It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of Round 4 in the STEM Lab, but here we are. Things got a little scrambled in 2nd a 4th grades on account of my having to be out for a few days during the first week of this round. Not to worry though, because those classes did the round 5 project that week, and they will do the round 4 project during the first week of round 5. Now let's dive into the amazing work the students did...
Kindergarten & 1st Grade
In this round our Kinder and 1st graders went unplugged and learned to make several origami models. For most of the Kinder students, this was their first experience with origami. We discussed the origins of the art in Japan and looked at a map to see where Japan is in relation to Houston. In Japanese "origami" means "folded paper". We likened the steps of creating origami models to the steps we follow when writing computer programs.
Most of the first grade students did an origami unit with me when they were in kindergarten, and a great many of them remembered how to make the models we learned then. We reviewed the vocabulary for the unit and the different types of folds. The models I introduced them to this year were a bit more challenging, but with some practice everyone succeeded in completing them.
All of the paper we use for this unit is standard rectangular copier paper that I chop into squares with the paper cutter. This leaves me with hundreds of 2.5" by 8.5" strips of paper that I cannot bear to just throw away. So each year, the origami unit also includes a day of 2-frame animations. I love the origami part of this unit, but I love this part even more because of the outstandingly creative animations the students make. The highlight reel below is just a small sample.
2nd Grade
One of the many drawbacks of not teaching in my own room so far this year has been not having the full complement of tools that I am accustomed to using. We felt that lack pretty keenly during this 2nd grade project, creating an animated story retell in Scratch Jr. The 2nd grade Chromebooks do not have Scratch Jr and I am not able to cart enough devices out the 2nd grade buildings. It is not a huge problem, but I do not like having to force partnerships on creative projects if it can be avoided. Fortunately we managed without any major issues.
The project started with a story map on which students sketched out the beginning, middle, and end of their chosen story. They also planned how they would draw the settings and characters, and wrote out the dialogue. Most groups chose books they have read or had read to them, but some created original stories. This is the most involved project they have ever done in Scratch Jr, and the process of planning, coding, and debugging mirrors what they will be doing in their 3rd through 5th grade projects.
3rd Grade
We took a break from the science themed Scratch projects started in round 3 and explored some of the extensions available in Scratch this round. (We will return to the science projects in round 5.) Extensions are additional sets of command blocks with a particular function. In this round, students experimented with the pen and music extensions. The pen blocks turn sprites into drawing tools that make marks on the background as they move. The music blocks allow students to compose drum beats, rhythms, melodies in their projects. The first 2 days of the week students had a getting started guide for each extension and had some time to explore. The rest of the week had students creating an original project incorporating both extensions. There is so much amazing, all of which can be seen in the studio.
4th Grade
In the last round, the 4th grade researched the life and work of an important artist or scientist. They created a Scratch project to share what they learned.
In normal times, this round would have students constructing a 3D model of their chosen person that functions as an interactive display when combined with the Makey Makey. Alas, these are not normal times and I was forced to turn the building part of this project into an interactive poster. This annoys me because most of these students made an interactive poster in 3rd grade and I despise having to recycle projects.
Anyway... the posters looked great and the students did a wonderful job of presenting their work to visiting 1st grade classes and administrators. See below for a highlight reel.
5th Grade
This round was the first of a 2 part project. The students chose a research topic, took notes on their topic, and then created a virtual museum display to share what they learned. Students selected a few objects for their display that best help to illustrate to most important elements of the topic. The Scratch project was coded in such a way that the display has a digital narrator that explains each objects and shares information. The projects can be seen in the studio, but some are works in progress at this point thanks to short weeks, testing, absences, etc. We will return to these in round 6 to finish coding, build and interactive physical display, and to present to a visiting class. In the meantime, you can check out the works in progress in the studio.