Problem of Practice: What are appropriate activities for 1st Graders in a makerspace with non-consumable materials?
District: New Hyde Park-Garden City Park
School: Hillside Grade School
Facilitator: Tom Troisi
Principal: Beth Torreano
Teachers: Jenna Marotta
At Hillside Grade School we discovered that our current program did not have a structure or sufficient materials to support a Maker Space for all students. With a 1st Grade pilot class, I was able to successfully facilitate a makerspace
lesson (building a structure). Students were broken up into groups and given 10 minutes to build a structure with various materials (keva blocks, magna tiles, geosmart.)The structures were measured and each group repeated the process to
build a taller structure. Based on student google form responses, all students enjoyed participating in this lesson and many of them stated that they were able to think of a new way to solve the problem.