Last Monday, one of Amy Moylan’s first grade parents came into her classroom to share her daughter’s excitement that “her teacher is going to robot school” and that the little girl couldn’t wait to use the robots in her classroom. Ms. Moylan, who teaches at the Amigos School, was one of 20 Cambridge Public School District (CPSD) teachers and specialists taking the “Make It Take It” robotics course facilitated by the Lesley team and CPSD Instructional Technology Specialist guru Ingrid Gustafson. The idea behind the class is that each Cambridge school was offered robotics kits with the intent of bringing robotics and programming into the classrooms. The workshop was taught in the Kennedy-Longfellow School (K-Lo) makerspace over the course of several days.
Coding
KLO Rocks Hour of Code
Above: The 4th grade students became programming mentors, helping to guide Kindergarteners through exploring Scratch Jr.
Students at the Kennedy-Longfellow School didn’t just spent one hour coding for the National Hour of Code Week: they spent 31 hours of collective coding! All grade levels, including preschool and Special Start students up through 5th grade, were invited into the school makerspace during the week to participate in hands-on coding activities. Following our model of student-centered learning, we set up various centers, depending on the age range, and let the students free to explore!
Girls Make Games
Above: a 5th grade coder mentors a 1st grader using Scratch Jr.
A group of nine Kennedy-Longfellow students spent a weekend in November coding as part of the first ever Boston-based “Girls Who Make Games” workshops at MIT. These students immersed themselves in game design, art, and programming using software called Stencyl.
Not only did they get to network with other local girls who code, they were mentored by local professional developers. We sat down with these students and asked them to share their thoughts on what makes them tick as programmers at K-Lo, and beyond. To view the video, click here.
Makerspace Mashup – The Agenda for Children
Second Annual Out of School Time Symposium
Nov 19, 2014
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Kinetic Sculpture |
Squishy Circuits |
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Scratch and Maps |
Hickory Dickory Dock |
Makerspace Mashup – Inspire 2014
INSPIRE 2014 Conference website
Oct 23, 2014
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Kinetic Sculpture |
Squishy Circuits |
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Scratch and Maps |
Hickory Dickory Dock |
Makerspace Mashup – MassCUE 2014

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Kinetic Sculpture |
Squishy Circuits |
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Scratch and Maps |
Hickory Dickory Dock |








