Our students are writers and readers. They are also builders, makers, engineers, scientists, historians, musicians, actors and artists. The list goes on and on. I teach students, not reading and writing. And I always want to encourage my students to bring their many talents and affinities into the reading and writing workshop. Building with Legos is one way I can do this.
A few years ago, I spotted an image on Pinterest that caught my eye and made me think about ways to bring Legos into my reading and writing workshops. The image that made me pause was a picture of a child’s room that had walls made of Lego flats. I thought to myself, “How cool would it be to have a wall in my classroom devoted to Lego building? We could build our class stories and characters!”
I teach fifth grade, and just like students of all ages, they love building and making! So I went to Toys R Us and purchased 9 green Lego flats. I used push pins and a small hammer to secure the flats to a portion of a bulletin board. It was surprisingly easy to make and didn’t leave any permanent damage on my bulletin board. I really liked that the board was vertical and not horizontal flat on a table. I liked that because it saved space in my classroom and everyone could see it while seated on the meeting rug.
I have used the Lego board in many ways in my writing and reading workshops. Here are few ways that I have loved using it:
1) Story Setting! In the first image at the top of this post you can see how my class built the setting for our whole-class fantasy fiction story. We mapped out the kingdom and the creatures who lived in our made-up land. We referred to this map throughout the writing process and it helped keep us on track.
2) Story Mapping! Teaching story mapping? This is a great wall to build the beginning, middle, and end. Make a linear BME storyboard or a rollercoaster map out of Legos. It is a great visual in the classroom, and your students will love building it and referring to it.
3) Story Characters! Students can create the characters in their story, a class story, or a read aloud. This is especially great for practicing visualization strategies in reading.
4) The Ending! We’ve all taught students who have story endings that fizzle. Students have spent all their energy writing their stories that when they get to the end, they fizzle. This Lego board revives writers. Have students create their characters with Legos and act out their endings with their writing buddies. This brings much needed energy back to the writing process.
5) Celebrations! Need a new way to celebrate? Have students create an object, symbol, character etc., from their story or from their reading that was meaningful to them. Everyone can share their Lego creation at the celebration and then they can all be displayed on the wall.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Dana Johansen is hoping that Punxsutawney Phil will not see his shadow on Feb. 2 and there will be an early spring. In the meantime, she spends her time teaching fifth grade in wintery Connecticut, sitting with her yellow lab on the couch reading YA Lit, and watching the tv show, The Curse of Oak Island on the History Channel. They’re going to get to the bottom of 10x this week! So exciting! Dana has taught elementary and middle school for fourteen years. Dana is a doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University where she studies blended learning in reading and writing workshop. She is the co-author of the books Teaching Interpretation and Flip Your Writing Workshop.
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