Using Kodable students will learn about sequence and algorithms and use code to direct classmates during a fun game that gets the class moving.
Students will use Google tools to actively engage in landforms by creating a thin slide and then working in teams to solve the clues.
Meg set out to climb up and investigate the rain forest tree canopies — and to be the first scientist to do so. But she encountered challenge after challenge. Male teachers would not let her into their classrooms, the high canopy was difficult to get to, and worst of all, people were logging and clearing the forests. Meg never gave up or gave in. She studied, invented, and persevered, not only creating a future for herself as a scientist, but making sure that the rainforests had a future as well. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Your community has many different areas to explore - it might be a park, a grocery store, a forest, or an alley. For some people, it might be difficult to explore these areas because they may have differing abilities. Select one area in your community, and come up with a plan to build a way for it to be more accessible to everyone.
A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.
Students will be able to learn about pronouns by watching a Schoolhouse Rock video, Schoolhouse Rock Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla, with its catchy tune, then see instructional videos on the definition of pronouns and how they are used in sentences. Finally, students will be able to check their knowledge of pronouns through games and online quizzes and apply their knowledge in their own writing.
Students will be able to learn about tangrams and basic shapes through a read-aloud of Grandfather Tang’s Story, which describes various animals being made with Tangrams, understand how they make shapes by reading the book Tricky Tangrams, and then try making tangrams themselves using a game on digipuzzle.net.
Learning to copy and paste is an important skill to learn. Students will learn how to highlight text, copy it, and then paste it into a document. Students will have fun adding text to National Geographic's Funny Fill-ins and then will copy and paste the completed story into a word document.
Students will get the opportunity to program a version of the game “Flappy Bird” using simple drag and drop programming to make connections between computer science concepts and the real world.
Legends of Learning provides interactive math and the sciences games to students that give them superpowers. The teacher can select games that are connected to current lessons. It is aligned with the common core and NGSS. It is FREE for teachers and students in school.
ChessKids is a website that teaches children how to play the game of Chess. It walks them through the game, has tutorials, puzzles and involves the child. It helps to keep them motivated as they are learning the game and improving their skills. It also helps with critical thinking skills.
Going online is so much fun! But how can you stay safe? Just like face to face field trips, there are also rules for staying safe on online trips. Students will learn skills to help them stay safe online through virtual field trips.
Starfall is an interactive alphabet-teaching website/app. Letters are presented in a variety of ways -- visually, audibly, and within words and sentences. Students interact with letters to help with phonics as well as reading.
Students will review parts of friendly letter to type a letter to a soldier.
Students will use knowledge of coding to create a closed circuit. Microbits will be required for this activity.
Coding or programming is the way that we as programmers, can tell a computer what to do using instructions that the computer will understand. The instruction for coding can be either in words or icons. Lightbot is a programming puzzle game.
During the Global Read Aloud (GRA), students will write scripts, and use the online video platform Flipgrid to communicate with children outside of their classroom, about what they are reading
Lino offers the capacity to post sticky notes on a canvas using a web browser. The teacher may create a canvas and share the link with the class. The students do not have to login to collaborate. Students may collaboratively post color-coded sticky notes, share images, links etc. to the canvas. Very simple tool to use with students and highly engaging!
Richard grew up in Kenya as a Maasai boy, herding his family’s cattle, which represented their wealth and livelihood. Richard’s challenge was to protect their cattle from the lions who prowled the night just outside the barrier of acacia branches that surrounded the farm’s boma, or stockade. Though not well-educated, 12-year-old Richard loved tinkering with electronics. Using salvaged components, spending $10, he surrounded the boma with blinking lights, and the system works; it keeps lions away. His invention, Lion Lights, is now used in Africa, Asia, and South America to protect farm animals from predators. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Your challenge is to use broken or old technology and other available resources to create a prototype that can be used to protect your home. This could involve tinkering, hacking, or redesigning the components of the technology to meet your needs.
A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.
Lalilo is a free online adaptive literacy tool for kindergarten, first, and second-grade teachers and students. Students work on phonics, word recognition, and comprehension while collecting badges and unlocking stories. Student data is collected for teachers.
Computational thinking is a powerful skill that students need to learn. The benefits of being a good logical thinker and problem solver will help in school and in the workplace. To begin, students need to recognize patterns and sequences, create algorithms (step-by-step instructions or formulas) and devise logic for finding and fixing errors. A great place to start are puzzles! Students love to solve puzzles and it helps develop reasoning skills useful for programming, computer science, and anything they might do.
It starts with the snapping of pictures in everyday objects within the classroom and beyond! Then, with an even closer look, students use Skitch an iOS app to enhance their photos to identify geometric vocabulary terms found in our daily lives.