June 2, 2025 • 20 mins
Reading becomes an adventure when students get to build, design, and create alongside their favorite stories. For too many children, books remain distant collections of words rather than doorways to imagination – but that changes when we introduce makerspace elements into our literacy instruction.
The magic happens when we invite students to physically recreate story settings using simple materials like cardboard, pipe cleaners, and recyclables. Suddenly, Mr. McGregor's garden from "Peter Rabbit" or the shifting homes in "The Three Little Pigs" become tangible spaces students can explore with their hands. This transformation from abstract text to concrete creation helps struggling visualizers connect with literature in ways traditional reading approaches simply can't match.
Beyond settings, challenging students to solve character problems through design thinking creates powerful story connections. When faced with designing a way for Jack to safely descend from the giant's castle, students aren't just passive observers – they become active participants in the narrative. These open-ended challenges foster empathy, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills while making reading a collaborative, engaging experience. The third approach – extending stories by redesigning endings – ensures engagement doesn't end with the final page, encouraging students to see themselves as co-creators rather than just consumers of stories.
What makes these approaches so valuable is their accessibility. Using simple materials already found in most classrooms, these projects transform reading from a potentially intimidating experience into a joyful adventure that meets diverse learning needs. For reluctant readers especially, this hands-on connection creates pathways to comprehension and enjoyment that traditional approaches might never unlock. Ready to bring this magic to your classroom? Grab my free list of story-stem book ideas perfect for makerspace extensions in the show notes, and let's transform reading instruction one creative project at a time!
🎁 Grab my FREE Story STEM Book List here 👉 https://www.trinadeboreeteachingandlearning.com/elabooksformakerspace
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 247.
Books plus makerspace equalsmagic.
So today I'm going to dosomething a little bit different
.
So I have, I have a new YouTubechannel Raiders in the Making
and that is what the contentthat I've been using for One
Tired Teacher.
But I you know, I'm thinkingmaybe I I don't know I'm having
(00:26):
a really hard time decidingexactly what I want to do.
I took a hiatus from thispodcast.
If you are a longtime listener,thank you.
Thank you for sticking aroundthrough my ups and downs and all
arounds.
It's been definitely a journey.
I will say.
I started this podcast oh mygoodness, so long ago.
(00:46):
I feel like it was 2018, maybe,maybe even 2017.
I mean, it's been a while.
I mean, I have 247 episodes, sothat is insane.
And I really started it becauseI felt like my voice as a
teacher, as an educator, wasstifled and I often felt like
(01:12):
there were things that we neededto talk about in education and
we weren't talking about them orwe were just beginning to talk
about them and I felt like itwas important to put it out
there into the world with otherteachers.
And you kind of went throughthat journey with me if you were
here from the beginning and Idid some interviews, I did some
solo sessions, I had some angryconversations.
(01:36):
I had some happy, wonderful,enlightening I can't think of
the word inspiring, let's gowith that An inspiring
conversation.
And and then I kind of like gotoverwhelmed because I I was I
had so many podcasts at one time.
I mean, there was a time when Ihad three podcasts going on.
(01:58):
That is crazy.
And I had a teacherpreneurpodcast and I was, you know,
dedicated to that as well.
This was always still my mainfocus.
But as time went on, I startedto like shift a little bit about
exactly what I wanted to createand I started to feel myself
(02:18):
being pulled away from teachersand feeling like I wasn't
relevant anymore myself, becauseit's been quite a while since I
have taught in a classroom.
The last teaching thing that Idid was as the media specialist
in a school.
It was before COVID, it wasactually during COVID, it was
(02:38):
like the year of COVID and thenin the year after COVID and you
know, and everything has changedso much.
So I started to feel like youknow, what do I have to say?
What do I have to offer?
You know, but I think we dothat sometimes.
I think we do that as educators.
I think we doubt ourselves andI think I kind of feel like the
system is set up to make usdoubt ourselves.
(03:00):
You know, we're constantlybeing evaluated in this way.
That sometimes doesn'tnecessarily feel fair, and we're
often looked at as less than,or what can we improve, and
never like celebrating what wewere really good at, and and so
I fell into that trap of feelinglike, you know, oh, my 25 years
(03:21):
of teaching doesn't meananything.
