Projects

February 2025

In the coding afterschool electives, we had a discussion around block coding versus other coding languages. Students often believe that block coding is meant for kids and you "graduate" to the "real" coding languages. I enthusiastically debunk this notion whenever I get the chance! 

BLOCK CODING IS FOR EVERYONE!

What I share with the students is that languages come and go, but conceptual understanding will help with any language. When I was in college, Javascript was the language we learned. Its popularity climbed from then, then declined, before a more recent uptick. At that time, Ruby was hugely popular and then nose-dived in popularity. Machine learning and AI primarily use python, so while its popularity has remained steady for more than a decade, we could see this programming language taking the lead soon. The point is this: we don't know what programming language(s) will be popular when these young students enter the workforce. They need to understand the concepts of programming and then use that knowledge in the syntax of the future "it" language.

After this manifesto about programming languages, I then revealed we were going to learn a little about Python and that was met with cheers...

January-February 2025

February 2025

January 2025

All Middle School advisories competed in a design thinking competition. The winning team from each grade had an ice cream party and the chance to make their own, personalized t-shirts. They created the design, chose the color for the shirt and vinyl, and then Cricuted, weeded, and ironed. 

January 2025

January 2025

Students in Grade 3 had a reminder of block coding through the use of Sphero robots. Their first job was to explore the app and see what they could do. As Dr. Patrick Brown explains in his book, "Instructional Sequence Matters, Grades 3–5," 

"Explore-before-explain learning highlights a unique synergy between explorations and explanations, and it recognizes that explorations need to come first. Students’ ideas and skills are powerful forces that drive intellectual development. Equally fundamental is how we provide explanations in light of students’ life experiences."

We paused and gathered as a group a few times during the exploration for direct instruction. These moments of teaching stemmed directly from what the students were experiencing. Many students commented that although they had never used this specific block coding software, it reminded them of Scratch. This allowed for a conversation around coding languages and the same underlying principles. When students were heard saying, "It isn't doing what I want it to do," we reminded ourselves about how programming works, the specificity needed to write code, and how to debug a program. When some students took out building blocks to build an obstacle course for the Sphero, this led us to discuss how to break down a complex task into more manageable sub-tasks. All of these moments of explanation directly relate to the Computer Science standards for Grade 3.

January 2025

For the past few years, Grade 2 students participated in an engaging and challenging unit about rivers. They explore the Charles River through visits and research, learn the parts of a river, and examine how the world around the banks impacts a river.  As a final project, they "coded" the river. This wonderful lesson has students assemble a puzzle-like river and explain how the elements on the shore, the "obstacles," impact their river's environment.

This year, with their strong background in coding, the students took this project a step farther. Using Scratch, students could use speed, direction, sound, text, or more to create an animation.  

January 2025

Students in Grade 6 and Grade 7 spent the past few classes exploring Adafruit's Circuit Playground, microcontrollers with built-in LEDs, buttons, and sensors. Building on the basic coding concepts they have practiced for years, and adding in new ones, students worked online to code their own programs. 

Grade 6 students tackled this new technology through a design thinking challenge: 

"Imagine you are a STEAM Educator at a PreK-8 school. You have access to these microcomputers called Circuit Playgrounds. You want to create a lesson for your students, but don't even know where to start. Write a short description of a lesson you could do using the Circuit Playgrounds."

In pairs, they jumped right in as the eager STEAM Educators they are. They were encouraged to learn through experience. For some, they headed to the tutorials available within Makecode. Others explored the site for projects made by others to see what could be modified or adapted to meet the needs of this particular assignment, or to see what sparked ideas. Others knew exactly what they wanted to build and began working right away. 

Grade 7 students used the same technology, but in a more complex assignment. Working in groups of three, students had to create a build from cardboard and other Kol-lab materials that incorporated a Circuit Playground that controlled a servo motor. Through code, students determined the input that would trigger the movement of the motor and the parameters required by their build. Finally, while the assembly sounds like the easiest part, students are realizing that turning circular motion into lateral motion is not as easy as it sounds. The students have one more week to pull their concepts together to meet the criteria of the assignment and we are very excited to see what comes together.

