2022-23 Archive


2022 - 23 Computer Specialty Weekly Plan

Computer Specialty Teacher:  Andrea Blake

Coding Questions?  Submit your question in this form

Other Questions?    Email ablake@bostonpublicschools.org


Robotics Club Slides

Robotics club slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1F6IHvdG9HQ47dRlSrzAT7Mq2ZGJrfr5WhUmOibMAo60/edit?usp=sharing


Week 41 Juneteenth

6/20 - 23 (22, 23 half day, school finishes at 1:40pm)

Watch BrainPOP episode Juneteenth, and PBS Juneteenth Jamboree: https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/junteenth-jamboree-celebrations/juneteenth-jamboree/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=2023-06-08&utm_campaign=juneteenth_2023

Activity: Scratch, Scratch Jr or anything posted for you on Ms. Blake's Clever Page: Interland, Code Monkey, Angry Bird, etc.

Week 39 & Week 40

6/5 - 6/9, 6/12 - 6/16, 2023

K1:  BrainPOP Jr.  iPad 

K2: Scratch Jr. Final Project: My Favorite Things. Music by Julie Andrews:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33o32C0ogVM, abcya.com Seasonal Shuffle: Put the months in order, then add important holidays on the calendar.

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com.  How to write a friendly letter.

Grades 3-5:  Submit here ANY of your Scratch Programs that you still want Ms. Blake to see before she gives final grades: https://forms.gle/AaLiiyxg44BA91vL9 

ACTIVITY CHOICES:  

A. Work on a Scratch Program: Balloon Clicker (new), finish one of your previous projects (Time Machine, Famous Person, Surprise or your own project).  

B. Tinkercad: design a small object that you hope to get 3D printed by Ms. Boulogne, or try the new feature to design a marble machine (not to get it 3D printed, just to play with it online).

Scratch Program 5, Balloon Clicker game:

Use the tutorial that comes with Scratch to make a balloon clicking game:

Enhanced Balloon Clicker Games:

Click balloons for points. If you haven't clicked for 3 seconds, points will reset: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/691195485

5th grade club: Sort legos, cleanup iPads.

Week 37 & Week 38   AAPI Celebration Featuring Steven Chen, Youtube creator

5/22 - 5/26 & 5/30 - 6/2 2023

K1:  BrainPop Jr. Health: Caring for teeth, loose tooth. iPad health games

K2: Scratch Jr. , abcya.com typing and math games

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com.  How to write a friendly letter.

Grades 3-5:  Scratch Program 4.  Scratch Coding for  AAPI Month:  two characters have a conversation about a famous person.

Here is an example for Mae Jemison: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/660958035

Opening line: One character says: What do you know about Mae Jemison?   (or whatever famous person you chose to work on). The second character responds with a fact, and then they keep talking about the famous person, having a conversation, revealing at least three facts.   Extra Credit: at the end, you can add 3 questions (like a test) with multiple choices for answers (a. b. c. d.), and ask the "player" to click on the correct answer.  You can give the player points.

For example if your choice of famous person is Mae Jemison Mae Jemison, First African American Astronaut (video 2:83 and  biography on womenhistory.com)

When the program starts

Annie says: "Ben, what do you know about Mae Jemison?"

Ben: "I know that she was the first African American astronaut. What else should I know about her?"

Annie: "She's so cool!  She had a choice of becoming a professional dancer or a doctor.  She chose to be a doctor".

Ben: "Wait, what?!  So how did she end up becoming an astronaut?"

Annie: ...


Week 36  AAPI  Featuring Dr Feng Zhang, MIT, CRSPR

5/15 - 5/20

K1:  BrainPop Jr. Spring episode, iPad growing plants

Grade K2 - 2: Scratch Jr. Lesson 6 Dribble a Basketball, Lesson 7 Dance.   World Bee Day: Why keep bees?  Make the Bee-Bots dance!  Music for the beebot dance, In the Hall of The Mountain King by Grieg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nMUr8Rt2AI video:  How can you  help the bees?