That is so not true.
That is so not true.
It's so not true.
There's so many ways in whichthe skills that I developed in
the classroom, out of theclassroom, in the role of
administration, and then as themedia specialist, and then all
the different jobs that I'vedone and all the different ways
(03:41):
that I have tried to continue tosupport education all of that's
still relevant and matters.
And if you're still here, thenI think I think you're still
here for a reason, and if you'renew to me, well then welcome.
So I'm thinking that I I willdo.
I will do some some of thecontent that I've been doing on
(04:05):
Readers in the Making, but you,the content that I've been doing
on readers in the making.
But you can get that on readersin the making.
You can, um, you know, youdon't even have to watch the
video, you can just listen.
You can, you know, play itthrough YouTube and you can just
listen.
Um, but I think that I thinkI'm going to tailor this
conversation to teachers.
I was thinking about changingthis podcast's name to Readers
(04:28):
in the Making, but I I I'm notready to let go of teachers.
I'm not.
That relates to teachers.
That still gets really superangry when teachers are treated
poorly or when I read thingslike it's not the system that's
(04:49):
failing, it's the sabotage ofteachers, it's a sabotage of the
system.
That's the part that's soupsetting.
And when I hear you know thingsthat have come on the horizon
or come you know that are new,that I didn't actually
experience Sorry about that butthat are new to teachers, I
(05:14):
think the way that we speak toteachers as if, like you're so
dumb for doing it this old way,that is not.
That's not the way to talk toeducated adults.
It's not the way to talk to anyadults.
It's not the way to talk topeople.
So if we want people to dosomething new and exciting and
innovative, or something that wethink might be better than
(05:36):
something that was happening inthe past.
Why don't we lead with loveinstead of criticism and
manipulation?
Lead with love instead ofcriticism and manipulation, and
so I think those are the kindsof things that I want to focus
on in One Tired Teacher.
And, yeah, and so sometimes, yes, I will have similar content to
what you can get on Readers inthe Making, but it will be
(05:59):
geared towards teachers and itwon't be things that we do as,
or what that we can do asparents and a lot of teachers
are parents, but if they're not,then that's okay too.
So I think that I think thatit's going to be more about
teaching here, and there will beI am going to take a break in
(06:23):
July, and there will be.
I am going to take a break inJuly.
I think I'm.
I think I may take the wholemonth and like and not have a
new episode for the whole monthof July, but I'm going to kind
of play it by year.
So the only way you're going toknow is if you subscribe, you
follow and you subscribe, andthen you will get an update when
we get, when there's a newpodcast episode.
(06:45):
And if you're missing me at all,then I have another podcast,
mind your Heart, that I do withmy daughter and it's all about
like mindfulness, about mentalhealth and mothers and daughters
and and you know things that wethink and go through in life
and it's it's really fun.
(07:06):
I'm really enjoying doing itwith her.
It's a you know, it's a littlebaby podcast.
We only do it every other weekand actually there's going to be
a two week span because wedidn't get our, we didn't
coordinate our schedulescorrectly, so and my sweet baby
is flying to Peru today when I'mrecording this, but this
(07:29):
episode won't come out untilJune.
So by the time she yeah, she'llbe back, she'll be home safe
and sound by the time thisepisode comes out.
But anyway, we've been having alot of fun doing that podcast
and if you're interested, then Iwould love for you to join us
on Mind your Heart.
But for today we are going tofocus on books, makerspace,
(07:51):
equaling magic.
So this is one of the longestintroductions I've ever done.
I actually think I'm going toskip the little intro that I do
and we're kind of kind of justgoing to jump right in.
So how about that?
So we're not going to have alittle intro.
That I do, and we're kind ofkind of just going to jump right
in.
So how about that?
So we're not going to have alittle intro, we're just going
to get right to it, okay, so howdo you feel about your kids,
(08:15):
your students, falling in lovewith reading?
I think this is one of the mostimportant aspects of teaching
for me and I think I have grownreally frustrated with the fact
that I don't see that anymore.
Like I don't see that being apriority and I know that
(08:36):
teachers care about this, but Ithink it gets pushed down,
pushed down, push down, pushdown, push down with the
sabotaging of education.