December 2024

Visit the Milestone section of this site to learn more!

December 2024

In collaboration with Social Studies, the Kol-lab created a Grade 6 unit about Artificial Intelligence. As members of the digital community, we have rights and responsibilities and it is our job to be well-educated users of current technology. We also need to be aware of risks and how to protect ourselves in this ever-changing community.  Upon completion of this unit, student will be able to:

• Define AI and articulate the difference between AI and machine learning

• Argue the potential benefits and risks of AI in our world

• Determine age-appropriate AI use to use technology safely and responsibly

Later in the semester, in Social Studies, students will learn about the "Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights" from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, The White House.  They will explore the issues addressed in the document (from the perspective of businesses/companies, the government, and individuals) with the goal of helping the White House in creating and writing an AI Bill of Rights.  

After three lessons focused on the benefits of AI as a tool and the risks associated with AI, students were asked how they felt about AI use. As you can see in the above image, feelings about AI span from, "Too risky to use," all the way to "Too beneficial not to use," leaning towards too beneficial. This data is particularly interesting since it was gathered right after a pretty eye-opening activity on security issues and bias in AI.

December 2024

Students in Grade 1 are learning all about light with their classroom teachers. To extend that learning, we built light-up Chanukah or other types of greeting cards in the Kol-lab. With the help of their Grade 4 buddies, students created their own circuits using copper tape, an LED diode, and a coin battery.  They left the circuit open so that the receipients of the card could turn the light on and off using a simple push switch. Students decorated with beautiful images and messages. They were so excited to bring the cards home to loved ones.

December 2024

With Hanukkah around the corner, and having spent the first few months of the year in Coding Bootcamp, it seemed fitting to create digital dreidels. See an example below:

December 2024

One of the goals of an interdisciplinary lab is for students to see how skills in one area can help them in new situations. Grade 4 students explored circuitry in depth in Grade 3. They focus on cardboard engineering schools throughout their elementary uears. Can they bring the skills together?

The task was to create a sculpture using cardboard or other readily available materials and incorporate LEDs and coin batteries (they could also use copper tape or wires, if needed). The light needed to be able to turn on and off. The rest of the decisions were up to them and they made some very cool projects!

December 2024

Students in grade 6 were tasked with adapting toys and games to meet the needs of clients with physical differences. They were assigned popular games and asked to think about how people with blindness, deafness, mobility issues, and tremors or shaking hands might be limited in their ability to play the game as advertised. Some games needed simple adjustments, while others needed to be completely re-thought. Students sometimes found that the assigned game needed no adjustments at all for the given client. While working through the design thinking process, students focused on Empathy and Ideating. 

December 2024

We've all seen projects on Pinterest and thought, "I want to do this when I have time!" Well that's what we did - we made time for it! Middle school students in the Kraft-Lab elective spent time trying out viral craft trends and trouble-shooting when the 10-second video demonstrations inevitably left out some critical building tips. We called on all of our Maker skills and skills from many other disciplines, too.

November 2024

November 2024

To kick off Thanksgiving week, Kindergarten read the beginning of the book, "How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?" by Margaret McNamara. After making predictions about the correlation between size of the pumpkin and the number of seeds, it was time to see if our predictions were correct. That's where things got messy...

November 2024

One of the benefits of the Kol-lab program is our flexible schedule. After coding in the Kol-lab a few weeks back,* the Grade 2 students were desperate to have more time to code. When cohorts show particular interest in something we do during Kol-lab, we want to give them more time to explore that passion area and we work with teachers to find that time. So, we went to the Grade 2 teachers and asked to be a part of Discovery, a morning routine that happens before Morning Meeting and is time for open-ended exploration.  Heidi and Aaron welcomed the idea and we started right away!

