Celebrating Global Maker Day

October 23, 2017

contributed by Shannon McClintock Miller

 

With Global Maker Day happening TOMORROW, I wanted to share some ideas for ways to celebrate this special day with music and stories by focusing on the new Cantata Learning Sing and Draw  series, featuring the talents of author Blake Hoena and musician Emily Arrow. The series addresses the process of drawing through simple steps that are easy for young readers to replicate. Each shape, from aliens to animals, is created by starting with a basic letter, number, or shape!

 

 

According to the Cantata Learning website, “budding artists and musicians will love this series that brings a makerspace favorite to life! Students will get a chance to use their imaginations and celebrate each others’ ideas.”

 

Doesn’t that sound like fun?!

 

Of course it does! So let’s take a look at 5 ideas for bringing music, stories, and loads of creativity and fun to your library and classroom on Global Maker Day.

 

 

1. Start out your day by reading and singing any of the four books. The titles include Alphabet Safari: A Song about Drawing with Letters, Circles and Crescents: A Song about Drawing with Shapes, Monster Party: A Song about Drawing with Numbers, and Rectangles and Triangles: A Song about Drawing with Shapes.

 

As they are listening, reading, and singing, have students draw and paint what they are seeing and learning from the books with a variety of art materials. To make this a collaborative class project, students could all gather around a giant piece of craft paper and draw together as they are reading and singing. This could become a giant mural of circles, animals, letters, monsters, princesses, numbers, and more—for all of the students to contribute to and celebrate each others’ creativity.

 

2. Next, provide creative building materials such as pipe cleaners. Ss they are listening to the stories and singing along, encourage students to create create animals, monsters, and more using letters and shapes. They can use their drawings they created while listening to the books as their guides.

 

3. Now, take things digital. You can have the students turn their drawings into 3D models within seconds using the MakerBot PrintShop app, which is free from MakerBot. This is a fun, easy, and free way to create and 3D print anything that you draw.

 

If you don’t have a 3D printer, have the students use play dough or modeling clay to create their 3D model.

 

4. Students will gather up the models they created for a final project. . . a mini stop motion production using the drawings, wall murals, and 3D models they’ve already created. They can use the Lego Stop Motion Studio, Green Screen by Do Ink, iMovie, or another movie making app.

 

5. One last thing before we show off our projects to the world for Global Maker Day. How about if we create a new song or even a music video, like the one Emily Arrow did for the book, to go along with our production?

 

 

Each title includes not only the main music track you’ve already listened to, but it also includes an instrumental version. Your students could use this track to create their own lyrics for their little stop motion movie or video. They could even create their own instruments using paper recycled goods, string, buttons, marbles, and so on, and record their own version of the song.  The ideas for taking inspiration from these books and creating new works is quite endless!

 

 

When the drawings, paintings, sculpting, printing, movies, and recordings come together, your students will have something unique and wonderful to share with others.  

 

Also, Cantata Learning provides a FREE lesson plan to accompany this series, available for download on their site. With the series focusing on drawing, this would be a great collaborative lesson between classroom, library, and art.

 

 

Wouldn’t that be fun to share with others on YouTube Live or on Twitter through pictures on the things they have learned?

 

You can visit Global Maker Day for all of the information and details for the day.  

 

What will you do for Global Maker Day?  I can’t wait to find out! Please share using the #LoudLibraries and #cantatalearning hashtags. We would love to hear how you are using Cantata Learning stories and songs. And of course, use #GlobalMakerDay to celebrate along with everyone participating!

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