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New from CMK Press: Tinkering Time

Young children are natural tinkerers. Give them interesting materials, a good question and room to experiment, and watch what happens. We're delighted to announce Tinkering Time: 30 Creative Classroom Projects for Young Engineers, Artists, and Inventors by Alice Baggett, a joyful, practical guide to bringing hands-on tinkering into preschool and PreK classrooms.

Alice has taught young children for more than three decades and is the author of The Invent to Learn Guide to Making in the K-3 Classroom. Here she shares 30 classroom-tested projects, from bridges and shadow puppets to marble runs, magnets and simple machines, all built from familiar, low-cost materials and illustrated with full-color photos from real classrooms. She also offers practical guidance on designing tinkering lessons, scaffolding without giving answers, and explaining the learning to families and administrators. As Josh Burker, author of The Invent to Learn Guide to Fun, puts it, "With a mind toward sustainability and accessibility, these thirty engaging projects will keep your classroom, makerspace, or home busy crafting and building skills."

Order your copy on Amazon here. Or read more about the book, including volume purchasing, on the CMK Press website.​

Computational Making Workshop in Chicago - October 16th

Gary Stager is bringing a new hands-on, project-based workshop, Computational Making & Learning, to Chicago on October 16th.

Computational making combines coding, creativity, and hands-on learning. Through playful, practical projects, educators will explore how making with code can expand what students can create, think about, and learn.

The workshop also explores an optimistic, learner-centered vision of AI that amplifies human creativity and potential, rooted in progressive traditions of learning by doing. The workshop is for PK–12 educators, curriculum leaders, administrators, and technology directors.

Registration includes breakfast, lunch, snacks, beverages, educational materials, and a copy of Ken Kahn’s latest book, The Learner’s Apprentice: AI and the Amplification of Human Creativity.

Team discounts are available. Email Sylvia (just reply) to find out about using a PO. We DO have a CPS vendor number.

Meet Gary at MASSCUE

It’s hard to believe that Gary has never spoken at the MASSCUE Conference before! That’s about to change October 14-15 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. He’ll be leading two sessions, The Language of Computation - Supercharging the Future of Learning Today and AI Fuels My Imagination and the Same Can Be True for Your Students! He’ll also be hosting a meetup, details in the MASSCUE app. Come by and say hi!

Happy tinkering!

Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager
Constructing Modern Knowledge