Reflect

Makerspace Mania at CGMS

with April Rogerson, Cedar Grove Middle School Media Coordinator

Student engineers and designers have been busy in the Cedar Grove Middle School Makerspace this year. From circuitry art to green screens, a variety of challenges have allowed students to explore their creativity and dabble in the engineering design process. 

Eighth grade ELA students from Mrs. Levasa and Mrs. Zell’s classes worked in the makerspace during the second nine week period to create circuitry art. After writing a poem in two voices from a novel they recently finished, students created paintings that depicted the different perspectives from their writing. Then, they learned about closed circuits and coding and used Makey Makeys to add sound to their paintings. These projects were spectacular, and we are very proud of their hard work. 

Mrs. Bates and her seventh grade ELA  students recently designed commercials and posters as part of their focus on evaluating argumentative claims and propaganda in the Makerspace. Students used WeVideo and the green screen to create their commercials and Canva to create digital posters. Some groups used collaging techniques to display various propaganda types in posters made from magazine clippings. When completed, they presented their creative designs to the class in a gallery walk. The students did a great job using various techniques in the Makerspace to demonstrate their understanding of propaganda techniques.