Like I witnessed all of theseposts about people putting their
classroom libraries away, whenall of a sudden, the stupidity
of having to tell every book inyour library, write it down and
(09:02):
have parents know every book inyour library, that is the most.
It's like telling someone theyhave to record every time they
cut their toenails and they haveto account for every one of
their toenails Like it just isinsane.
When you have a huge classroomlibrary like I did, like many
teachers do, it's it's such busywork.
(09:23):
Like who's really going to readthrough that.
That's the one thing I ask.
And for those few people thatfeel like every single thing
should be micromanaged in thatway, then I think they need to
come in and do it, or they needto be the ones that monitor it
for their own kids.
But that doesn't mean it has tobe monitored for everyone in
(09:44):
the world.
Like I just think that'sabsolutely outrageous and I I
just and I also think it'sridiculous to ask a grown person
to do that.
So I think that it's easy forthings like the love of reading
to get pushed down when we haveridiculous, loud nonsense like
that going on.
(10:04):
And that is that's Crazy,because the real tragedy here is
not that one child gets to seea book that that their parents
may not like.
The real tragedy is it impactsso many other kids, all the kids
, because it takes away fromteachers having the time to
(10:27):
cultivate a deep love forreading.
And sadly, like I reallythought, okay, if teachers can't
do it, parents can do it,parents can do it.
But I kept running into parentsbasically telling me that they
cared about how their child doesin school and how they pass
tests so they can move on to thenext thing and go to college
(10:48):
and this, this real apathy abouta deep love of reading and what
that ultimately means andbrings to kids as time goes on,
they don't see the end picture,they don't see the bigger
picture.
I should say they're reallyshort-sighted in seeing just the
(11:10):
quick what looks like a win,even though it's not really a
win.
It's all just such nonsense.
First of all, these tests thatthey, where they proclaim all
these students are below gradelevel.
They're it's by a specificcompany, and then the company,
go figure, has some solutionsfor that.
I mean, that seems a little bitbiased in my opinion, but I
won't go down on that rabbithole.
(11:32):
What I will say is thatsomebody, anybody, has to care
about this.
I just believe that we have tocare about this.
I think it makes all thedifference, because when kids
love something, they will keepdoing it.
So, all right.
One of the ways that I reallybelieve that kids can love
(11:54):
reading is combining storieswith hands on fun, and so that
is what I want to talk abouttoday.
It's really talking about threesimple makerspace activities
that bring books to life, frombuilding a character's invention
or crafting a story setting orany kind of literacy rich
(12:15):
project that boosts readingcomprehension, creativity and
engagement, and it's perfect forour reluctant readers in our
classrooms.
All right, so let's set, let'sbreak it down.
So today we're going to talkabout how to pair any book with
a creative STEM challenge.
We're going to talk about easymaterials and set up ideas, and
(12:36):
then we're going to talk aboutwhy hands-on learning builds
reading confidence.
So it's not going to be superlong.
As you've noticed, theseepisodes have gotten much
shorter than they used to be.
Again, if you're a longtimelistener, thank you for being
here.
You know I'm a bit of a rambler, which hello?
I mean, I'm already at 12minutes and it's we're just now
(12:56):
getting into the content.
So if you're still with me,thanks again.
All right, so let's get to it.
So, first of all, one of thethings that we can do, the first
project that I want to talkabout, is recreating the story
setting.
So some kids have a hard timevisualizing what they're reading
.
So stories feel abstract andforgettable or, you know,
(13:20):
because the words feel difficultand hard, they're very detached
from the story.
I think the makerspace shiftreally brings the world of the
book into the real world.
It allows kids to possiblybuild the setting.
(13:40):
Using blocks or cardboard orrecycled materials, we can
actually recreate the world thatthe character lives in.
We can recreate it with ourhands-on, tangible ways, with
kids, which makes it, you know,hands-on learning, makes it
creative, makes it they'rethinking critically about the
(14:00):
aspects of the setting and whatare included and what needs to
be included, and how we're goingto recreate that with the
materials that we have.
We can ask guided questionslike what does this place look
like?