*For information on their last visit see the section below, "Algorithms, Sequences, Loops, Oh My! (Grade 2)"

November 2024

PK visited the Kol-lab for a design thinking challenge. Our early work with the Design Thinking Process focuses on empathy. After watching the read-aloud of the book, "Harry the Dirty Dog," we thought about how the characters were feeling during the book to try to better understand the whole situation.  Next, we made dog houses for Harry and his friends. Students worked hard to practice their emerging skills with scissors and tape. See their clever creations below.

Fall 2024

The start of Grade 4 Kol-lab was spent reviewing and extending our understanding of computer science, computational thinking, and algorithms.  

By Grade 4, students can:

• Model daily processes by creating and following algorithms (sets of step-by-step instructions) to complete tasks

• Create programs that include sequences, events, loops, and conditionals to express ideas and address a problem

• Break down problems into smaller manageable sub-problems to facilitate the program development process

• Debug (identify and fix) errors in an algorithm or program that include sequences and simple loops

During Grade 4,  students learn to:

• Create a program that uses variables to store and modify data

• Modify remix, or incorporate portions of an existing program into one’s own work to develop something new or add more advanced features

November 2024

We are so lucky to be using Unruly Splats at Rashi this year! As they say on their site, Splats are, "The Only Cross-Curricular Platform That Gets Students Out of Their Seats and Moving. Your trusted partner for student engagement that combines experiential learning and active play for your whole school!" The Rashi School is grateful to the Gentile Family for making this platform available to the School. 

November 2024

As a final project for the Electricity unit, Grade 3 students used their knowledge of circuitry to build Cardboard Cruisers. Students had to connect two motors to a single battery using lever nuts and do so in a way that the direction of the spinning motors allowed the wheels to move the cardboard. After securing their electrical components, the Cardboard Cruisers went into battle. Students had so much fun cheering on their "robots" and seeing their builds perform.

During this unit, the following skills were practiced:

• Explain how electricity works (at an atomic level) and define a circuit.

• Define conductivity and identify conductors, insulators, and resistors.

• Build open and closed circuits, and parallel and series circuits.

• Incorporate electrical circuits into future projects, when relevant.

November 2024

Students in Grade 1 spend the year focusing on community and communication. Our first design challenge focused on a community of animals and a farmer whose story is told by Doreen Cronin in her book, "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type."  After reading the book, we looked at how this story relates to their study of different communities and what makes a community. In this story, the animals and the farmer work out their problems by typing notes to each other. We spoke about the importance of communication in this plot and in all communities. Since communicating openly is so important to the cows, in order to allow the animals to continue to type notes, the cows needed a better work space. But what does a work space for a cow look like? 

Our students came to the rescue and designed offices for these cows. They used the design thinking process, collaborated with peers, and were reminded of the safety rules around scissors and tape dispensers, as well as learning about how to use materials with less waste. 

November 2024

We are so lucky to be using Unruly Splats at Rashi this year! As they say on their site, Splats are, "The Only Cross-Curricular Platform That Gets Students Out of Their Seats and Moving. Your trusted partner for student engagement that combines experiential learning and active play for your whole school!" The Rashi School is grateful to the Gentile Family for making this platform available to the School. 

In Math, Kindergarteners are working with tens-frames to learn what Ms. Katz calls, "Tens Buddies." To make practice more active and fun, we took out the Splats and got jumping. Students jumped on one Splat, which gave them a number (out loud and by showing that many dots on the device). Once the student figured out the tens-buddy, they jumped on the second Splat that many times. The final jump on Splat three told them if they were correct and shared the number sentence out loud.

At one point, we looked at the complicated code on the screen and tried debugging. We were finding that when Splat one  (which chose a number 0-10 randomly) said "zero," 4 lights were lighting up. The kids watched as we worked through the code to find a way to fix the problem. While the students aren't coding at that level yet, their skills are growing with each coding experience!

November 2024

Grade 2 had their annual first taste of coding in the Kol-lab. We did a reminder about some vocabulary and then practiced writing code and debugging. As a review, we chose to start with the Bee-bots and do the same sequencing lesson done in younger grades. The second graders cheered when they saw the Bee-bots again. It was really exciting as teachers to see the difference in skill for students with one more year of coding experience. They tackled the challenges with confidence and were quickly begging for the more difficult challenges.

