Once again, Lawrence students participated in the Hour of Code and had a chance to do some basic computer programming. They also learned that people tell computers what to do and that you need to persevere to solve a problem. Here are some of their reflections on the activity.
In their regular classrooms, first graders have been studying how other children live in other parts of the world. To supplement this unit, during library class we connected with other students from Athens, Greece; Shanghai, China; and Cuenca, Spain using a website called ePals. After reading a book about kids in other countries, the first graders sat with a partner and came up with questions they had about kids living in other places. Then they chose one and shared it with the class. We emailed these questions to their buddy classrooms.
1K class's questions 1N class's questions 1W clas's questions
The class from Greece told us that they were sending a slide show about their school, so we decided to create our own presentation to share. Students worked with a partner to decide what was important to teach them about our school. Then, each pair of students was responsible for writing details and a closing sentence for their topic.
Students took pictures around the school, and we added it all into Little Bird Tales, a digital publishing tool. Students then read and recorded what they had written. You can watch each presentation below.
In the meantime, some classes received answers to our questions from our buddy classrooms. Our friends in Greece also created a slide show and video for us, which you can find here. The first graders then worked with their partner to answer questions from our buddies, if they sent any. It has been fascinating to learn about the similarities and differences between their schools and ours!
Hour of Code!
Our school is joining in on the Hour of Code, during the week of Dec. 7-13. This is a world-wide event to introduce students to computer programming. We participated last year, and it was a huge success! During the Hour of Code, students will use critical thinking, logic, persistence, and creativity to solve problems, which are all related to AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners. If you have a computer, tablet, smartphone, or other device with an Internet connection, your child can use the site at home by visiting code.org. This is a very engaging educational activity, and I encourage you to check it out! |
AuthorKerry Darby Archives
April 2019
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