Would you want to visit it?
I mean, think about.
I think about some books thatcome to mind, like this is one
(14:20):
of my favorites from childhood.
We don't have this in ourclassrooms very often the Tale
of Peter Rabbit.
I haven't seen the Tale ofPeter Rabbit in a classroom in a
long time, but what a fun bookthat would be to do with Mr
McGregor's garden.
Like how cool would that be torecreate Mr Gregor's garden, mr
McGregor's garden, and allowPeter to, like you know, try to
(14:44):
get through the garden and getout of there, like I think that
is.
That could be really cool.
Another one that would bereally cool.
This is not my favorite book,but it's called when the Wild
Wild Things Are.
I think recreating the settingin that book could be really,
really cool.
Again, that's not my favorite,so I I don't know why people
love that book, I just don't.
(15:04):
But you know, it would be acool thing for a setting.
Even the Three Little Pigswould work really well, which is
a simple, easy book that theycould do because the setting
changes, and so that could bereally cool as well, to look at
the setting and how it changesfrom one you know aspect of the
story to the next.
(15:25):
And we can use simple materials.
We don't have to go crazy.
We we've got Play-Doh in ourclassroom, we've got pipe
cleaners, we've got cardboard.
If we don't have cardboard, getit from the media.
Specialist books come in.
Boxes come in on a regularbasis.
Custodians are happy to justbring the boxes to you.
There's some really coolscissors that cut cardboard.
(15:47):
That make it easy to like cutsquares of cardboard for kids.
You can even use recyclablesfrom the trash, so those kind of
things can be really helpful.
Why does this work?
It helps deepen comprehensionthrough visualization.
It turns passive reading intoan interactive experience and it
(16:07):
gives kids something to do withthe story, which is perfect for
our active learners.
All right, so another projectthat we can do.
Another makerspace project wecan do is we can solve a
character's problem with like achallenge, like we challenge
them.
It's an open ended responsewhich definitely brings more
(16:28):
critical thinking.
Many kids don't connectemotionally with characters,
they just move through the plot.
And that's where the makerspaceshift comes in.
We let them help the charactersolve a problem, for example,
with Jack and the beanstalk.
What would Jack, what wouldhelp Jack?
You know, what could we buildfor Jack to get him down safely?
(16:49):
Maybe they would come up with abeanstalk, maybe they would
come up with an elevator, maybethey would come up with a set of
wings or you know something.
Anything, it's up to them.
We're not all saying everyonemust create a beanstalk.
We're saying this is thechallenge, this is Jack's
problem.
He's trying to get from, youknow, the giant's castle up in
(17:09):
the clouds back down to theground.
How is he going to do that?
And we let them come up withsolutions.
That's the beauty of like openended challenges.
So they're thinking they're notall doing the same thing.
That's a craft.
They're thinking All right,that's just one idea.
And again, where can you usesimple supplies, straws, tape,
(17:31):
pipe cleaners, cardboard scraps,legos.
Why does this work?
It fosters empathy by invitingkids to think like the character
.
It encourages critical thinkingand problem solving and it
builds a creative bridge betweenfiction and real world thinking
.
And then, finally, projectnumber three we can change the
(17:52):
ending through design.
This is another aspect thathappens sometimes.
Kids often disengage once thebook is over.
They're done, they want to moveon.
But our makerspace shift is toextend the story with a redesign
twist.
So how could we rewrite orredesign the ending?
You know, I love that idea oftaking something and and like
(18:16):
going beyond the story, lettingkids think beyond the story.
What's going to happen next?
How could we recreate this?
How could we, you know?
How could we take the characteron a continued journey?
Why does this work?
Well, it helps kids re-engagewith the story after reading.
It encourages flexibility andownership of their ideas.
(18:37):
It strengthens comprehensionthrough imaginative revision.
Ah see, and this is just thebeginning of kids loving to read
, and we can do this in ourclassroom.
We can do all of these in ourclassrooms.
We can take back the mostimportant thing that we can do
for kids, and that is to helpthem fall in love with reading
(18:59):
and thinking.
All right.
So my final thought is readingdoesn't have to end when the
book closes.