3-5:  Watch Conditionals episode on BrainPOP Jr.  Submit your Scratch Program 3 here: https://forms.gle/AaLiiyxg44BA91vL9 - Time Machine

Scratch Tip of the Day:  How to make a character face the other way?  1. to permanently make it face the other way before the program runs, you can click the Flip Horizontal button in the Custom tab of the Sprite.  2. To make the character face the other way in the middle of your program,  set the blue Set Rotation Style block to "Left to Right", then point the sprite in the direction of left or right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BsA6cYuA6o

Week 35

5/8 - 5/12

Grades K - 1:  Scratch Jr. Lesson 4 Make the Sun Set, Lesson 5 make the moon Rise. Learn how to switch from one page to another in your program.

2nd grade:  Typing.com, Finish your Google Slides - Make a Planets presentation based on this video instruction: https://youtu.be/S9_SZvngOe4  sample Planets Project: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uPZnKGB_bqsBxbdr4np3tMQm2rpMDjc7w2pNnybLrF4/edit?usp=sharing 

3-5:  Watch Variables episode on BrainPOP.  Scratch:  mini lesson 2: Use the Ask block to collect user input, then use the "answer" variable that comes with the Ask block to put the user's answer into a sentence and display the sentence: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/777030075

Extension: if you finished early, help others or make a balloon clicker game:  keeping score will teach you how to use variables.  (How: Click Create to start a new Scratch project, then click Tutorials and choose Balloon Clicker. Follow the step by step tutorial.)

Week 35

5/1 - 5/5

Grades K - 1:  Scratch Jr. Project 3,  Spring project.  We reviewed what happens in the spring: animals stop hybernating, flowers start blooming, caterpillars hatch from eggs, then grow and turn into butterflies and more.  Make a spring project in Scratch Jr: set a green outdoor background, get a bunch of flowers, butterflies and birds from the sprite library.  Show how things grow and change in the spring.  Use the coding blocks you already know, and use the new blocks: When this sprite is pressed, Grow / Shrink, and the Repeat block to make animals move around the screen repeatedly.  You can also use the Speak block to use some of our words (spring, grow, egg, caterpillar, hatch, chrysalis, butterfly) or even write sentences. 

Building background knowledge: Bookflix: Flowers (a pair of fiction and nonfiction books)

2nd grade:  Typing, Using Google Slides - Make a Planets presentation based on this video instruction: https://youtu.be/S9_SZvngOe4  sample Planets Project: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uPZnKGB_bqsBxbdr4np3tMQm2rpMDjc7w2pNnybLrF4/edit?usp=sharing 

Grades 3-5:  Scratch coding:  See Scratch Coding Lesson 2 Slides 

Finish and Submit your Scratch Program 2 "Surprise" via this form: https://forms.gle/cHXUtkSoo5kDXPPm8 . Requirements: Use the Broadcast and Receive blocks in your program to control the flow of events.  Use at least four characters.  Some hiding, then showing up when it's time for the surprise, then do some surprising things: spin, run around, sing a song, go to space, whatever you can think of.  Have fun!

Extension:  if you finished early, help others or work on mini lesson1: Make the cat run away: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/843906177

Astrid, here is one way to make a fireworks (10 mins video), try it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPjJPUB1YF8


Week 34

4/24 - 4/28

Theme: Featuring Earth Day, Recycling, Renewable Energy and Mária Telkes: https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/amex35tsq-soc-sunqueen/women-lead-a-radical-experiment-in-early-solar-power-the-sun-queen/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_%7BEarth%20Month%206-12%7D

K-1:  Scratch Jr. Project2 Make a Race: Learn to use the Set Speed block

Earth Day, reuse and recycle. 

Building background knowledge: Bookflix: Butterflies (a pair of fiction and nonfiction book)

Grades 2 - 3:  Typing.com, Earth Day typing practice.  Biography Research Refresher: Look up Mária Telkes or another person on PebbleGo, Epic or BrainPOP / BrainPOP Jr.

Alternative:  We did a lot of research on women for women's history month.  You are welcome to research a man in technology.  Using your own words, write a Biography Report in a google document.

Grades 3-5:  Scratch coding:  See Scratch Coding Lesson 2 Slides 

Submit your Scratch Program 2 "Surprise" via this form: https://forms.gle/cHXUtkSoo5kDXPPm8 . Requirements: Use the Broadcast and Receive blocks in your program to control the flow of events.  Use at least four characters.  Some hiding, then showing up when it's time for the surprise, then do some surprising things: spin, run around, sing a song, go to space, whatever you can think of.  Have fun!

