Introducing the Topic
Coding the Bots
The last activity we did was actually an extension of a field trip they took only two days prior to the Greenville Zoo. Students were given a map with a similar path to the actual zoo. Along the path were pictures representing some of the animals they saw there, such as monkeys, leopards, lions, giraffes, alligators, flamingos, etc. The path had four blank 3-color codes for which students could choose to draw one of their newly practiced codes. For example, many chose "fast" by the lion and leopard because of how fast that animal runs while others chose to make their robot "stop and wait 3 seconds" when they got to the petting zoo section so they could pet the animals. See the video below to hear a young lady explain the codes she chose and her reasoning for choosing them.
Reflection
Teacher's Notes: |
"When we saw the Ozobots at a PD day earlier this year, we thought they would be great to try with kindergarten students. We weren't quite sure how that would look. Beth helped make it such an easy process. On the first day of instruction with the Ozobots, Beth taught our students the basics of robots. She told students about how these were small robots that we could code using markers. The class learned how to use markers so that the Ozobot would follow their path. On the first day, students had time to explore and figure out the basics of Ozobots. Then, on day 2 we took it a step farther. Beth taught students how to use different patterns in the code to make the Ozobots do special tasks. Students had the opportunity to practice and explore further. It was amazing hearing them think through the process. They were figuring out how the patterns worked and how some of the patterns were similar/different. By the end of the class period, students were exploring and coming up with their own ideas to try. They were taking the information they were given and thinking about how they could use it and expand what their Ozobot could do. It was awesome to see and experience! We were so lucky to have Beth's support during the process! She made it so easy for everyone!"
She is a teacher rock star, and I'm certainly thankful for her kind words and for her inviting me into her classroom!
Resources
K-2 Basic Training - I followed the first lesson in Ozobot's basic training pack on their website
Handout 1 (p. 8) - connecting/drawing lines
Handout 2 (p. 9) - drawing corners and curves
Day 2 Presentation
Color Coding Practice (p. 2) and Zoo Map Coding (p. 1) (early finishers were able to practice harder codes on p. 3)