With a few simple makerspaceprompts, you can help your child
explore stories, solve problemsand, most importantly, connect
with books in a joyful way.
So I do have a list of a freelist of story stem book ideas,
(19:21):
like they kind of go along withstandards and then, but they
also make really good makerspaceextensions.
You can grab them in that listin my show notes and I um, yeah,
I hope that you will, becausethey are.
They're a really helpful,curated list that I have created
over the years.
Make sure that you subscribe tothis podcast, that you like this
(19:42):
podcast.
I'd even I would love somecomments.
I would love for you to let meknow what you want me to keep
doing.
Like, I want to hear thingsabout teaching, I want to hear
ideas for teaching, or I want tohear about the trials and
treasures, like anything thatyou're interested in.
I want to hear from you.
All right, my friend, thank youfor sticking around and until
(20:06):
next time, sweet dreams andsweet tight sleep tight.
Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 247.
Books plus makerspace equalsmagic.
So today I'm going to dosomething a little bit different
.
So I have, I have a new YouTubechannel Raiders in the Making
and that is what the contentthat I've been using for One
Tired Teacher.
But I you know, I'm thinkingmaybe I I don't know I'm having
(00:26):
a really hard time decidingexactly what I want to do.
I took a hiatus from thispodcast.
If you are a longtime listener,thank you.
Thank you for sticking aroundthrough my ups and downs and all
arounds.
It's been definitely a journey.
I will say.
I started this podcast oh mygoodness, so long ago.
(00:46):
I feel like it was 2018, maybe,maybe even 2017.
I mean, it's been a while.
I mean, I have 247 episodes, sothat is insane.
And I really started it becauseI felt like my voice as a
teacher, as an educator, wasstifled and I often felt like
(01:12):
there were things that we neededto talk about in education and
we weren't talking about them orwe were just beginning to talk
about them and I felt like itwas important to put it out
there into the world with otherteachers.
And you kind of went throughthat journey with me if you were
here from the beginning and Idid some interviews, I did some
solo sessions, I had some angryconversations.
(01:36):
I had some happy, wonderful,enlightening I can't think of
the word inspiring, let's gowith that An inspiring
conversation.
And and then I kind of like gotoverwhelmed because I I was I
had so many podcasts at one time.
I mean, there was a time when Ihad three podcasts going on.
(01:58):
That is crazy.
And I had a teacherpreneurpodcast and I was, you know,
dedicated to that as well.
This was always still my mainfocus.
But as time went on, I startedto like shift a little bit about
exactly what I wanted to createand I started to feel myself
(02:18):
being pulled away from teachersand feeling like I wasn't
relevant anymore myself, becauseit's been quite a while since I
have taught in a classroom.
The last teaching thing that Idid was as the media specialist
in a school.
It was before COVID, it wasactually during COVID, it was
(02:38):
like the year of COVID and thenin the year after COVID and you
know, and everything has changedso much.
So I started to feel like youknow, what do I have to say?
What do I have to offer?
You know, but I think we dothat sometimes.
I think we do that as educators.
I think we doubt ourselves andI think I kind of feel like the
system is set up to make usdoubt ourselves.
(03:00):
You know, we're constantlybeing evaluated in this way.
That sometimes doesn'tnecessarily feel fair, and we're
often looked at as less than,or what can we improve, and
never like celebrating what wewere really good at, and and so
I fell into that trap of feelinglike, you know, oh, my 25 years
(03:21):
of teaching doesn't meananything.
That is so not true.
That is so not true.
It's so not true.
There's so many ways in whichthe skills that I developed in
the classroom, out of theclassroom, in the role of
administration, and then as themedia specialist, and then all
the different jobs that I'vedone and all the different ways
(03:41):
that I have tried to continue tosupport education all of that's
still relevant and matters.
And if you're still here, thenI think I think you're still
here for a reason, and if you'renew to me, well then welcome.
So I'm thinking that I I willdo.
I will do some some of thecontent that I've been doing on
(04:05):
Readers in the Making, but you,the content that I've been doing
on readers in the making.
But you can get that on readersin the making.
You can, um, you know, youdon't even have to watch the
video, you can just listen.
You can, you know, play itthrough YouTube and you can just
listen.
