by Stacy Brown, Davis Academy
The Davis Academy book clubs are going strong this year. Readers have embraced literacy, art, graphic design, and coding within the book club. In December, fourth grade students read The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern and after a lively discussion, they made digital bento boxes filled with their own treasures that signify who they are as individuals: hobbies, acheivements, and values. Our fifth graders read both Out of My Mind and Out of My Heart by Sharon Draper during these winter months. After reading Out of My Mind, students designed a communication device for Melody, the main character who relies on a technological device to voice her thoughts. Students used paper and pencil sketches, the Makey Makey, and Scratch coding to complete their projects. With Out of My Heart, in which Melody goes to camp, book clubbers designed a wheel chair accessible ramp and tested out its usefulness by coding the robotic Spheros to go up and down the ramp. Next month, both book clubs will be reading Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina. For more book club happenings, follow @21stStacy on Twitter with the #bookclub hashag.
Figure 1: Digital Bento Box
Figure 2: A lively discussion of The Meaning of Maggie among 4th graders
Figure 3: 5th Graders sketching communication devices for Melody, the main character in Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Figure 4: 5th graders coding their communication devices with Scratch
Figure 5: 5th Graders coding Spheros to test out their ramp building skills
Figure 6: 5th Graders designing wheelchair accessible ramps for Out of My Heart's main character, Melody, as she ventures off to summer camp