Review:

iBlocks

Class Pet

Reviewed By: Redhawks

Nyack UFSD

Summary of Review

We are a team of 2 teachers who work in an elementary school and in a Middle school. One of us is a 2nd grade Bilingual teacher and one General Ed Computer Science Middle school teacher with an ENL cluster.

We reviewed The iBlocks Class Pet 3-5. This program consists of many different modules and can be used with students of all different ages. Our first impression was that the modules consisted of resourceful lessons . We were able to pick and choose some of the interesting activities to do with our classes.

We would recommend the iBlocks Class Pet modules to teachers. We would make sure that teachers are aware they can modify the activities based on the level of the students, time available and topics presently being taught.

We then had an issue accessing the coding website throughout the district. This made it difficult for us to complete our activities.

What made you choose this resource?

What aspect(s) of this resource did you pilot?

After reviewing various resources, what made you choose this one?

We felt this was a great resource that can can be used with different ages and disciplines.

Activities:

Grade 6-Animal Research

Graded 6-Class presentation shared with Elementary ELL class.

Grade 6-Class discussion via zoom between 2nd grade and 6th grade classes.

Grade 6-Future goal - to code our class pet robot

Grade 6-Future goal-to send letters to the 2nd grade class about our class pet.

What went well?

What were some challenges?

Research
Group presentation
Collaboration with elementary/middle school via Zoom.

Unable to access the sphero bolt app/website.
Students weren't able to code the class pet.

How successful was the lesson?

The research and collaboration part of the activity was successful.

How easy-to-use were the resources?

Lesson plans were easy to use and easy to modify,

Would you recommend this resource to others in a similar situation?

Recommending this resource would be based on a schools technology policy and ability to access apps and websites.

How likely would you be to continue using this resource?

The collaboration between the schools will continue, we may continue using some of the resources. It depends on if we can get access to the sphero app.

What challenges came up?

No access to technology needed.

How did you overcome them?

We modified the activities.

Did you need to supplement the curriculum?

Yes

Were there any challenges with technology?

Yes