Um, but I think that I thinkI'm going to tailor this
conversation to teachers.
I was thinking about changingthis podcast's name to Readers
(04:28):
in the Making, but I I I'm notready to let go of teachers.
I'm not.
That relates to teachers.
That still gets really superangry when teachers are treated
poorly or when I read thingslike it's not the system that's
(04:49):
failing, it's the sabotage ofteachers, it's a sabotage of the
system.
That's the part that's soupsetting.
And when I hear you know thingsthat have come on the horizon
or come you know that are new,that I didn't actually
experience Sorry about that butthat are new to teachers, I
(05:14):
think the way that we speak toteachers as if, like you're so
dumb for doing it this old way,that is not.
That's not the way to talk toeducated adults.
It's not the way to talk to anyadults.
It's not the way to talk topeople.
So if we want people to dosomething new and exciting and
innovative, or something that wethink might be better than
(05:36):
something that was happening inthe past.
Why don't we lead with loveinstead of criticism and
manipulation?
Lead with love instead ofcriticism and manipulation, and
so I think those are the kindsof things that I want to focus
on in One Tired Teacher.
And, yeah, and so sometimes, yes, I will have similar content to
what you can get on Readers inthe Making, but it will be
(05:59):
geared towards teachers and itwon't be things that we do as,
or what that we can do asparents and a lot of teachers
are parents, but if they're not,then that's okay too.
So I think that I think thatit's going to be more about
teaching here, and there will beI am going to take a break in
(06:23):
July, and there will be.
I am going to take a break inJuly.
I think I'm.
I think I may take the wholemonth and like and not have a
new episode for the whole monthof July, but I'm going to kind
of play it by year.
So the only way you're going toknow is if you subscribe, you
follow and you subscribe, andthen you will get an update when
we get, when there's a newpodcast episode.
(06:45):
And if you're missing me at all,then I have another podcast,
mind your Heart, that I do withmy daughter and it's all about
like mindfulness, about mentalhealth and mothers and daughters
and and you know things that wethink and go through in life
and it's it's really fun.
(07:06):
I'm really enjoying doing itwith her.
It's a you know, it's a littlebaby podcast.
We only do it every other weekand actually there's going to be
a two week span because wedidn't get our, we didn't
coordinate our schedulescorrectly, so and my sweet baby
is flying to Peru today when I'mrecording this, but this
(07:29):
episode won't come out untilJune.
So by the time she yeah, she'llbe back, she'll be home safe
and sound by the time thisepisode comes out.
But anyway, we've been having alot of fun doing that podcast
and if you're interested, then Iwould love for you to join us
on Mind your Heart.
But for today we are going tofocus on books, makerspace,
(07:51):
equaling magic.
So this is one of the longestintroductions I've ever done.
I actually think I'm going toskip the little intro that I do
and we're kind of kind of justgoing to jump right in.
So how about that?
So we're not going to have alittle intro.
That I do, and we're kind ofkind of just going to jump right
in.
So how about that?
So we're not going to have alittle intro, we're just going
to get right to it, okay, so howdo you feel about your kids,
(08:15):
your students, falling in lovewith reading?
I think this is one of the mostimportant aspects of teaching
for me and I think I have grownreally frustrated with the fact
that I don't see that anymore.
Like I don't see that being apriority and I know that
(08:36):
teachers care about this, but Ithink it gets pushed down,
pushed down, push down, pushdown, push down with the
sabotaging of education.
Like I witnessed all of theseposts about people putting their
classroom libraries away, whenall of a sudden, the stupidity
of having to tell every book inyour library, write it down and
(09:02):
have parents know every book inyour library, that is the most.
It's like telling someone theyhave to record every time they
cut their toenails and they haveto account for every one of
their toenails Like it just isinsane.
When you have a huge classroomlibrary like I did, like many
teachers do, it's it's such busywork.
(09:23):
Like who's really going to readthrough that.
That's the one thing I ask.
And for those few people thatfeel like every single thing
should be micromanaged in thatway, then I think they need to
come in and do it, or they needto be the ones that monitor it
for their own kids.
But that doesn't mean it has tobe monitored for everyone in
(09:44):
the world.
