Second Graders Build and Design during Tinker Tuesday

In Sara Goldrath’s second grade class, every Tuesday is Tinker Tuesday, when students spend time taking on a tinkering challenge and thinking like innovators and inventors. “I was inspired to do Tinker Tuesdays in my classroom each week because of our CREATE and BUILD spaces,” says Ms. Goldrath. Each week, students are challenged with a task that gives them the opportunity to plan, build, and redesign. This year students have been tasked with building with a design goal in mind (i.e., building something tall or long or strong), taking apart small electronic devices, using Kapla blocks, and creating lights and other small electronics using a Snap Circuit kit (click here for video of students making a light).

 

Adds Ms. Goldrath, “In addition to hands-on learning, tinkering also provides my students with a time to practice communicating with their peers.” MORE PHOTOS