How robots and our school’s buddy program bring computer science to life

Coding and robots are each pure instruments for encouraging collaboration within the classroom. At Sewickley Academy, we’ve got taken that collaboration to the following degree by having Grade 5 college students step into mentoring roles for our kindergarteners who’re simply being launched to computer science. Here’s how we did it.

From Reading to Robotics

Recently, our PreK via Grade 12 impartial college has been working to embody extra computer science alternatives throughout all grade ranges. These lessons are a distinguishing issue of a Sewickley Academy training.

When college students, particularly our youngest learners, work with robotics, they’re studying coding expertise via what they see as enjoyable play. With the thrill of bringing these little robots to life, they typically don’t understand that they’re studying foundational ideas and expertise that future STEM studying will construct upon.

We began with one KIBO, which is a modular robotic designed to be utilized in training. KIBOs might be programmed visually utilizing picket coding blocks printed with numerous motion and conduct instructions. They are nice for college kids who’re nonetheless studying to learn and are a enjoyable and straightforward means to bring robotics and coding into the classroom with our youngest learners.

Grade 5 and kindergarten homeroom lecturers had already been working collectively to pair the older college students with youthful learners to learn to them. Both teams of scholars have been totally having fun with the partnership and it appeared pure to progress from studying to robotics. The kindergarten lecturers requested the Grade 5 college students to first discover the robotic, then assist their youthful buddies take part within the expertise. We bought sufficient KIBO kits to permit 10 groups to code and play collectively.

Off and Running

Grade 5 simply leapt into their management positions. We defined to them that, although the robots have been designed for little kids, the ideas underlying them are the identical ones underlying thrilling know-how like self-driving autos. Some of them stated, “Oh yeah, my dad works on self-driving cars,” and all of them appeared to perceive and go proper for it. In the classroom, they embraced the chance to function mentors and take duty for his or her little buddies.

We had a Remake Learning night time with a computer science focus final yr, and among the Grade 5 college students volunteered to exhibit the robots. Just as with their kindergarten buddies, Grade 5 inspired the guests to experiment with sounds, gentle, and movement, taking part in collectively to accomplish their very own aims. The kids and their dad and mom who attended have been so excited to be a part of them and uncover what they may do.

Our kindergartners additionally beloved the buddy program. Because we’ve got 10 robots, the lessons had to take turns. In the start, when one group had their first go to whereas others have been nonetheless ready, the kindergarten college students have been anxious to work with their buddies: “When is my buddy coming?” They have been excited concerning the robots, actually, however the relationship with an older pupil was additionally a really large deal to them. Students be taught in a different way in a peer-to-peer state of affairs: The kindergartners held on each element the fifth graders shared, and the Grade 5 college students eagerly stepped up to maturely information their buddies.

Exceeding Expectations

Pairing the kindergartners with Grade 5 mentors not solely stored them engaged, nevertheless it additionally inspired them to push their coding expertise farther by tackling greater issues than they could have in any other case executed in an setting of solely youthful kids.

For instance, the kindergarten college students have small stuffed animals of their classroom that they only love, and they wished to mount one on the robotic’s artwork platform. Some of the Big Buddies helped them determine how to connect it, and then all of them labored collectively to program their animal robotic automobile to drive across the classroom.

Other kids wished their robotic to go away the room and go outdoors, which included turning, driving out the door, and navigating down a giant step. To assist the robotic negotiate the step, they made a ramp out of a e book, then programmed the robotic to roll down the ramp outdoors. It was truly a reasonably difficult journey, primarily based on fairly a fancy algorithm for younger college students to undertake.

Looking to the Future

The yr this program began, we didn’t have devoted time within the Grade 5 schedule for studying how to code and use the robots. Their lecturers have been extraordinarily beneficiant find time for his or her college students to spend with me studying how to work with KIBO.

Both the kindergarten and Grade 5 lecturers who participated noticed large advantages for his or her college students. These embody Grade 5’s satisfaction in constructive management and the kindergartners’ want to be taught. With PreK via Grade 12 on one campus, our administration encourages work throughout divisions and disciplines. Computer science instruction with the Big Buddies program is a good instance of the effectiveness of this initiative. We are getting ready for our first buddies’ go to of  2022-2023 and count on to additional improve the program this yr.

For instance, Grade 5 is presently studying to code in Scratch. They used this programming language to create an animation about one thing essential to them, reminiscent of a sport they love or their favourite animals taking part in. They will share this work as a means of introducing themselves to their new kindergarten companions once they meet.

Additionally, fairly than educating small teams of kindergarten college students a couple of primary concepts about assembling and utilizing the robots earlier than assembly their buddies, as I did final yr,  this yr I’ll give their Big Buddies the duty to introduce the robots, together with how to put them collectively and how to make them transfer.

As educators, it’s our job to assist college students join with the fabric we wish them to be taught. Sometimes one of the best ways to do that’s to get out of the way in which and allow them to join with one another first.

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