Week 33 - April Break

Week 32

4/10 - 4/14

Grades K-1:  Scratch Jr. Project1 - Drive Across the city.  Get a city from the background library, get a car from the sprite library, use the When the Flag is clicked, and the move blocks to drive the car across the city.

Building background knowledge:  Earth Day, reuse and recycle. PBS LEARNING MEDIA | Earth Day | PBS KIDS , AJ's recycle and reuse game: https://pbskids.org/heroelementary/games/ajs-recycle-rescue, Jack Johnson - The 3 R's (Lyrics)

Grades 2 - 3:  Typing.com, and Earth Day typing practice.

Grades 3 - 5:  Create your first project titled "Joke" on Scratch. 


Week 30 - 31 Plan

Vocabulary:  Robot:  A robot is a machine that does tasks without the help of a person. Many people think of robots as machines that look and act like people. Most robots, though, do not look like people. And robots do only what a person has built them to do. (from Britannica for Kids).

3/27 - 3/31 and 4/3 - 4/7

K-1:  Code.org, abcya: 

Building background knowledge: BrainPOP Jr: Spring

2nd grade:  Typing.com, Practice: Biography Research and Report Writing.  Use Pebble Go, Epic, Code.org 

Grades 3-5:  Create your first project titled "Joke" on Scratch. 

The purpose of the assignment today is to verify that:

Friday Club:  How Electricity Works   Snap Circuit Video


Week 29

3/20 - 3/24

K2 - 1:  Code.org, abcya.com submarine spelling practice

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com. About Me google document.

Grades 3-5:  3D design a snowflake in tinkercad. If you want your snowflake printed, you may email it to our librarian hboulogne@bostonpublicschools.org and ask her if she could 3D print it for you. See instructions on slide 2: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WzVHGY_oKmMRKrn-kjqNNOgj_f4a_A2fd-dFOIhD16c/edit?usp=sharing


Week 28

3/13 - 3/17

K1 - K2:  Code.org, abcya.com word cloud (use our computer words: computer, laptop, screen, code). iPad (using various forms of technology).  How is the iPad different from a chromebook? 

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com. About Me google document.

Grades 3-4:  3D design a snowflake in tinkercad. If you want your snowflake printed, you may email it to our librarian hboulogne@bostonpublicschools.org and ask her if she could 3D print it for you. See instructions on slide 2: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WzVHGY_oKmMRKrn-kjqNNOgj_f4a_A2fd-dFOIhD16c/edit?usp=sharing


Week 26 & 27- Back from February Break.  Welcome my new classes. We will have fun in Computer Specialty.


2/27 - 3/3, 3/6 - 3/10

Themes: Classroom Rules and Expectations, curriculum overview, icebreakers, Digital Citizenship (DigCit) lesson1 of 6

K-1 DigCit: "Arms" Balance is important. How to balance your media time.

grades 2-3: orientation, classroom rules. Start on Typing.com lessons. We will learn how to "touch type": type without having to look at your hand or the keyboard. This will help you type faster and more accurately. You will save lots of time in the coming years when doing your homework, schoolwork, online tests, and even gaming with your friends, since you can concentrate on what's on your screen instead of looking at your keyboard.

4-5 orientation, classroom rules. Icebreaker: powerpuffyourself.com.  About Me document (include your avatar).

Extra Activity:  If you finished your about me, you may work on creating a snowflake in tinkercad. Follow these tinkercad slides

Week 25

Robotics Club:  Please fill out this Feedback Form: https://forms.gle/DbA2n9LACAGAAFTp8

Students, fill out this survey:  What activities would you like to be able to do during free time in computer class?

This is our last week together before we switch specialties after the February break.  Also Valentine's day, so it's a good time for spreading kindness and thank you messages.

2nd grade: You can practice sending an email, by writing to your favorite specialty teacher (Only write to one teacher and one message please).  Let Ms. Blake read your email before sending it.

