area educators testing out their own 3D glasses in the Wonder Workshop.

Black History Month of Making

During the month of February, we’ll be sharing some of our favorite maker moments and projects inspired by Black creators, makers, scientists, and inventors. Check back each week for new hands-on projects.

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Kicking off our Black History Month of Making, learn to make your own Black power, pride, or joy images that you can wear all year long. You can follow along with the tutorial below which features our very own Teacher on Special Assignment, Paula Mitchell, who was inspired by Emory Douglas’ printmaking art for the Black Panther Party.

Check out this episode of Maker Ed’s Learning in the Making to learn not only how to screen print but also learn some of the history of the Black Power movement, from the Black Panthers to #BlackLivesMatter. Also check out the Activity Guide that lists all the materials you’ll need and step-by-step instructions in both English & Spanish.

Share your creations with us at school or tag us on social media @grass_valley_ousd #GVMakes

Shout out to former GV Special Education teacher, Roxy Martinez, who helped develop this activity for us for our 2018 Black History Month Celebration!

Maker Identity: Students of Color Sustaining and Creating Identities in Maker Education

originally published June 12, 2018 by Agency by Design Oakland

note by Paula Mitchell

Note:

Roxanne Martinez, Monique Parrish, and I were all members of the 2017-2018 Agency by Design Oakland Teacher Fellowship. This fellowship takes a deep dive into the framework and instructional strategies of maker-centered learning, Fellows experiment with these strategies in their classroom practice and reflect on their learning within the cohort.  Each teacher in the fellowship completed a Picture of Practice highlighting what they learned from their inquiry work. Ms. Martinez’ Picture of Practice is an Ignite Talk (a 5 minute talk with slides) on the theme of Maker Identity.

Since completion of the 2017-2018 school year, Ms. Martinez has returned to her Southern California roots where she continues to make Maker-Centered Learning a mainstay of her educational practice. At Grass Valley, we continue to be inspired by Ms. Martinez’s strong stand for social justice and her ability to bring out the creative best in her students.

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MAKER IDENTITY, AN IGNITE TALK BY 2017-2018 AGENCY BY DESIGN OAKLAND TEACHER FELLOW ROXANNE MARTÍNEZ

“Our students, youth of color, navigate worlds that tell them that their home identities and their school identities have to be kept separate. And, in fact, their ability to do that is essential for their success in education. Does the MAKER MOVEMENT contribute to these tensions? YES.”  

Roxanne Martínez is a Resource Specialist at Grass Valley Elementary School in Oakland. At the Agency by Design Oakland year end event on Saturday, May 5, Roxy presented her talk entitled, “Students of Color Sustaining and Creating Identities in Maker Education.” Roxy spoke to the importance of maker education not being another tool to oppress our students, and instead a means of liberation.

“Making is a manifestation, it’s a proclamation, and it’s a celebration of who we are, and who we always have been.”

“The maker movement has the potential to reproduce harmful hierarchies. Is it inevitable that the maker movement reproduce these hierarchies? Absolutely not. But unchecked and unchallenged, it will.”  

Check out Ms. Martinez’s amazing Ignite Talk below! 

“TEACHING IS A POLITICAL ACT. IT’S ESSENTIAL FOR THE LIBERATION OF OUR STUDENTS OF COLOR.”

-Roxy Martínez

Resource Teacher/Education Specialist, Grass Valley Elementary School, OUSD

Fall Maker Expo

Grass Valley’s Maker Program is an LRNG Innovators Challenge Grant Winner!

Previously Published by Educator Innovator

Note by: Paula Mitchell

In May of 2017, we were thrilled to learn that Grass Valley Elementary’s Wonder Workshop in conjunction with MakerEd had been awarded one of only ten LRNG Innovators Challenge grants given out nationwide. This grant helped fund the materials and supplies for our 2017-2018 Maker program which included classroom making projects, individual student maker projects, after school maker workshops, family making nights, and our soon to be released Library Maker Take-Home Kits.  We focused on bringing students’ passions to life by linking home and school interests.

As this grant comes to an end, look for more posts that examine and share the work we did during the past year.

Read on to find out more about the LRNG Innovators Challenge Grants and Connected Learning.

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LRNG Innovators began in 2014 and launched its third challenge in the beginning of 2017, inviting educators to imagine engaging ways to help young people explore their interests, thereby igniting a passion that can lead to college, to a career, or having a positive impact in the community. We sought proposals for programs, curricula, or projects that actively help youth discover interests connecting the spheres of their lives, both in and out of school, and provide potential future opportunities.

