Celebrating the Hour of Code!

What a fun and exciting day we had on December 11th as the entire school celebrated the Hour of Code! Here is a snippet of what occurred that day.

As usual, I planned far too much for 15 minute periods! How could I really think that we could work with 3 or 4 apps in that short amount of time? (See previous post: Getting Ready for Hour of Code). But, that’s alright! The students had a wonderful time working with apps, online programs, and coding with cups during P.E.

I loved watching the thinking processes that occurred as the students worked. You could almost see their brains spinning as they practiced how to solve each level! The collaboration among the students was fantastic. If someone was “stuck” another child quickly and willingly stepped in to offer guidance. The best part was watching the students help their teachers! I even had one teacher who apparently worked with the Cargo Bot app all day; giving up his planning periods to move up through the levels. He even searched for me after school to discuss it!

Our coding day was a resounding success. My part was with Lower School but I know exciting events were going on in our Middle and Upper Schools as well!

Enjoy a longer animoto video of the day.

Getting Ready for Hour of Code

Several weeks ago, two of our upper school teachers invited me to join them in celebrating Computer Science Education Week’s Hour of Code. After adding a teacher from Middle School and participating in some fun brainstorming sessions, we’ve come up with several exciting activities to encourage ALL ages that they can code!

First, what is Hour of Code?

  • From Code.orgThe Hour of Code is an opportunity for every student to try Computer Science for one hour during the week of Dec. 9-13 (Computer Science Education Week).

We have chosen Wednesday, December 11 to have our “Hour of Code” Day. Here is a look at what we’ll be doing.

Lower School will be coming to the lab for 15 minutes of coding either using apps on our iPad minis or online programs.

Kindergarten and first graders will be using:

Kodable

Free & paid versions
Light Bot

Free & paid versions

Both are fun ways for younger children to understand how putting instructions together causes something to happen.

Second graders will use the above apps along with:

Daisy the Dino

Free

Daisy the Dinosaur guides children to drag command blocks to the program area to make the dinosaur perform a task.

daisy the dino

Third graders will be coding an Angry Bird puzzle.

The puzzle was specifically designed for Hour of Code and can be done on the iPad or on a computer.

angry birds puzzleFourth grade moves to Hopscotch and Cargo Bot.

Hopscotch

Free
Cargo Bot

Free

Hopscotch is created by the same people who designed Daisy the Dinosaur. It’s the “next step up” and is definitely more challenging and it provides the opportunity for students to use a variety of coding blocks.

hopscotchCargo Bot has the user drag coding tools to program the robot to move boxes. Sound easy?? Not necessarily, as the user moves through each level that grows progressively more difficult.

cargo botI’ve collected some other resources to encourage students to code beyond our short time together. You can find these on my Coding webpage.

More Activities:

We are extremely excited to have our coaches participating. They will be doing the Traveling Circuits cup-stacking activity with grades K – 6. The goal of this off-line activity is to highlight programming techniques as they instruct their “robot” to build a specific cup stack using only six symbols.

Our older students will be participating as well. A middle school math instructor will hold coding sessions for fifth and sixth graders. Technology labs will be staffed by computer science students and instructors to aid new coders as they drop in throughout the day.

During our lunch periods, middle and high school students will be coding as the output is projected on a large screen in the cafeteria. The coder will sit on the “Throne of Code” and wear the Coding Crown.

Throne of Code (and crown)

Throne of Code (and crown)

We’re looking forward to an exciting day!

A Very Special Day!

I love Grandparents’ Day! Yes, it is loads of work preparing for it. But grandparents come to be with their grandchildren, not to evaluate all that we do. It’s such a busy day but I truly enjoy the opportunity to visit with these wonderful visitors.

The second graders have done a Heritage Project for several years. In the past few years, this has evolved into a technology project. Students bring in pictures from the past and I am in charge of uploading these to the students’ home directories so that they can add them to VoiceThread, where they narrate each photo. It’s always fascinating to look at these pictures – some are quite old!

