October 27
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This session of 5th grade spanned assemblies and Fall Break (from Oct 16-27). Over the course of the first quarter, some classes had missed various lessons so we've been doing "catch up" to get all the classes back on the same page. Classes that hadn't missed a session got to spend extra time building bridges on Engineering Games and creating contraptions using constraints on Tinkerball.
6th Grade-
6th graders finished off Q1 with more self-selected technology modules. Some chose to continue creating video games in Gamestar Mechanic or creating coding animations in Scratch. Others chose to explore creating 3D digital designs using the free Google SketchUp software.
Q2 started this week and the new students spent the week getting an introduction to engineering. We talked about what engineers do and learned about the engineering design process. To practice going through the steps in the EDP, P5 and P7 built towers with cups and popsicle sticks and P6 used pipe cleaners. We ended the week getting our laptops set up and explored Google Classroom and Google Docs.
October 8
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We took a quiz on Quizizz and then played a "Build a Bridge" game from Engineering-Games.net (http://engineering-games.net/engineering-games/building-bridges)
Some classes got so involved in the discussions for the interactive challenge that we didn't have time to play the bridge building game. They'll have a chance to play it during the next STEM class.
6th graders spent last week on their choice of technology tasks. Some students chose to learn how to create video games using the free version of the Gamestar Mechanic site. On this site students complete "quests" to learn how to create games and to earn materials to use in their own designs. Once they complete five quests, they can create their own games in the "Workshop". After completing their own games, they published them and we were able to see and play each others' games. It was a great lesson in digital citizenship too since we can leave positive, constructive comments for each other. It was super fun and engaging! I had to force them off the computers when the class period was over!
Other students chose to learn more about coding using the Scratch site. Students used these cards (https://scratch.mit.edu/info/cards/) to create specific animation and learn about the commands available in Scratch.
The final group used the iPads and the TouchCast Studio app to create green screen movies. Some groups tried Stik-bots or other characters in front of green poster board and other groups used our green wall to act out movies.
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