Shopping For Genius Hour Projects

Over the past week, I spent several hours shopping for my students' Genius Hour projects.  How did I know what to get them?  Here what I did:
1. The students had written letter to the stores asking for donations (March)
2. After we were given gift cards (whoop-whoop!!!!) from Target and Walmart, I went to the stores and took pictures of the fabric bolts, seeds and pots so the kids could look through my photos and make choices of their own.
3. I returned to the stores and made the purchase.  Yes, there were glitches.  Some of the fabrics weren't the right kind, knit vs. broadcloth, Thomas the Train blocks that LOOKED like Legos in the pictures.  Some of the Legos were sold out when I got tot the store (we had made choices from Target online).  Luckily I had parents who called me back while I was at the store and helped me fine tune my purchases.
4. I had to make some purchases online.  For example, several of my students wanted to research animals and football, and we did not have books available for the specific needs.  Because Target has a fantastic online book selection, I was able to order all four of the requests of my students.

On Friday for our Genius hour time, I had my students use Seesaw to talk about their projects, and the materials they've received so far.  Some items are still arriving, and one little sweetie will have an experience with a project, so no items will be in our classroom ahead of time.  Here's a link to his Seesaw post:https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.a8795557-5c90-484b-9147-979bb36d852c&share_token=ZUzuWX87Q0mnbk4kNvrIfQ&mode=share

Here's another post from a student who will be planting seeds.  We researched several variety of flower seeds before she settled on her final two.  She's SO excited!
 https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.9ba8136e-131c-4938-b95f-53a3e26869f1&share_token=eSe1OakiRvugVAbvRWC5vA&mode=share

Here's a link to a video another student made about his Genius Project.  He is going to make a Minion movie using DoInk.  I've got a high school student who taught him how to use the app this past week so he can begin his work.  https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.36322f93-5c61-4c2f-99f2-aa1d5e41f2f6&share_token=FNwKTE9dRDWmjDQUSTo59w&mode=share

I will post in a little bit another exciting addition to our classroom Genius Hour, which I am thrilled with the reception in the community!! Stay tuned!!