Week 24

2/6 - 2/10

PH Class: PBSKids Wild Krattz groundhog day.   PBS-Scratch Jr on iPad: create a short program: 1. chose an animal from the sprite library, 2. add a background, 3. program the animal to move from the left side ofthe screen to the rigth side.  Program 2. Look at the starter project WildKrattz Cheetah Race. How does this work?  Next, draw a groundhog and make it race with the cheetah. Hint: Which animal is faster?  A cheetah or a groundhog? Use the Set Speed coding block to slow down or speed up movement. 

K2:  Code.org, abcya.com, iPad (using various forms of technology).  How is the iPad different from a chromebook? Try Scratch Jr and other educational iPad apps.

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com.  iPad (using various forms of technology). Try Scratch Jr and other educational iPad apps.

3rd grade:  3D design a snowflake in tinkercad. If you want your snowflake printed, you may email it to our librarian hboulogne@bostonpublicschools.org and ask her if she could 3D print it for you. See instructions on slide 3: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WzVHGY_oKmMRKrn-kjqNNOgj_f4a_A2fd-dFOIhD16c/edit?usp=sharing

5th grade: Black History Month research and Lego Robotics.

Computers / Makerspace Club:  Electricity: How is Electricity generated, stored and distributed? https://www.electronicsandyou.com/blog/how-is-electricity-generated-transmitted-and-distributed.html

Robotics:  FLL (First Lego League) 


Week 22 & week 23

1/23 - 1/27, 2023 & 1/30 - 2/3

PH Class: BrainPop Jr. "Adding Up". iPad app "Park Math". Movement: Chinese dance with our K2 friends: https://youtu.be/GANCKjMnMLw.   BrainPop Jr Brushing teeth, Letter School on iPad.

K2:  Code.org, abcya.com

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com.  Emails to a friend. Do not spam, be polite, and other little things.

3rd grade:  3D design a snowflake in tinkercad. If you want your snowflake printed, you may email it to our librarian hboulogne@bostonpublicschools.org and ask her if she could 3D print it for you. See instructions on slide 3: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WzVHGY_oKmMRKrn-kjqNNOgj_f4a_A2fd-dFOIhD16c/edit?usp=sharing

5th grade: Black History Month research: use Pebble Go, brainpop, biography.com, history.com and kiddle to research and complete your slides on athletes and performers.

Computers / Makerspace Club:  Electricity. Paper circuits: https://www.makerspaces.com/paper-circuits/ 

Robotics:  FLL (First Lego League) 


Week 21

1/23 - 1/27, 2023

PH Class: BrainPop Jr. "Adding Up". iPad app "Park Math". Movement: Chinese dance with our K2 friends: https://youtu.be/GANCKjMnMLw

K2:  Code.org, abcya.com Keyboard Zoo2, uppercase letters, space and period, typing sentences.

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com.  Emails to a teacher

Grades 3-5:  Cybersecurity slide deck: Power Up Your Password.


Computers / Makerspace Club:  Electricity. Paper circuits: https://www.makerspaces.com/paper-circuits/ 

Robotics:  FLL (First Lego League) 

Week 20  MLK Day: No school on Monday 1/16

1/16 - 1/20, 2023

PH Class: Lunar New Year BrainPop Jr.  Hong Kong dragon dance: Chinese New Year 2019 Lion Dance, Hong Kong. Make a chinese new year mask.

K2:  Code.org, abcya.com

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com.  Emails

Grades 3-5:  Cybersecurity slide deck: Malware & Quiz.  Internet Safety Hangman - online game: https://www.quia.com/hm/40647.html?AP_rand=801908084&playHTML=1

Computers / Makerspace Club:  Electricity. Paper circuits: https://www.makerspaces.com/paper-circuits/ 

Robotics:  FLL (First Lego League) 

Week 19 Black History Month

1/9 - 1/13, 2023

PH Class: Young Leaders of Change and Black History Month:  read this New York Times article about the new 18-year-old mayor in an Arkansas City : https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/us/jaylen-smith-mayor-earle-arkansas.html

K2:  Code.org, abcya.com Friendly letter.

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com.  Finish typing your friendly letter.

Grades 3-5:  Cybersecurity slide deck: Day3 Malware. 