This year the students shared their projects using the iPads. We suggested that ear buds be brought so that the narration could be heard more clearly. Everything went quite smoothly. (Only one iPad decided not to connect to the Internet!)

Below are some snapshots of students sharing their projects with their visitors.

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Are Our iPads Making a Difference in Student Learning?

ipadsThe iPads themselves don’t make a difference in learning – how they are used certainly does!

We only have 36 iPads dedicated for Lower School use by about 300 students. That’s certainly better than nothing and there’s a very good chance that next year we’ll have a set of 21 for each grade level.

My goal over the past few months has been to demonstrate how powerful an iPad can be when used as more than a consumption device. Instead, the iPad should be thought of as a tool for creation, innovation, collaboration, communication.

Beth Holland wrote a thought-provoking article titled iPads: From Pedagogical Crutch to Education InnovationIn it she compares the iPad to a crutch which provided support, access, and mobility for months after she broke her leg. Beth says the iPad is much like that. However, as she states, “The ultimate goal is to walk without the crutches.” In the same way, the iPads can provide a support for teaching and, just as time strengthens a broken leg, the use of the iPad can lead to stronger teaching and learning through new and innovative ideas.

With that in mind, I deliberately chose apps that are open-ended for our iPads. During the time the students come to the lab, I’ve been introducing some of the apps and modeling for teachers how they might use them in their classes.

1st Graders on a Noun Hunt

1st Graders on a Noun Hunt

I can’t quantitatively measure what is occurring with iPad use, but I can definitely observe excitement and students taking charge of their learning. From 1st graders snapping pictures of nouns and labeling them in Pic Collage to problem-solving with Math Ahoy!, the children are planning and making decisions on how to create.

Problem-solving with Math Ahoy!

Problem-solving with Math Ahoy!

Fourth graders are combining writing skills with the Tellagami app to share BioPoems about themselves. (Listen to Ellie’s BioPoem) As I am not their writing teacher, it’s sometimes difficult to get them to write for me. Not this time! I had the students embed their “gami” into their blog and, on their own, they began to listen to their classmates’ poems and leave comments.

Third graders are using Explain Everything to document what they are learning about landforms. Their teacher was amazed that some of her students quickly figured out how to record and email their completed project to me then began to help others who were still in the process of finishing!

My favorite, though, was a third grader who had just finished recording his book review in the Tellagami app, announcing to the entire room, “This is the most AWESOME app ever. I just have to get it when I get home!” And later, I received the following email from another 3rd grader’s mom:

email from Luke's momWithin minutes of responding with information about Tellagami, Luke’s mom sent me a link to his newest gami. (Luke’s gami)

Yes, iPads are definitely making a difference in student learning. One just has to take a look at the excitement, the planning, the leadership, the communication, the sharing, the creating, and so much more that is occurring!

 

Bio-Poems with Tellagami

I believe it’s important for students to be able to share their writing with others; not just their teachers and parents. Over the years we’ve done this in a variety of ways but when the 4th graders saw a “gami” I’d made with the Tellagami app, they could not wait to give it a try! I knew we needed to come up with something that was worth sharing using this app.

Since the students had drawn self-portraits earlier in the year using Microsoft’s Paint program, we decided to use these for the background for a bio-poem. There are several variations of this type of poem but here’s the format we used (not sure where I got this but have used it for over 20 years):

Name

4 describing words

Related to ____________

Who cares deeply about __________

Who feels ___________

Who needs ___________

Who gives ____________

Who fears ___________

Who would like to see ___________

Resident of ______________.

Since the self-portraits were drawn on the computer, we had to get them to the iPad and into the Tellagami app. What worked for us was for me to upload the illustrations to my Picasa photo album, have the students go to Picasa on the iPad, and then save to photos.