It was time to take coding from buttons to blocks and get to work on Scratch. Students began by experimenting with different blocks to make a working algorithm. Since the challenge was repetitive, we used this code to introduce loops. We learned you can set code to repeat forever, repeat a designated number of times, or repeat until an event occurs. 

Below are the four Computer Science standards for Grades K-2. Students practiced all of these skills during this activity:

• Model daily processes by creating and following algorithms (sets of step-by-step instructions) to complete tasks

• Develop programs with sequences and simple loops to express ideas and address a problem

• Break down the steps needed to solve a problem into a precise sequence of instructions

• Debug (identify and fix) errors in an algorithm or program that include sequences and simple loops

October 2024

Students in Grade 6 worked on a design thinking challenge called "Pop-Up Playground." The concept is that children who live in the city of Providence are not all within walking distance to a local playground, so the city decides to convert parking lots used during the week by businesses into pop-up play areas for the weekend. The concept allowed for a discussion of empathy and defining the problem, the first two steps of the design thinking process. Students were tasked with designing five structures, but were restricted by inspiration words that helped define the look and feel of their space. Using only paper, string, tape, glue, and a few more simple materials, students brought their proposals to life in very clever, innovative ways. 

We have done this project a few times and every year something new surprises and excites us! This year, a student set another constraint for himself: he was determined to engineer his structures without the use of adhesives. A bunch of pieces to assemble and no tape or glue in sight... Using systems of tabs and folding, he was able to build his prototype just as successfully as if he had used glue. It is so exciting to watch these budding engineers play with materials in new, innovative ways!

October 2024

This project was inspired by the book, "Dear Data" by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec. The authors created stunning visual representations of data collected about their day-to-day lives. They explain their process:

"We prefer to approach data in a slower, more analogue way. We’ve always conceived Dear Data as a “personal documentary” rather than a quantified-self project which is a subtle – but important – distinction. Instead of using data just to become more efficient, we argue we can use data to become more humane and to connect with ourselves and others at a deeper level."

Students in Grade 8 were in the midst of a mini-unit on data in math and Humanities. In what was already an inspiring interdisciplinary project, the STEAM Team happily piggy-backed off this project with a data collection project of our own. Students spent one week collecting data about one very specific aspect of their lives. Examples included how many times Grandpa called each day, how many times they checked certain apps each day, how many times Taylor Swift was playing each day, how many water breaks each day, and more.

After collecting data, students moved through a productive struggle: how do I display data in a way different than I am used to showing data? They have worked for years on creating bar graphs, pie charts, and more in an effort to display data in a uniform, analytical way. Not this time! See some beautiful examples below.

October 2024

Our youngest Mathematicians had the chance to become Computer Programmers! Using Bee-Bots, screen-free programmable robots, students practiced building sequences to tackle a challenge. In Kindergarten math, students are working on relating numbers and quantities as well as number formation. This lesson extended this skill, coding the Bee-Bot to travel the path of different written numbers.  Grade 1 students participated in the same activity and focused more on creating longer sequences and debugging. We also discussed how loops would be helpful in coding.

Below are the four Computer Science standards for Grades K-2. Students practiced all of these skills during this activity:

• Model daily processes by creating and following algorithms (sets of step-by-step instructions) to complete tasks

• Develop programs with sequences and simple loops to express ideas and address a problem

• Break down the steps needed to solve a problem into a precise sequence of instructions

• Debug (identify and fix) errors in an algorithm or program that include sequences and simple loops

September 2024

Students in Grade 3 are completing a mini-unit on electricity.  After learning about atoms (through diagrams and discussion), students actually became a model of neighboring atoms transferring electrons. After learning about what happens at the atomic level, students traveled to different stations to see static electricity in action. 

Next, in exploratory lessons focused on current electricity, students learned about open and closed circuits, and they'll use their knowledge of a circuit to test different materials for electrical conductivity. 

