I have so appreciated opportunities other educators have shared with me. This blog shares the opportunities I have discovered for students and educators as they occur and shares activities and ideas from my elementary engineering lab. Students in elementary engineering build working models, use robotics, and design 3D printing projects using project-based learning. Opinions expressed here are my own.
The Scratch lesson Coding with Primary Sources is available at the TPS (Teaching with Primary Sources) Network. https://tpsteachersnetwork.org/album/46060-coding-with-primary-sources-scratch-30 The lesson includes student-facing instructions and the primary sources used for the sample Scratch program. I would love feedback on the lesson and to hear about ways you may have adapted it for your classroom.
I have another project I have fallen in love with, kites. It sounds so simple and yet the historical uses of kites and the advances they have facilitated are intriguing. The project involves designing kites from measured drawings by Alexander Graham Bell's notebooks and more. Designs could be made from recyclables, balsa wood and paper, and even 3D printed. I'm having a great time developing this project.
I love the resources available at the Library of Congress!
The breadth of primary sources available from the Library of Congress present an excellent opportunity for elementary educators to connect and integrate content areas through historical context. As an Einstein Fellow, I am identifying ways to make STEM connections through primary sources. A couple of recent projects include using Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) to create programs using primary sources and creating paper circuits with primary sources.
Instructions for the Civil War Bugle Calls Scratch project are still in development https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/268767799/. The instructions include information on original sheet music and how to use the original bugle calls to code the music using Scratch 2.0. Students could do a variety of project using Scratch and primary sources. This is just one example.
Lighting the first National Christmas tree with paper circuits allows students to understand the importance of early electricity and the history of some of our holiday traditions. The 1923 National Christmas tree was the first and lit with electric lights. A card can be created with any primary source and then used to light up with a paper circuit on the inside. Additional uses could be examining electrical circuits, incandescent lamps, and more.
Any feedback you might have on these types of projects would be greatly appreciated. If you are local in the DC area, I would love the opportunity to visit your classroom and work on some of these projects with you if we can find times in both of our schedules to connect.
I have spent several weeks now exploring, or should I say scratching the surface, of interesting and engaging primary sources at the Library of Congress. There is something for everyone in the digitized resources, not to mention the vast materials housed by this amazing institution. I am finally at the point where I can bring in my own classroom experiences and connect them to the primary sources for use in the classroom or a makerspace. It's been interesting and frustrating that it took me three months to get my feet under me, but my excitement as I developed two new lessons this week, one connecting iceboxes from the 1800-1900s and insulation boxes and another using Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) to code Civil War bugle calls, brings back memories of collaborating at my school. The Scratch lesson was even more fun to develop because I was able to collaborate with our Teacher-in-Residence to share with her the possibilities of Scratch with music. It never ceases to amaze me how fun it can be to collaborate with other educators on projects. Lessons also come out so much better when they build off of each other's strengths. These lessons are still being developed, but keep an eye on the Library of Congress, Learning and Innovation, Teacher's Blog for these and other lessons https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/.