During our first 40 minute session in the computer lab, I had the students get the self-portrait into Tellagami and then create their avatar. Wow, did they enjoy that! We had avatars beside the faces, sitting on shoulders, . . . Next step was to write the bio-poem.

The next day, I demonstrated how to record (super easy; they didn’t really need instructions). I had the students send their finished “gami” in two different ways. One was to email to me from the app. This leads to a link on the Tellagami website. Here is Ava’s gami.

However, I wanted to combine all of the gamis to make a class video. So I also asked the students to save their gami to the camera roll and then email the video to me. I then pulled the videos into the iMovie app. Each video ends with a shot saying, “Created with the Tellagami app” – I didn’t want that after each bio-poem so I deleted that segment on all but the last one. For an intro, I created a slide using Haiku Deck, a presentation app. Next step was to upload to our Vimeo account.

It sounds like a lot of work but it really wasn’t. Once the students had emailed their gami to me, it didn’t take long at all to pull them together in iMovie.

Malone’s BioPoems from Trinity Valley School on Vimeo.

This was a fun way to share writing with others. Not one student complained about writing a poem; that sometimes happens since I’m not their “writing” teacher! By sharing with our teachers authentic ways to use technology, my hope is that they’ll find ways to use it to modify and redefine learning in their classrooms. (Can you tell we’ve been discussing the SAMR model in Lower School?)

Going on a Noun Hunt!

Our first graders have been learning about nouns so when they visited the lab this week I thought it would be helpful if they went on a noun hunt!

We started class with discussing what a noun is – person, place, or thing. Several students quickly mentioned that there is a fourth category: animals! I asked the students to take a look around the room. “Do you see anything that is a noun?” Hands popped up with all kinds of answers.

Before going on the noun hunt, we talked about the Pic Collage app (click here for Android app) and how to take an in-focus photograph. Unfortunately, we were unable to search outside due to rain so we used the lab and the Upper School art gallery just outside our room. I loved watching the little photographers wandering around, searching for the “perfect” photo op!

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1st grade on noun hunt

The students’ photos were better than my blurry ones! It was difficult to catch them NOT moving around rather quickly!

After collecting 4 or 5 pictures, the students returned to the lab where they labeled each noun, added a title, and typed their name. The next step was to email the image to me. This was the first time they’d done that but all did quite well. I love observing how they help each other too.

The collages were printed for the students. What a fun way to review nouns!

PicCollage noun sample

Math Ahoy! app, First Graders, and College Students

We love having our TCU college students visit our computer lab. It provides extra hands and more individualized attention for the little ones! Last week, in conjunction with the first grade studies of basic facts and geography, we introduced the Math Ahoy! app to the students.

Math Ahoy! is a fun app that promotes problem-solving and addition skills as students travel the world in a pirate’s ship, collecting treasure chests of gold! What child wouldn’t enjoy becoming a pirate for the day? Below is the trailer introducing the app.

On Wednesday, in addition to 21 first graders in the lab, we had 8 TCU students and two other adults observing the class! Quite a full house! But the college students joined the little ones on the floor and guided them through the app’s instructions. There was constructive chatter as everyone talked about which direction to travel in order to avoid the King’s Ships and to gather the gold. I loved hearing children announce that they had reached Africa or South America; the app helps with geography too!

Math Ahoy with 1st Graders from Trinity Valley School on Vimeo.

The students gave the app a hearty thumbs up and their teachers loved the thinking that occurred throughout the game!

Writing for our Blogging Buddies

This year is the first time we have participated in the Primary Blogging Community, a fantastic group blogging opportunity set up by Kristen Wideen. We have 4 teachers involved this year. From second grade we have Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Garcia, and Mrs. Shapard. Mrs. Weth, one of our third grade teachers, is also participating.

Each teacher is placed in a group of three other classrooms. Our students will be communicating with children from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, other areas of the United States. We are thrilled to learn about life in other parts of the US and the world!

