Wildcat Workshop @ Chester Arthur School
KINDERGARTEN
Navigating Our Neighborhood
Essential Questions
Who and what makes up our neighborhood?
How can we give someone directions to navigate a neighborhood?
How is technology an important part of our community?
What does it mean to be a good digital citizen?
Key Projects
Verbal presentation of a robotic mouse that students program to navigate a neighborhood that they designed
Scratch Jr. story that show how different members of the community use technology in their everyday lives
May 2023
We practiced drawing and formatting shapes (size, fill color, border color, rotation) in Google Slides to create designs of animals and their habitats. Kindergarteners had studied habitats earlier in the year.
Check out the beak on this octopus!
We also used Google Slides to create pictographs. We voted on our favorite fairy tale. (Kindergarten classes had studied fairy tales earlier in the year!) Not only were we practicing creating graphs but we were also need to know how to copy (ctrl + c) and paste (ctrl + v) images.
We brainstormed ideas for things we could make move using brads. Then, we opened new tabs on our Chromebooks, searched Google Images, and drew our designs on paper. We cut out our designs and connected the pieces with brads.
April 2023
We worked toward earning a Digital Citizen Badge for being Password Security Pros.
Students chose which online activities they wanted to revisit:
Typing with Letter Leaper and Popcorn Typer
Sequencing, loops, and conditionals with Kodable, Code Monkey, and Code Beaver
Engineering with Hamster Run
March 2023
We engaged in parts of an engineering design process (prototyping, testing) with cardboard, tape, and straws as we built marble mazes. We planned our mazes first. We figured out that it was important to wrap the tape more tightly around the straws to keep the marble in the maze a little better.
Students also practiced sequencing and loops in coding with Candy Quest on Tynker.
Screenshot of Candy Quest on Tynker
February 2023
We chose which skills we wanted to revisit:
Typing with Letter Leaper and Popcorn Typer
Sequencing, loops, and conditionals with Kodable, Code Monkey, and Code Beaver
Engineering with Hamster Run
We practiced sequencing and creating a program using Kubo robots. Students created a set of steps for the robot to follow. Then, they ran the programs with Kubo on the neighborhood map.
January 2023
We practiced sequencing and using loops and conditionals in code using Kodable. As students got more comfortable with the coding, they were able to help peers.
We practiced sequencing and using loops and conditionals in code using Code Beaver. We built upon some of what we learned from Code Monkey.
December 2022
We practiced engineering solutions to help a digital hamster collect food in Hamster Run. We compared some of our designs and realized there were often multiple ways to solve the same problem.
We kicked off Computer Science Education Week with Hour of Code activities in our digital literacy classes. We practiced sequencing and using conditionals in code using Code Monkey.
November 2022
We gained more familiarity with our keyboards by matching images of keys to their locations. Then, we categorized and counted the types of each kind of key: letters, numbers, symbols, and actions.
We planned an engineering project by describing and writing down pieces we’d need to build a maze with K'Nex for our robot mouse. Then, we collected our materials and made our own version of the model maze. Finally, we tested and iterated on a program to help our robot mouse move through the maze.
October 2022
We practiced typing lowercase and uppercase letters (with the Shift key) using Letter Leaper and Popcorn Typer. (These sites have banner advertisements. Most of the ads are blocked by district filters. We discussed the difference between page content and ads.)
We practiced giving directions to our robotic mice. We used cards with arrows to help us write and punch in our algorithms. Then, we drafted stories using paper and crayons for our robot mice to navigate.
September 2022
Our theme for the year is "navigating our neighborhood." We practiced giving directions (left, right, forward, and backwards). We also counted how many times we needed to move in each direction. Then, we practiced giving directions—aka coding—in code.org. We’re helping an Ice Age squirrel get to an acorn, an “angry bird” catch a pig, and BB8 collect some scrap metal.
Students practiced logging in to their Chromebooks. We then navigated to Google Classroom and accessed code.org. On code.org, we can practice dragging and dropping things on the screen using our trackpad and mouse.
August 2022
Students drew about and shared what they do when they use a computer, tablet, and/or phone. Mr. Smith helped us write down a description of our drawings. We practiced sharing and listening in a circle. We realized that some of us enjoy doing some of the same things!
