If you read my last post, then you know how much I love both my students and my robots. So naturally, I like to combine the two when I can. I recently brought a few of my favorite robots into my self-contained English classroom to incorporate coding and problem-solving skills into our literature lessons. Naturally, they were a hit!
Our first activity followed the completion of reading "The Princess Bride". We've been focusing on descriptive writing with this book so I wanted to find a way to blend that concept with robotics. The students each chose a location from the book and wrote descriptive paragraphs about what happened at that location, citing examples from the book and using colorful diction. After their writing had been edited and finalized, they drew detailed illustrations to match their paragraphs.
After taping their paragraphs and illustrations onto a sheet of butcher paper, they took turns coding Cue by Wonder Workshop to move from the starting point to each location on the map. As Cue reached each point, students recorded a 10 second summary of their paragraph for Cue to say out loud. It took them around half an hour to complete the route but they persisted and were very proud of themselves in the end. This lesson combined descriptive writing, sequencing, summarizing, coding, peer collaboration, and problem solving.
The following week, I brought Cozmo by Anki (a fan favorite in our room) and introduced the Sphero Mini (on loan from our friend Elias from
Smart Robots Review) in honor of National Robotics Week. Since we had never used the Sphero Mini before, I let the students complete more of a play based challenge with him. I tasked them with taping out a route on the floor and setting the Mini's bowling pins along the path. Then they used their choice of Drive functions in the Sphero Play app to run the Mini along the route and try to knock over all of the pins. This challenge combined problem solving, motor coordination, and peer collaboration.
Finally, the students were challenged to use Cozmo Performs in the Cozmo app to create a summary of their favorite book or movie. At least 3 of the blocks had to be text, while the other three could be additional text or reactions to the text written. They did a fantastic job of summarizing Transformers, Lord of the Rings, and Twilight. And I love how one of the students decided to end her summary with a little jab at the bigger robots out there. "The little ones are cuter." she says. :) This challenge combined summarizing, coding, peer collaboration, and sequencing.
Robots have been a welcome and meaningful addition to our weekly routines lately. I love that they are so motivating and provide additional opportunities for problem solving, collaboration between peers, and other 21st Century skills for the students, in combination with our curriculum. How do you use robots in your classroom?