The first month is spent focusing on one classroom each week. The “focus” class blogs as a class and the others leave comments. It’s a wonderful way for teachers to model how to write quality posts and comments with student input. The second month is when the children actually do the posting and commenting themselves. Again, one class is the “focus” group so they write posts while the others share comments.

This week, both Mrs. Shapard (2nd grade) and Mrs. Weth (3rd grade) are the focus classes. The teachers guided their children to write an introductory paragraph then they asked the groups to brainstorm what they would like to share. In Mrs. Shapard’s class, each group shared one or two sentences that were added to the post. Click on the link below to view her students discussing what to share.

Shapard_deciding what to post

Mrs. Weth asked her students to jot down several ideas on a white board. Then they decided on their first choice for sharing. The first group that spoke decided to tell about the school and the co-curricular classes they attend each week. The children added so many details that their ideas became the first post! The other groups will hold onto their thoughts to share in a later post!

Using a white board to brainstorm ideas

Using a white board to brainstorm ideas

Already both classes have received comments and questions from the other schools. All are excited to “meet” their blogging buddies!

Going Places Safely . . . On the Internet!

Children are taught from a very young age about keeping safe – let an adult know where you are, don’t talk to strangers. The same thing applies to the internet. Common Sense Media has an excellent lesson on this topic called Going Place Safely (You do need to register to download materials but it’s free). This particular lesson is designed for grades K-2 and I used it with first graders. The three rules that children should understand are:

  • Always ask your parents or teachers before going on line!
  • Only talk to people you know!
  • Stick to places that are just right for you!

Common Sense Media does a very good job creating a lesson plan that is easy to implement. To start, the discussion focuses on traveling places with your parents or going on field trips. What are rules you need to follow? The students quickly respond with such answers as:

  • Stay close to the adult.
  • Always ask if you need to go somewhere else.
  • Always go with a grown-up.
  • Don’t talk to strangers.

Following that discussion, I told the students we’d be taking a long field trip today – without leaving the technology lab! Of course, there were oohs and ahhhs until someone realized, “Oh! We’re going on the internet!” We then related their previous responses with keeping safe on the internet. We talked about how it’s important to get parental permission before going online. I asked who had Skyped and lots of hands went up. My next question was, “Do you Skype with someone you know? “Oh, yes,” was the response. We talked about how sometimes we’d be Skyping with teachers and students we don’t know but as long as an adult is in charge, that’s alright. The next step was to visit several sites that were “just right” for children. This lesson recommended New York’s Modern Art Museum and the San Diego Zoo. I added the San Francisco Symphony for Kids and Colonial Williamsburg.

The students explored these sites for several minutes then were given a sheet of paper where they drew their favorite site. Rules were reviewed about how to keep safe.

It was a fun lesson that helped children make connections between safety rules they’ve heard all their lives and making safe choices online.

Día Internacional Dot

What a fun time celebrating International Dot Day in Spanish classes!

Sra. Ross had her first and second graders “making their mark” as they discussed how life is like a mirror.

IMG_2223

Life is like a mirror. It will smile at you if you smile at it.

The children designed their mirrors to “mirror” themselves – favorite colors and designs. Some students used colors of sports teams they follow. I love that there is even “etching” in the mirror portion.

Spanish dot day (2)

Spanish dot day (7)

Using an idea from the Painted Paper in the Art Room blog, Costa Rican Oxcarts, Sra. Nedrelow guided her third and fourth graders to design oxcart wheels.

In Costa Rica, the traditional oxcart or carreta is the country’s most famous type of craft. (Visit Oxherding and Oxcart Traditions to learn more.) The tradition of decorating oxcarts started in the early 20th century. The carts are designed to symbolize things that are important to the owner.

Keeping with the theme, the students decorated their carts to represent something special to them.

Spanish dot day (4)

Spanish dot day (3)

I love how our Spanish teachers joined in the celebrations of Día Internacional Dot! Their choice of activities was a perfect way for students to “make their mark” to “see where it would take them.”

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