Internet Safety Hangman - online game: https://www.quia.com/hm/40647.html?AP_rand=801908084&playHTML=1

Makerspace Club:  Welcome New Students!   Electricity.  Let's make an LED Folder. We will keep it at school and store our journal pages in here.

Robotics:  FLL (First Lego League) 

Week 18   

1/4 - 1/7, 2023

K2:  abcya.com friendly letter

Grades 1-2:  Typing.com.  How to write a friendly letter.

Grades 3-5:  Cybersecurity slide deck: The internet, Binary Data, cybercriminals

What did you do during December break? Use binarytranslator.com then post your answer in BINARY on our padlet.

Robotics:  FLL (First Lego League) Season Resources https://www.firstlegoleague.org/season#resources 

Draw a square: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43bloK_Y7uA

Week 17 (winter break)

Week 15 & Week 16 (short week) 

12/12 - 12/16, and 12/19 - 12/22

Grades K-1:  Code.org, abcya

2nd grade:  Typing.com. Emails

Grades 3-5:  Scratch, original balloon clicking game:

Use the tutorial that comes with Scratch to make a balloon clicking game:

Grades 3-5:  Extension:  Enhanced Balloon Clicking Games:


Week 14:   Computer Science Education Week  - December 5-11

Computer Science (CS) is the study of computers including software, hardware, and how humans interact with them. Since 2015, Boston Public Schools has participated in Computer Science Education Week, an annual call to action to inspire K-12 students to learn computer science, advocate for equity, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners to the field.


Students, check out the BPSTech CSEdWeek website, to see announcements and to enter the #BPSCoders Contest with your Scratch project.


What is Hour of Code? - intro video from Code Monkey


JQES students will get to try one of these

Hour of Code Activities during their scheduled Computer Specialty, Science Specialty, or Library visits this week:



Grades 2-5 - Code.org "Dance Party" 


.  K - 1st Grade - Beaver Achiever


Grade K1 - Unplugged Paper Activity



Lego Robotics Club: 

Group1 - New to Robotics:  10 students build the playing field obstacles.  Go to First Season Resources https://www.firstlegoleague.org/season#resources , scroll down to Mission Model Building instructions, click View, then find the instructions for the bag of lego from the Mission Model box that you are building.

Group2 -  FLL First Lego League Competition Team: (Student who had lego robotics lessons in the past. Building Instructions Spike Prime Building Instructions - Build Driving Base 1.   Program the car to move forward and back.   Challenge: Program the car to drive around a square or a triangle.


Competition Ready lessons:  https://education.lego.com/en-us/lessons/prime-competition-ready


Week 13

11/28 - 12/2

Grades K-1:  Code.org, abcya

2nd grade:  Typing.com.  Finish your Planets Slides and share it with ablake@bostonpublicschools.org.

3rd grade:  Create a clicker game based on the Scratch Tutorial Clicker Game. Learn how to keep score in a variable.  Vocabulary word: variable. 

A variable is something that can be changed. In computer programming we use variables to store information that might change and can be used later in our program. For example, in a game a variable could be the current score of the player; we would add 1 to the variable whenever the player gained a point.


5th grade:  Submit your Scratch Program 2 "Surprise" via this form if you haven't done so yet: https://forms.gle/cHXUtkSoo5kDXPPm8 . Requirements: Use the Broadcast and Receive blocks in your program to control the flow of events.  Here is a  video I recorded for you that explains how I used Broadcast and Receive in my Birthday Surprise Scratch Animation.  Remember to create your own surprise project, at least use different sprites, and do different surprising acts.

This "Cheat Sheet" for my Birthday Surprise sample shows the algorithm and the program (the coding blocks):  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xJYNFxoxZtF8tCA_KH_HC1yqelwyJQ4RfWuuvW7GKL4/edit?usp=sharing


Next: Strong Women project

Background knowledge: Watch video about Grace Hopper or read about Grace Hopper on Pebble Go or read the CommonLit article about Linda Alvarado: Jumping over boundaries

Make a Scratch animation about a "strong woman", such as Grace Hopper or Linda Alvarado (or your choice). Submit your strong women project via this form for interim assessment: https://forms.gle/BcSBqexU6745CU9H6  (Your project could be two people talking about your famous person, or a bunch of characters acting out a scene from the person's life, emphesizing something that she became well known for or something that shows her strength and how it makes her a positive role model for us all.

