Remaking Literacy: Innovative Instructional Strategies for Maker Learning, Grades K-5; Classroom Maker Projects for Elementary Literacy Education

Maker education (an instructional approach that emphasizes hands-on learning) empowers students to become passionate, creative thinkers. In Remaking Literacy, author Jacie Maslyk details how to transform literacy teaching and learning by integrating maker projects for elementary classrooms. Rely on the book's tools and strategies to help you construct innovative opportunities for students to boost comprehension, increase vocabulary knowledge, and improve writing skills.

Apply the concepts of maker-centered learning and projects to your literacy education:

• Examine the ways maker education and project-based learning (PBL) can enhance teaching and empower student engagement and learning.
• Learn how to reimagine instruction to ensure students build crucial literacy, collaboration, and thinking skills.
• Study various low-tech and low-cost strategies and how to utilize them in flexible learning spaces or makerspaces in the elementary classroom or school.
• Receive checklists and planning tools for incorporating a maker education curriculum in your classroom reading activities.
• Reflect on the literacy activities and makerspace ideas presented by answering reflection questions at the end of each chapter.

Contents:
Chapter 1: What the Research Says
Chapter 2: Creative Pathways to Learning
Chapter 3: Thinking and Design
Chapter 4: Low-Tech Making
Chapter 5: Remaking With Maker Tech
Chapter 6: Guidance for Implementation

Jacie Maslyk, EdD, is the assistant superintendent in the Hopewell Area School District located outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is a former director of elementary education and an elementary principal in the Carlynton School District, where, in addition to her work in curriculum and instruction, she led professional development in literacy and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) education. Dr. Maslyk has been an educator since 1997, when she started as an elementary teacher in kindergarten and first grade. With a love for teaching reading, she went back to school to earn her reading specialist certification and went on to be a reading specialist and literacy coach in the Mt. Lebanon School District. She also taught online courses for her local intermediate unit.

Dr. Maslyk has published numerous articles on topics including principal leadership, designing effective interventions, and leading STEAM and making in schools. She is the author of several other books, including STEAM Makers: Fostering Creativity and Innovation in the Elementary Classroom, uNlocked: Opening a World of Creativity Within Your Students, and Connect to Lead: Power Up Your Learning Network to Move Your School Forward. Dr. Maslyk is also a featured blogger for Demco, Hoonuit, and Defined STEM.

Dr. Maslyk is a member of a variety of educational organizations including the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the International Literacy Association (ILA), and the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). She is also a long-time member of the Pennsylvania Principals Association and was awarded the Frank S. Manchester Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2015. She was also named a National Distinguished Principal (NDP) in Pennsylvania in 2013 and 2014. She has presented throughout the United States and Canada on topics ranging from leadership and literacy to creativity and maker education.

Dr. Maslyk received a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a master's degree in instructional leadership from Robert Morris University, and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.