By the end of the unit, they’ll be able to explain how electricity works (at an atomic level) and define a circuit, define conductivity and identify conductors, insulators, and resistors, build open and closed circuits, and parallel and series circuits. The goal is to learn the skills and components now, so that they can incorporate electrical circuits into future projects, when relevant.

September 2024

Challenge: Adapt one page of "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats into a unique tactile experience for blind and VI people

This project was inspired by an organization called Living Paintings. We began by doing a read aloud of "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. Students discussed what the illustrations added to the experience, then what it would be like without having those illustrations available. After a quick break to read some of our favorite picture books to Grade 1, students dove in to design their page. Once completed (stay tuned), we will have a full tactile copy of the book filled with creative, thoughtful solutions.

To see photos of all the pages, click here.

September 2024

Students in Grade 4 were tasked with creating a Rube Goldberg machine to ring a call bell. Using any of the materials available in the Kol-lab, teams completed this challenge to investigate the manipulation of kinetic and potential energy as part of their current Science unit.

Fun fact: Rube Goldberg is famous for designing complicated systems to accomplish simple, everyday tasks, but he was actually a cartoonist and never engineered any of his designs.

September 2024

Students in Grade 2 are developed beginner hand-sewing skills! This unit allowed them to practice fine motor movements and dexterity, learn knot-tying, and to build their repertoire of maker skills. They earned badges for each step of the process, and they even get to practice straight stitching on the sewing machine (a highlight for many of them!) to begin making siddur covers. 

Next, they will think deeply about symbols and words that should be on their siddurim, make a rough draft, and then copy the beautiful design onto the fabric. They will use these covers for years to come!

September 2024

Challenge: You are a nomad and you’re sick of carrying your gear. You were able to round up some creatures, but they’re not your typical beasts of burden.... they're dinosaurs. Design a humane carrying system for your dinosaur that carries the items you need transported without infringing on the safety and comfort of your dinosaur. 

In this challenge, students worked collaboratively through the Design Thinking Process. 

This challenge was immediately followed by a similar challenge where students added empathy: design a carrying system for a partner's needs. With each challenge, students become more comfortable moving cyclically through the Design Thinking Process. To learn more about this process, visit the About section of our site.

 September 2024

Challenge: Imagine you are a Grade 5 teacher. You want your students to answer the following experimental question: "Can plants move in the direction of the light?" You need to build the experimental setting so your students can run the experiment. What can be designed and built in a short amount of time to test the above question?

Students worked collaboratively and diligently on creating solutions to this challenge. They began by making detailed sketches of their prototype and presenting those sketches for review. Even since last year, the amount of thought and detail they put into those sketches was impressive! Through a conference with a teacher, groups were able to flush out potential tricky points in their designs and iterate. Working through this process will be helpful when we begin working on STEAM Fair.

 September 2024

Grade 1 approached the STEAM Team with a challenge: How can we make our Writer's Notebook covers more personal and build ownership over the notebook and the work it will contain?

Fast forward to some messy making in the Kol-lab! We had a lot of fun choosing colors to make shaving cream marbled designs. We hope looking at this reminder of their creativity will encourage their unique voices during Writing lessons this year.

September 2024

Throughout this year, students in Grade 6 will be asked to engage in a process of feedback called, "See, Think, Wonder." By using very direct statements about what the observers see and wonder, designers are able to hear and see how someone interacts with a product. It allows for purposeful, nonjudgmental peer critique.

To introduce this protocol, students were hired as graphic designers by a company creating a new pixelated video game.  Students were tasked with using a simple grid to create a hero, then a villain. The twist: the characters were not labeled. We used see, think, wonder to examine some of the characters. The original artists learned quickly how their work was perceived by an audience. In some instances, their intentions were readily understood: "I wonder if those middle squares represent a frown." In other instances, the intentions were misunderstood: "I see two points on the top. I wonder if those are horns," (they were, in fact, meant to be kitten ears on the hero). This protocol will allow us as designers to iterate our designs to clearly communicate what we intended.

To see projects from 2023-2024, click here.

To see projects from 2022-2023, click here.