Book Report Keychains

thingiverse

In Invent to Learn (inventtolearn.com), Martinez and Stager cite 3-D printing as one of the three most powerful tools to help transform education with the Maker Movement in mind. They, however, warn against the "Yoda keychain" phenomenon, where students use this technology to make infinite copies of a trinket instead of benefiting from learning design when paired with desktop fabrication. This lesson merges language arts and technology (and keychains!) to add a third dimension to your students' next book report that would impress even the wisest Jedi masters. How I Designed This I created the basic keychain on Tinkercad, and that file is available publicly. The link is https://goo.gl/FWLH8T, and you can find the key here: https://tinkercad.com/things/20NL1tXoi9G. Standards CCSS Overview and Background Book reports are nearly as old as books! Not quite, but you get the picture - book reports, a tried-and-true way to encourage students to express their comprehension of a recently completed text, are a bit dated. With this lesson, you still give students the chance to reflect on their book, but also build design skills. Objectives: Students will design and print three keychains, one for each of three different characters from a recently read book. Each keychain must possess one or more elements that describe that character's personality, motivations, challenges, or important relationships in the story. In the process, they will gain skills and knowledge in 3-D design and fabrication. Audience: This lesson is intended for fourth/fifth grade and up, but could be modified for younger students with support (e.g., the teacher could design a single set of keychains based on student input). Subjects: Reading comprehension Design Skills Learned (Standards): CCSS ELA: (Fourth Grade) RL.4.2, RL.4.3 (Fifth Grade) RL.5.2, RL.5.3 Lesson Plan and Activity Step 1 After completing a book, students consider three characters they wish to focus on. Journals, essays, graphic organizers, collages, etc., are great ways for students to consider the traits and motivations of those characters they wish to feature in their designs. Step 2 Introduce students to Tinkercad, allowing them time for free exploration or to complete tutorials. Step 3 Next, students design three keychains, one for each of their selected characters. As time and resources allow, encourage students to iterate - design, fabricate, re-design, fabricate - until their keychains are ready for display. Step 4 If possible, have students share their completed keychains alongside written works or other supporting materials in the classroom or around school for other students to enjoy. Step 5 As an extension, have students create a small set of keys to accompany each keychain. Each key can list an additional trait that defines that character. Duration of Lesson: 3-5 sessions Preparation: This project should be completed following reading a chapter book, either as a class or individually. References: Here is a concise reminder of the importance of building strong reading comprehension: http://www.k12reader.com/the-importance-of-reading-comprehension/ Rubric & Assessment See the suggested rubric above to assess students on both story/character elements included and design. Handouts & Assets Looking for some graphic organizers to help your students structure their thoughts prior to design? Scholastic has you covered! (http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/01/reading-response-forms-and-graphic-organizers)