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/768050094/


Do you have extra time?  check out this project: Time Machine on Scratch. Look inside the code. Can you figure out what the Ask block is used for in this code  https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/412020828/


https://www.firstlegoleague.org/season#resources


Week 12 - Thanksgiving

11/21 - 11/23 (short week)

K-1:  Code.org, abcya: 

2nd grade:  Typing.com.  Finish your Planets Slides and share it with ablake@bostonpublicschools.org. Let's learn about Read & Write. Try the read aloud feature on https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-jupiter/en/.  Also try the R&W "highlighter" and the vocabulary list" feature to generate your own vocabulary list.

3-5:  Scratch coding:  See Scratch Coding Lesson 2 Slides 

Submit your Scratch Program 2 "Surprise" via this form: https://forms.gle/cHXUtkSoo5kDXPPm8 . Requirements: Use the Broadcast and Receive blocks in your program to control the flow of events.  Use at least three characters.  Some hiding, then showing up when it's time for the surprise, then do some surprising things: spin, run around, sing a song, go to space, whatever you can think of.  Have fun!


Week 11

11/14 - 11/18

K-1:  Loops, Code.org, abcya: 

2nd grade:  Google Slides - Let's learn about Read & Write. Try the read aloud feature on https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-jupiter/en/.  Also try the R&W "highlighter" and the vocabulary list" feature to generate your own vocabulary list.

3-5:  Scratch coding:  Submit your Scratch Program 2 via this form: https://forms.gle/cHXUtkSoo5kDXPPm8

Next: Based on the example you see in your handout "Algorithm versus Program", write down the algorithm for your first Scratch program (the joke). Something like this:

Turn to your partner, and ask him or her if she can match each step in your algorithm with each code block in your code.  Did you miss any steps in your algorithm? Fix it, then 

submit your algorithm via this form: https://forms.gle/Laemz8jdAve2jT82A


Week 10

Themes:   STEM electric circuits, conductive objects, Makey Makey and physical computing. Scratch coding

Vocabulary:  algorithm versus program

11/7 - 11/10 (no school on Friday, veteran's day)

K-1:  Code.org, abcya: 

2nd grade:  Google Slides - Make a Planets presentation (continue from last week) then share with ablake@bostonpublicschools.org  for fun: Planets Song

3-5:  Scratch coding: Create your second program on Scratch titled "Surprise".  Learn Broadcast and Receive, and the Text to Speech extension. Requirements have at least 3 characters, some hiding and then doing something exciting when it's time for the surprise.  Use the Broadcast and Receive blocks to trigger the surprise.  Use the Hide, Show, motion blocks and Sound or Text To Sound

Again, submit your Scratch Program1 here if you failed last week (today is your last chance): https://forms.gle/QRr5vH5vrAFWK1dH6  


Week 9

Themes:   STEM electric circuits, conductive objects, Makey Makey and physical computing. Scratch coding

Vocabulary: 

10/31 - 11/4

K-1:  Code.org, abcya: 

2nd grade:  Typing, Using Google Slides - Make a Planets presentation based on this video instruction: https://youtu.be/S9_SZvngOe4  sample Planets Project: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uPZnKGB_bqsBxbdr4np3tMQm2rpMDjc7w2pNnybLrF4/edit?usp=sharing 

3-5:  Create your first project titled "Joke" on Scratch. 

The purpose of the assignment today is to verify that:

Friday Club:  make a banana piano with makey makey   Explanation: How Electricity Works


Week 8

Themes: Fall, Pumpkins, history of Halloween.  STEM electric circuits, conductive objects, Makey Makey and physical computing.

Vocabulary: 

10/24 - 10/28

K-1:  Code.org, abcya: 

2-5:  Typing, computing with KIBO 2nd grade

Friday Club:  Lego Robotics

FIRST Inspires 2022-23 Challenge: ENERGIZE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-qwsMmkFwg

SUPERPOWERED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4SDNsOVLD4 remember to read the Robot Game Rulebook and check for updates during the season.

