In my last post, I shared several benefits of incorporating Free Build into your classroom, but also shared that Free Build doesn’t have to be a Free For All. In fact, providing a framing structure for Free Build can help to make the experience both playful and focused.
When I’m facilitating a Free Build with students of any age, I include four key components:
- Free Build Frame & Materials Tour
- Open-Ended Building Time
- Sharing
- Collective Clean-Up
Let’s take a closer look at each of these components.
1. Free Build Frame & Materials Tour
Before I begin a Free Build with students, I make sure I’ve identified the purpose of the exploration. Sometimes it’s simply to provide students with an opportunity to practice being autonomous Makers, but other times it may be to explore a specific material we’ll be working with in an upcoming project or to design a creation that fits a broad theme we’ve been studying.
I will open the Free Build session by concisely sharing that goal with students. This might sound like, “Makers, we have some new materials in the lab. I want you to see what you can discover about them.” Or “We’ve been learning a lot about space. Today during Free Build, you might consider designing or creating something that could be used for space exploration.”
After sharing the goal of the Free Build, I do a quick materials tour, where I show students the different materials on offer and explain where in the classroom they can find those materials. I typically issue a reminder that combining materials is encouraged, but that we need to make a note of where we’re finding the items with which we’re working so we can return them when we’re finished. I will also remind students that during Free Builds, they get to choose what they make, who they make it with, and where they will work.
These two opening components take 3-5 minutes and then students are off and building.
2. Open-Ended Building Time
The building portion of Free Build is fairly straightforward – students are working on creating. The room typically develops a lively hum as Makers are freely collecting materials and engaging in authentic collaboration with their peers.
I often begin this portion of the class by hanging back in my teacher space and observing, so that I can get a sense of who is off and running and who might need some nudging via a brainstorming conversation. The most challenging part of Free Build for many students is thinking of an idea for what they’d like to make. Unfortunately, students are often not given much choice about what they do while they’re at school and, for some children, not being given a specific prompt can feel unnerving. For these students, I usually encourage them to seek out the material they find most interesting and simply start exploring how it works – this typically gets the creative juices flowing.
Once everyone is creating something, I will circulate around the room, asking questions about what they’re making and what they plan to add next. I’ll also help students make connections with peers by letting them know if someone else in the room is working on a project with a common theme or grappling with a similar problem.
The length of Open-Ended Building Time can vary based on what share structure you’ve chosen – just be sure not to skip that critical piece of the Free Build experience.
3. Sharing
Sharing is essential for spreading and solidifying the new knowledge built during Free Build time. Though it can be time-consuming, my preferred structure for sharing is giving each student or group the chance to briefly explain their creation or discoveries to the group. Their explanations often reveal more detail and thoughtfulness in their designs than might meet the eye.
To keep the sharing from getting too long-winded, I will typically give students a prompt for sharing time. My go-to questions are, “What part was the most challenging to create?” and“What is something you accomplished today that makes you feel proud?” When we’re engaging in Free Build to explore a new material, I will often use a more focused share question, such as, “What is something you learned about how these materials can be connected?” or “What was something about the material that surprised you?”
If you’re crunched for time, another option for a sharing is a Gallery Walk, where students leave their creations at their workspaces and then circulate around to see what everyone created. When using a Gallery Walk, I typically issue a thinking prompt, such as“How did other people/groups use the material differently than you did?” in order to help students hone in on a key aspect of the work produced by their peers.
4. Collective Clean-Up
The final part of any Free Build is clean-up. In my classroom, clean-up is framed as a collective enterprise. Particularly during Free Build, students are often using many materials and, inevitably, leaving things behind as they move around the room and refine their ideas. Accordingly, my policy for clean up at the end of class is that we all work until all of the items are cleaned up and returned to their bins. To keep the energy high, I play clean-up music while we all tidy up the space and we sometimes will try to complete the clean-up before a given song ends.
By implementing the four components of this structure, Free Build is consistently a productive and enjoyable part of my STEM curriculum. In terms of frequency, I aim to include some form of a Free Build or materials exploration opportunity at least 5-6 times per year at each grade level. I love seeing what my students create when given the freedom to direct their own designs and I often come away from our Free Build sessions with new ideas and fresh inspiration for future lessons and projects.