We reviewed "motion" with the kids who were missing the previous week and tried the same activity. Then we talked about how to change Sphero's direction. There is a nice interface that enables kids to change Sphero's direction (heading) without having to understand "degrees". They practiced making Sphero roll and change directions.
The Kindergarteners were out sick with the flu, so we just had the First Graders. We moved from the "draw" mode to the "drag and drop blocks" mode of programming. We talked about the different ways to describe moving. We talked about how you can define the direction something is headed, the speed in which it is moving, and the amount of time (duration) it is moving. Those are the options available in the "roll" command. I let the kids play around with the "roll" command so they could see what would happen if they increased/descreased the speed or changed the duration. Then I challenged them to try and get the Sphero SPRK+ robot as close to the wall as possible without touching it. I was surprised at how quickly they figured it out - especially since they started off trying 99 seconds (which was waaaay too long). After a few tries they got pretty close. Take a look: Today I met with just the Kindergarten and First Graders. We were able to slow the pace down and everyone enjoyed it much more. We started by running our programs from last week. The kids got a chance to see the sequence of commands they wrote to change the colors of the lights work. Then we explored the Draw mode of the Sphero. The kids learned how to make the Sphero SPRK+ robot move and change the colors of the lights. Here is a short video that demonstrates the Draw Mode. The kids were all really excited about the first day of STEM club. They walked into the Innovation Lab all-a-buzz. Mr. Kocsis started the class asking the kids to briefly define the elements of STEM:
Then Mr. Kocsis showed the kids how to start and use the Sphero App on the iPads. Most of the kids were already familiar with Block Coding from school. So they quickly understood how to add, edit, move and delete a block of code. Then the fun began. Mr. Kocsis challenged the kids to write the following code:
After the first session, we talked about ways to improve the club to make sure everyone was learning and having fun. We've decided to make a separate group for the Kindergarten and First Graders, as they've never done Block Programming before. Mrs. Chaleki will work with them separately until they are comfortable with block programming and the Sphero robots. Then we may decide to integrate the two groups again. Mr. Kocsis will work with the older kids in the 2nd grade classroom and Mrs. Chaleki will work with the younger kids in the Innovation Lab. Here are some photos from the first session. We can't wait for the next session! Dear Parents,
Today, Thursday Feb 1st, will be the first STEM Club meeting. We are so excited that your child will be joining us. The club is full and has kids from every grade (K-4). We’ll be meeting in the Innovation Lab immediately after school. The kids will be hungry, so we’re planning on providing a simple snack and something to drink. Please let us know if your child has any food allergies. You are welcome to pack a snack for your child if you’d prefer. When we first started talking about starting this club, we looked at a wide range of things we could do with the kids. There are so many fun things that fall into the category of STEM. In the end we decided on teaching a programming class using the Sphero SPRK+ robot. Programming teaches kids:
Robotics does all that and takes it a step further. It makes programming come to life for kids; something they can see, touch, and feel. The benefits of robotics are:
We both got our robots last week and we couldn’t be more excited about using them with your children. Please don’t hesitate to contact us - [email protected] or [email protected]. Sincerely, Evelyn & Atilla |
AuthorAtilla Kocsis & Evelyn Chaleki Quick Links
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