In my last ozobot blog post, I discussed how my students plan and build their ozobot mazes. The next step in this project is to program the ozobot to navigate through their mazes. I have the students complete the programming in the classroom. I have my class setup using a station-rotation model, so they work on the maze programming as a small group station. I give them two class periods, which ends up being about an hour that they spend on the programming.
We use ozoblockly to program the ozobots. I have used ozoblockly mostly on chromebooks and iPads. It works great on either device but you need to make sure that your device has the brightness turned up all the way. The ozobot reads the color codes from the device's screen, so bright is what it needs.
Here is a video that I created to show you how we use ozoblockly to program the ozobots to navigate through the mazes.
I hope you are able to use this ozobot engineering project in your classroom. I would love to hear how it goes and I would be happy to answer any questions that you leave in the comments. My students love this project and I know yours will too.
Integrating coding into the classroom can be a little intimidating at times .... but with the right websites and content, it can be very engaging for your students. I wanted to write this blog post to share my top favorite websites to use with my students. These websites are all FREE ... and they work great for students in grades 3-5. (*Note - The third website is free for the first 30 days and after the trial is over, it is a paid website.)
Scratch is my classes' favorite coding website. It is a free website developed by the MIT Media Lab. It uses a block based coding language and it allows your students to create their own projects.
You can setup a teacher account for free and then setup student accounts under your class. My students create scratch projects in my class often. This past week my students read an article from Newsela in a station and then they created a Scratch project retelling five important facts from the article. I also use it for enrichment in math.
If you are ready to really challenge your students when it comes to coding, I suggest introducing them to Python programming language. I use repl.it with my students because it is web based and you can actually code with several different programming languages. I use it with both Python language and also Python Turtle Graphics. If your school district is a Google district, your students can log in with their Google information and save their work.
My students really love to use Python Turtle Graphics to code different shapes. They create a design using different shapes and written lines of code. The possibilities are endless and would be great for any geometry lesson.
I am planning on writing a blog post just about Python Turtle Graphics, so it will be coming out very soon.
The last website that I recommend is Code Monkey. The students complete different challenges to help the monkey get his bananas back from the guerilla. The guerilla steals the monkey's bananas and the goal is to get them all back. The students are able to use logic, measurement and problem solving to help the monkey through each level.
The website has changed a little since last year. In the past, you were able to play the first 21 levels of challenges without having to create an account. Now, you have to sign up for a 30 day trial for your students. It is still a great website with clear instructions and step by step help for your students. It is a great way to incorportate writing lines of code in your classroom.
I really enjoy integrating coding into my classroom and these three websites are my classes' favorites. Do you have any to add to this list? Leave me a comment and let me know.
I'm working on writing more detailed blog posts about each of the three websites that I mentioned above. Please look out for them in the near future.
Coding in the classroom has definitely been huge in education lately but it is often a struggle to fit it all in. This summer I was super excited to learn that you can now code with Moby. I have used BrainPop in my classroom many many times and I can't wait to use the creative coding with my students. I am also excited to share more about how you can use BrainPop coding activities in your classroom.
When you log into BrainPop, you will need to type in "creative coding" in the search bar. Right now, there are 40 topics that include coding activities. Some of the topics include ... seasons, division, cells, Martin Luther King Jr., dinosaurs and conflict resolution.
Including coding projects into your classroom instruction can sometimes be a struggle. I really think that BrainPop hit the nail on the head when they decided to include coding activities that are content based. These activities would be great for an extension, enrichment for your gifted learners or a closing activity after a unit.
Each topic includes all of the normal activities that you know and love but they now include a creative coding activity. You can use it as a closing activity or even start with the coding activity to have your students show what they know.
Each topic includes four different coding projects (stop motion animation, meme, doodle augmented reality and a newcast). The coding projects are very easy to follow and include detailed instructions for your students. The meme is my favorite but I will definitely be using all four in my classroom. I love giving students choice and I love that BrainPop is offering choice.
Another great feature is that you can print out planning paper for you students. This would be great to have them plan out their project before they actually create it. If you click on the "plan" button on the right side, it will take you to a planning sheet that you can print out.
