Library Visit With Mary Shelley

Resources in a library are available in both electronic and print format. Our library does a "Book Tasting" at the beginning of each school year. Even by highlighting certain books, some still do not circulate well. According to my library statistics, the Biography section is not popular. For this example of an Instructable, I have focused on Mary Shelley. Because Shelley was a teenager when she wrote Frankenstein, teenagers generally find that an interesting fact. Our "Book Tasting" menu has four courses. Reading is like a good meal. Students can "sample" various items, decide what they enjoy the most, and then check out their favorite. In this menu, I have recorded four different "courses".

The books selected include a biography, the novel on different reading levels, and a manga example. I recorded a sample of information found in each "course" that is heard by using the pressure switches created using Scratch and Makey Makey. This project can be used by different curriculums to highlight influences in that subject area.

Supplies

In order to complete this project, the following items are necessary:

Complete Makey Makey kit

Computer access

Internet access for Scratch program

Copies of book covers

Cardboard of various thickness

Scissors and utility knife

Foam board

Glue and tape

Aluminum foil

Step 1: Scratch

1. Frankenstein's monster is the "sprite", and then changed the backdrop to a "forest'.

2. Using Scratch, I used the "extention" tab to access Makey Makey. Each time a new book was sampled, the "sound" block was used to by "recording" information. Remember to change the dropdown sound menu for each recording and name each recording.

3. When the space key is pushed, the program begins. The thunder sound was linked to the flag.

4. Each book has a pressure switch to start the recording.

Step 2: Creating Pressure Switch on Covers

1. Copies of covers of each book used in the project for pressure switches. If students found one of those options "tasty", they could check out the book.

2. On the back of the copies, aluminum foil was glued to both the book cover and cardboard.

3. Pressure switches are used on all the book covers, these switches are modified based on link below.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Pressure-Switch-f...

4. Once all sensors are created, place onto foam board. This step is not required, but I wanted to have something sturdy for mobility.

Step 3: Connect Makey Makey to Scratch

Finally, the test!

1. Attach each individual book cover to individual Makey Makey (MM) alligator clips.

2. Attach an alligator clip as "earth" wire for the pressure sensor.

3. Play the Scratch program. Arrange book covers in order of recordings.

4. When used in our library, a more sturdy connection is necessary for multiple uses.

5. Encourage other teachers to incorporate Makey Makey and Scratch into their classes.