Fun:  RUFF RUFFMAN: HUMBLE MEDIA GENIUS | PBS LearningMedia (If you have extra time, watch some of these videos)


Friday Club:  Lego Robotics Student slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qGutfUaPD8gd28TPa_NQNOvSL709UAs6LA8Xq60ARu0/edit?usp=sharing


Week 7  Digital Citizenship Week and STEM Week

10/17 - 10/21

K-1:  Let's watch Netiquette and discuss digital etiquette. abcya: 1. Cyber Five 2. Molly adds up to 10

2-5:  Google's Be Internet Awesome curriculum Lesson1 Why privacy matters. 

ESL  Learn how to use Google Read and Write to auto-generate a vocabulary list and to read a text out loud for you

Friday Club:  Kibo Robots - physical computing


Week 6

10/11 - 10/14

Themes: Submit all outstanding google doc work, we are moving on to prepare for celebrating Digital Citizenship week next week.

K-1 DigCit code.org (course B & C). abcya: 

2nd grade Last chance to finish and submit all outstanding Google Doc work.  If you have not sent it yet, send your About Me, Happy Birthday, or Happy Teacher Appreciation Day document to ablake@bostonpublicschools.org

3-5  Last chance to finish and submit the travel brochure that you created based on these instructions! Click the Share button and send it to ablake@bostonpublicschools.org.   We are moving on.  If you have extra time, watch "Why do we say latino?" https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/why-do-we-say-latino-video/origin-of-everything/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=2022-10-05&utm_campaign=pbslm_2022

If we still have time, let's prep for digital citizenship week by playing E-volve (Respond to cyberbullying scenarios and learn how to evolve into an Upstander). 


5th grade Friday Makerspace club: let's make a lemon battery  extra resources: fruit battery. Some questions: Let's say you find out that you can light a red LED but not a yellow LED with your lemon battery. Why is that? What can you do to be able to light up a yellow LED?

Friday Club: Make a lemon battery


Week 5

10/3 - 10/7

Themes:  How to be kind . Write a thank you card, happy birthday card or happy teacher appreciation day card:

Copy and Paste this text into a new google document.  Use the shortcuts CTRL C  and CTRL V to copy and paste.

K-1 DigCit code.org (course B & C). abcya: 

2-3 Write a Card.  How do you say Happy Teachers Day? Copy and Paste the following paragraph into a new google document.  Use the shortcuts CTRL C  and CTRL V to copy and paste.

To my amazing teacher, Wishing you joy and happiness on the occasion of Teachers' Day! Thank you for being a wonderful teacher and always believing in me. Happy Teacher's Day! It has been an honour to get to learn so many things from you.Sep 4, 2022


3-5 Using a google doc template. Research a country for hispanic heritage month, then follow these instructions to make a travel brochure.  Here is a sample of how your brochure should look, if you managed to use the Brochure template. Click the Share button and send it to ablake@bostonpublicschools.org


Friday Club: Makey makey piano


Week 4  Hispanic Heritage Month

9/26 - 9/30

Themes: Digital Citizenship lesson3, Code.org, digital journal, CS vocabulary. Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15 - Oct 15)

K-1 DigCit code.org (course B & C). abcya: 

2-3 Google Doc: start a weekly journal titled "My Computer Class Notes". Skill: Copy and Paste (CTRL C, CTRL V). Name and organize files on drive.

3-5 Using a google doc template. Research a country for hispanic heritage month, then follow these instructions to make a travel brochure. Click the Share button and send it to ablake@bostonpublicschools.org



Week 3

9/19 - 9/23

Themes: Digital Citizenship lesson2, Code.org, google docs

K-1 DigCit: "Head" Pause and think online. Start code.org (course B & C). abcya: connect the dots 123 and alphabet zoo

Gr2 Google Doc: about me

3-5 Watch the Internet Safety BrainPop. Then write a How to Be Safe Online document. Practice skills: take screenshot, create google doc, upload image, format, answer writing prompt, spell check, share with teacher at ablake@bostonpublicschools.org



Week 2

9/12 - 9/16

Themes: Classroom Rules and Expectations, curriculum overview, icebreakers, Digital Citizenship lesson1 of 6

K-1 DigCit: "Arms" Balance is important. How to balance your media time.

