Our first grade classrooms were transformed into a makers space as the students completed the plans for their robot and then spent time creating!

First, the students planned their design. Their robot needed to solve a problem or help others.  We learned in our reading stories that many inventors created new things (like the light bulb) because there was a problem (the gas in the lights were causing homes to burn down).  So, the students made a plan for their robot’s job and gave a description.  We practiced writing helpful adjectives to describe their robots.

Next, the students used their plans to create their robot.  We stayed busy for a long time!  We learned some hard lessons – our ideas may not always go as we planned.  Failure isn’t fun, but it sure is a good learning experience!  When this happened, I saw students help others, give ideas, and work together.  During work time, this was overheard:

“Inventing is hard — and FUN!”
“Woohoo!”
“This is really fun!”
“Everything is awesome!”
“Holy moly – that’s big!”
“Look at ____’s robot! Cool!”
“This is the BEST day of school!”