Like I just think that'sabsolutely outrageous and I I
just and I also think it'sridiculous to ask a grown person
to do that.
So I think that it's easy forthings like the love of reading
to get pushed down when we haveridiculous, loud nonsense like
that going on.
(10:04):
And that is that's Crazy,because the real tragedy here is
not that one child gets to seea book that that their parents
may not like.
The real tragedy is it impactsso many other kids, all the kids
, because it takes away fromteachers having the time to
(10:27):
cultivate a deep love forreading.
And sadly, like I reallythought, okay, if teachers can't
do it, parents can do it,parents can do it.
But I kept running into parentsbasically telling me that they
cared about how their child doesin school and how they pass
tests so they can move on to thenext thing and go to college
(10:48):
and this, this real apathy abouta deep love of reading and what
that ultimately means andbrings to kids as time goes on,
they don't see the end picture,they don't see the bigger
picture.
I should say they're reallyshort-sighted in seeing just the
(11:10):
quick what looks like a win,even though it's not really a
win.
It's all just such nonsense.
First of all, these tests thatthey, where they proclaim all
these students are below gradelevel.
They're it's by a specificcompany, and then the company,
go figure, has some solutionsfor that.
I mean, that seems a little bitbiased in my opinion, but I
won't go down on that rabbithole.
(11:32):
What I will say is thatsomebody, anybody, has to care
about this.
I just believe that we have tocare about this.
I think it makes all thedifference, because when kids
love something, they will keepdoing it.
So, all right.
One of the ways that I reallybelieve that kids can love
(11:54):
reading is combining storieswith hands on fun, and so that
is what I want to talk abouttoday.
It's really talking about threesimple makerspace activities
that bring books to life, frombuilding a character's invention
or crafting a story setting orany kind of literacy rich
(12:15):
project that boosts readingcomprehension, creativity and
engagement, and it's perfect forour reluctant readers in our
classrooms.
All right, so let's set, let'sbreak it down.
So today we're going to talkabout how to pair any book with
a creative STEM challenge.
We're going to talk about easymaterials and set up ideas, and
(12:36):
then we're going to talk aboutwhy hands-on learning builds
reading confidence.
So it's not going to be superlong.
As you've noticed, theseepisodes have gotten much
shorter than they used to be.
Again, if you're a longtimelistener, thank you for being
here.
You know I'm a bit of a rambler, which hello?
I mean, I'm already at 12minutes and it's we're just now
(12:56):
getting into the content.
So if you're still with me,thanks again.
All right, so let's get to it.
So, first of all, one of thethings that we can do, the first
project that I want to talkabout, is recreating the story
setting.
So some kids have a hard timevisualizing what they're reading
.
So stories feel abstract andforgettable or, you know,
(13:20):
because the words feel difficultand hard, they're very detached
from the story.
I think the makerspace shiftreally brings the world of the
book into the real world.
It allows kids to possiblybuild the setting.
(13:40):
Using blocks or cardboard orrecycled materials, we can
actually recreate the world thatthe character lives in.
We can recreate it with ourhands-on, tangible ways, with
kids, which makes it, you know,hands-on learning, makes it
creative, makes it they'rethinking critically about the
(14:00):
aspects of the setting and whatare included and what needs to
be included, and how we're goingto recreate that with the
materials that we have.
We can ask guided questionslike what does this place look
like?
Would you want to visit it?
I mean, think about.
I think about some books thatcome to mind, like this is one
(14:20):
of my favorites from childhood.
We don't have this in ourclassrooms very often the Tale
of Peter Rabbit.
I haven't seen the Tale ofPeter Rabbit in a classroom in a
long time, but what a fun bookthat would be to do with Mr
McGregor's garden.
Like how cool would that be torecreate Mr Gregor's garden, mr
McGregor's garden, and allowPeter to, like you know, try to
(14:44):
get through the garden and getout of there, like I think that
is.
That could be really cool.
Another one that would bereally cool.
This is not my favorite book,but it's called when the Wild
Wild Things Are.
I think recreating the settingin that book could be really,
really cool.
Again, that's not my favorite,so I I don't know why people
love that book, I just don't.
(15:04):
But you know, it would be acool thing for a setting.