I hope you are able to use BrainPop Creative Coding in your classroom this year. What are some ways that you might use it in your classroom? Leave me a comment.
This past school year was my first year as a full-time technology teacher but I know the struggle is real when trying to integrate technology. Time is tight and it can be a hassle at times to fit it all in! However, the best part of technology is that it is super engaging and can enhance ANY lesson. Today I want to share with you guys how to integrate coding into a math geometry lesson. My third, fourth and fifth graders LOVED this lesson! I even created a video lesson for you to share with your class!
I created this lesson as an enrichment lesson to get students practicing angles, coordinates and geometry. I decided to focus on squares and rectangles and then challenge my students to create other shapes on their own. Here is the video lesson that you can share with your students.
This is my first year teaching in upper elementary. One of the things that I have really worked on is implementing student-led learning in my classroom. It is definitely an area that I am constantly reflecting on because I definitely see a lot of growth from my students when they lead the learning. It also helps make learning relevant to students.
One of my favorite student-led learning opportunities is the design challenge. The only supplies that I gave my students were cardboard pieces, masking tape and poster board (11x11). I learned the hard way that the best thing is to cut the cardboard into strips. The students were able to cut the strips into smaller pieces for their maze. If you give them a box to cut, it will be a disaster. Just warning you now!
My students worked with measurement during this design challenge. They used rulers to make one inch marks to draw out a design grid. They also used protractors to measure angles. They also really got a chance to use critical thinking because we had to make sure that we designed a path that was wide enough to fit our ozobots.
After the design challenge, we worked on programming our ozobots to travel through our mazes. It was a great way to make our design challenge relevant.
I hope that you are able to implement student-led learning in your classroom. I would love to hear about your experiences.
Have you seen these tiny little robots that have been all over Facebook and Instagram? I have shared about them a few times and I have had a ton of questions about them. Well...these tiny robots are called ozobots and they are a great way to get your kids excited about coding.
I've been asked ... "How do you incorporate ozobots into your classroom schedule?" I have found that ozobots are a great way to incorporate STEM challenges during my lessons. I decided to start a blog series to show you a few different ways that you can integrate ozobots into your classroom.
Here is how I used ozobots in my math lesson to help my students learn and review different angles and measurement.
Ozobots can be programmed using markers and also by using ozoblockly, which is a block based coding language that is similar to that used in Scratch.
Since my students had never used ozobots before, I decided to start by giving them time to explore with them. I shared how to calibrate them using the black dot and I also shared how to use the markers to draw a track for them. I partnered the kids up and gave them a piece of white poster board (cut in 1/2) for them to draw a track on. Then I let them go explore!
Some of my kids drew a track and some decided to create an ozobot race. It was so much fun to see all of the different things that they created for the ozobots. During the exploring time, I walked around and talked to the students to see what they were able to create. It was very helpful to have time for them to explore on their own too.
After the exploration time and my math lesson on angles, I gave my students the rules for our STEM challenge. I wrote down the rules on an anchor chart for them to refer back to.
I gave each table a big piece of white paper, markers, a protractor, and an ozobot to program. I encouraged my students to plan out their track first by using pencil and then to trace it with the markers. It worked really well. The students were able to create their angles and then they were able to connect the angles to make their track. Their favorite part was adding the color codes to make their track a little more interesting. Turbo and backwalk were their favorites!
This was a great lesson to help my kids review angles and also to program those angles for their ozobot to follow. It also helped build teamwork, problem solving, and persistence. My kids had a blast too.
I hope that you were able to find some useful tips and tricks on how to integrate ozobots into your math classroom. Make sure you check out the next blog post in this series. Feel free to leave any questions that you have in the comments below.
Also, I would love for you to join my all new Learning Chambers Code Club. I will be sending out emails about how I integrate both unplugged coding challenges and both block and written code in my classroom. I'll also be sharing tips, tricks, freebies, and much more! No worries, I promise to not spam your inbox :). I'm so super excited to have you join the new LC Code Club. You can join below.
