Dream I. Y. was DreamYard’s pilot maker program for 7th and 8th graders that ran over the course of 14 weeks, Mondays, 4PM – 6PM in the Spring of 2012. The Dream I. Y. staff consisted of two teaching artists (one with maker tool expertise, the other with a visual arts background) and a college-aged intern. The class was made up of an average of 12 middle students recruited from neighboring middle schools and the existing poetry program in the DreamYard Art Center.
The curriculum was based on the guiding question “Who am I?” and its primary focus was to teach the participants how to learn basic maker skills within the context of art-making. We decided to focus on 4 major maker skills/tools: 2D design to vinyl cutting, soldering, 3D printing, and the Scratch interface.
- Dream I. Y. Curriculum and planning document for the course
- Example worksheet given to students
- Example student-planned Scratch instruction manual used during the culminating event where students taught their friends and family how to use the maker tools
- Final evaluation questions given to the students at the end of the course
To see more about our program check out our tumblr page: http://dreamityourself.tumblr.com/ !
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