Connected Learning research demonstrates that all young people benefit from opportunities to follow their interests with the support of peers and mentors and that give them the time and space to create work that is meaningful to them. With support from the National Writing Project, John Legend’s Show Me Campaign, theJohn D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Collective Shift (lrng.org), the LRNG Innovators challenge supports teams of educators in designing, testing, and sharing solutions that build the future of creative and connected learning today.

Linked Learning with Maker-Centered Education
Oakland, CA
Grass Valley Elementary Educators will expand project-based learning and Maker Education throughout school and the community, including the school library space and students’ families. As a small public school in Oakland, California, embarking on a culture shift, these educators are moving away from whole-class, lockstep instruction, and toward small-group, personalized learning with differentiated instruction based on students’ interests and needs. In the expanded MakerSpace, the school community will be invited to come tinker, explore their interests, and make, in collaboration with expanded project-based learning opportunities throughout the school. The school library will extend access and equity by making available take-home Maker Kits that include books and hands-on activities that students can make on their own or with their families.

Apps for Makers

Taking making to another level or to your home has never been so easy. Today’s technology makes it easier for parents and educators to provide another mode of making that doesn’t need a makerspace.

We encourage you to introduce technology such as your smartphone or tablet to your child or student to start making.  These mobile devices have made software practically free and in abundance and are a great resource for creative education.

So what apps do I encourage to download?

The Foos Coding

Does your child ever wonder how games are made? Now, your child gets the insight by making their own game using The Foos. This app lets them learn simple coding to make their game the way they like it. The animation is cute and bright that it will definitely catch their eyes. Plus your child can get a certification of completion for “The Hour of Code.”

 Ideally for ages 4 and up 

Available on the App Store and Google Play, FREE (In-app purchases available) 

Hopscotch

Do you want your children to make their own game, website, animation or app? Those things are now possible with this app.  Children will learn through color and simple commands that will set their foundation in the language of coding for the future.

 

 

Ideally for Ages 9 and up

Only Available on the App Store, FREE (In-app purchases available)

Lego Creator Islands

Do not want to carry a bag of Legos everywhere you go with your child. Well, let me introduce you to this app that lets your child build their own island using digital Legos.  Your child will learn what he/she need to build an environment and let his creativity run wild with his own type of world.

 

Ideally for Ages 9-11

Available on the App Store and Google Play, FREE

DIY  App- Creative Community for Kids

Go beyond the coding apps, this app shows and help develops manual making. The app explains different types of making such as leatherworks, homebuilding, film, and the list goes on. Children learn by watching videos, gathering experience points, doing challenges and getting encouragement from fellow app users. Children gain online patches for each type of making completed.

Ideally for Ages 9-11

Available on the App Store, FREE

Robot School Programming for Kids

Kids love robots. This app lets your kid use coding to guide the robot to complete the task. There are multiple levels with each one getting more complicated by the time they complete the app they will be experts in coding. Sounds a bit complicated, no worries the app teaches the student how to use the app and the different coding commands.

 

Ideally for Ages 9-11

Available on the App Store, FREE or for extended version $3.99.

Also available on Google Play, $2.68.

There you have it, 5 great STEAM Making apps, that any parent, educator or maker enthusiasts can download. Remember,  Everyone is a Maker, so even adults can download these apps to learn.

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Featured Image is Designed by Freepik

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About the Author

Maria Renteria, AmeriCorps VISTA 

Maria comes to us from the South Bay of Los Angeles. She has been a Maker since she can remember. She is excited to share this passion with Grass Valley Elementary students because she wants them to create their best memories of school through making like she did when she was little.

Culturally Responsive Making

Join us for the April East Bay Maker Educator Meetups (EBMEM) at Grass Valley Elementary in Oakland for a night of culturally responsive making!

We’ll begin by learning about Grass Valley Elementary’s recent event, Black History Month Family Making Night, an event that included students, parents, and teachers in a convergence of both traditional and new forms of making. Teacher on Special Assignment, Paula Mitchell, and Maker VISTA members Crystal Le and Maria Renteria will provide a presentation on this event devoted to honoring and exploring historic and modern contributions of African American innovators. After this presentation, we’ll dive into a hands-on making activity inspired by an African American innovator and explore culturally responsive making. 

Register for the event here.

Grass Valley Elementary is located at 4720 Dunkirk Ave in Oakland. There’s always plenty of street parking right out front. Please arrive ready to make!