How to Implement:

• Introduce the theme of the makeathon or have the whole group brainstorm ideas. You may bring in a guest speaker that aligns with your theme or you can have the girls spend time researching possibilities before they pitch their ideas. In addition to some of the ideas that are posted on LRNG you could also bring in resources from the library.
• Introduce girls to the concept of a pitch. With a pitch, girls can either announce a project idea to recruit other team members or they can promote their interests in order to be recruited by other teams. After the idea round they can indicate what project ideas they are interested in and pitch the skills they'll bring to the project.
• Ask the girls to reflect on the following prompts in their design journals:
  • What was your favorite project to work on so far in this strand?
  • What kinds of projects are you interested in creating next?
  • What knowledge, skills, or talents could you contribute to a project?
• Some girls already may have a project idea or have identified a specific interest or skill they want to share or further explore. Let girls know that if they don’t have a specific project idea or interest, they will have an opportunity to join another team.
• Give each girl a chance to pitch to the rest of the group. Ask people to line up if they want to pitch, and give them thirty seconds each to describe their project or interest. You can do a second round for them to say which project they are interested in and what skills/resources they could bring to that group.
• Provide time for girls to form project groups of three or four people. As teams are forming, remind them to also tell each other what resources they might need as it may spark another person to join their team.
• Optionally, have girls write their names and project interests on sticky notes that can be arranged and sorted on a wall to facilitate team building.