Even the Three Little Pigswould work really well, which is
a simple, easy book that theycould do because the setting
changes, and so that could bereally cool as well, to look at
the setting and how it changesfrom one you know aspect of the
story to the next.
(15:25):
And we can use simple materials.
We don't have to go crazy.
We we've got Play-Doh in ourclassroom, we've got pipe
cleaners, we've got cardboard.
If we don't have cardboard, getit from the media.
Specialist books come in.
Boxes come in on a regularbasis.
Custodians are happy to justbring the boxes to you.
There's some really coolscissors that cut cardboard.
(15:47):
That make it easy to like cutsquares of cardboard for kids.
You can even use recyclablesfrom the trash, so those kind of
things can be really helpful.
Why does this work?
It helps deepen comprehensionthrough visualization.
It turns passive reading intoan interactive experience and it
(16:07):
gives kids something to do withthe story, which is perfect for
our active learners.
All right, so another projectthat we can do.
Another makerspace project wecan do is we can solve a
character's problem with like achallenge, like we challenge
them.
It's an open ended responsewhich definitely brings more
(16:28):
critical thinking.
Many kids don't connectemotionally with characters,
they just move through the plot.
And that's where the makerspaceshift comes in.
We let them help the charactersolve a problem, for example,
with Jack and the beanstalk.
What would Jack, what wouldhelp Jack?
You know, what could we buildfor Jack to get him down safely?
(16:49):
Maybe they would come up with abeanstalk, maybe they would
come up with an elevator, maybethey would come up with a set of
wings or you know something.
Anything, it's up to them.
We're not all saying everyonemust create a beanstalk.
We're saying this is thechallenge, this is Jack's
problem.
He's trying to get from, youknow, the giant's castle up in
(17:09):
the clouds back down to theground.
How is he going to do that?
And we let them come up withsolutions.
That's the beauty of like openended challenges.
So they're thinking they're notall doing the same thing.
That's a craft.
They're thinking All right,that's just one idea.
And again, where can you usesimple supplies, straws, tape,
(17:31):
pipe cleaners, cardboard scraps,legos.
Why does this work?
It fosters empathy by invitingkids to think like the character
.
It encourages critical thinkingand problem solving and it
builds a creative bridge betweenfiction and real world thinking
.
And then, finally, projectnumber three we can change the
(17:52):
ending through design.
This is another aspect thathappens sometimes.
Kids often disengage once thebook is over.
They're done, they want to moveon.
But our makerspace shift is toextend the story with a redesign
twist.
So how could we rewrite orredesign the ending?
You know, I love that idea oftaking something and and like
(18:16):
going beyond the story, lettingkids think beyond the story.
What's going to happen next?
How could we recreate this?
How could we, you know?
How could we take the characteron a continued journey?
Why does this work?
Well, it helps kids re-engagewith the story after reading.
It encourages flexibility andownership of their ideas.
(18:37):
It strengthens comprehensionthrough imaginative revision.
Ah see, and this is just thebeginning of kids loving to read
, and we can do this in ourclassroom.
We can do all of these in ourclassrooms.
We can take back the mostimportant thing that we can do
for kids, and that is to helpthem fall in love with reading
(18:59):
and thinking.
All right.
So my final thought is readingdoesn't have to end when the
book closes.
With a few simple makerspaceprompts, you can help your child
explore stories, solve problemsand, most importantly, connect
with books in a joyful way.
So I do have a list of a freelist of story stem book ideas,
(19:21):
like they kind of go along withstandards and then, but they
also make really good makerspaceextensions.
You can grab them in that listin my show notes and I um, yeah,
I hope that you will, becausethey are.
They're a really helpful,curated list that I have created
over the years.
Make sure that you subscribe tothis podcast, that you like this
(19:42):
podcast.
I'd even I would love somecomments.
I would love for you to let meknow what you want me to keep
doing.
Like, I want to hear thingsabout teaching, I want to hear
ideas for teaching, or I want tohear about the trials and
treasures, like anything thatyou're interested in.
I want to hear from you.
All right, my friend, thank youfor sticking around and until
(20:06):
next time, sweet dreams andsweet tight sleep tight.
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