Gr2 orientation, classroom rules. Introduce google tools. Google Drive, create a folder "Computer Specialty". 

3-5 orientation, classroom rules. Icebreaker: powerpuffyourself.com


Week 1 (short week)

9/8 - 9/9

grades 1-2 orientation 3-5 icebreaker: powerpuffyourself avatar



-------------------------------------------------------- X ----------------------------------------------------------

- PLANNING AHEAD - Below this line is UNDER CONSTRUCTION

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2023 January  

Week 18 (short week)

1/4 - 1/6

K2 to 2nd grade:  Try one of the Code Monkey Hour of Code Activities: https://www.codemonkey.com/hour-of-code/

Code Monkey Coding Adventure: https://www.codemonkey.com/hour-of-code/coding-adventure/

or Beaver Achiever  Go to Ms. Blake's page on clever and click on "Code Monkey".  Then click "Start Playing" next to the biever to play the Biever Achiever game.  Do not sign up for an account.

3rd to 5th grade:  Animate a Character on scratch.  Follow the Animate a Character tutorial. Students who finish early, please ask if other students need help.

Tech Goes Home  (TGH) 

Lego Robotics Club: 

Lego Robotics Slides:

About First Lego League

Lego Robotics Club: Competition Ready unit / Training Camp 2 lesson: 


Week 19

1/9 - 1/13


K2 & 1st grade students: continue to your next lesson on Code.org (go to BPS Clever / click Ms. Blake's photo / Click Code.org, find the next white lesson (the already completed lessons are marked green). If you finish early, help the others at your table finish too, then continue to free choice on abcya or reading eggs.

2nd grade:  Continue your next lesson on typing.com then code.org.  Extra credit: Can you find your google doc computer class notes on google drive and make a dated entry for today?  You can say "Ms. Blake is out sick today, but I still did my work.  I'm an independent thinker."

3rd to 5th grade:  code a pong game in scratch.  Follow the Make a Pong Game tutorial. Students who finish early, please ask if other students need help.

Week 19 Chinese New Year

1/17 - 1/20. (Chinese New Year istarts on Sunday 1/22/2023


https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chinese-New-Year

Grades K-1: Code.org Course A or B

Grades 2-3 - Practice copy and paste

ctrl + c

ctrl + v

Copy the first paragraph into a google document from this site: Rosa Parks https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/rosa-parks

Grades 4-5 Choice of Black History Scavenger hunt (paper handout) or Lunar New Year Chinese masks (paper coloring templates).

Grades 4-5 How to make a snowflake in tinkercad:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WzVHGY_oKmMRKrn-kjqNNOgj_f4a_A2fd-dFOIhD16c/edit#slide=id.gb779baf53f_0_12

2023 February - Black History Month

Lego Robotics Club: 

2021 Cargo Connect Challenge:  All 16 Challenges completed with Robot Educator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM1S_mpJv2k

Find Advanced Driving Base Parts on Building Instructions: https://education.lego.com/en-us/product-resources/spike-prime/downloads/building-instructions

Competition Ready unit / Training Camp 2 lesson: 

Line following tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CGHGdqdVFY

Grades K-1: Code.org Course A or B. Keyboarding and drag and drop skills.

Grade 2 -3 - Typing.com.   Finish your Planets Project Google Slides, then click Share and send it to ablake@bostonpublicschools.org

Start a new google document titled My Computer Class Notes 

Copy and paste this paragraph into your notes document:

"We are working on creating a Scratch project for black history month.  Today we looked at this example project about Rosa Parks, and then created our own on Scratch.

I learned how to use 3 blocks: When the Flag is Clicked, Say something for 2 seconds, Wait."

February 14 2023 - Valentine's Day Secret Message from Ms. Blake:  Happy Happy Valentine!

Grades K-1: Code.org Course A or B

Grades 2-3 - Email attachment practice: Make a valentine on abcya.org, then download the valentine.png file. Start an email and attach the valentine.png file. Send the email to Ms. Blake with subject Happy Valentine's Day

Grades 4-5  Robotics 

Lego Robotics:


2023 March - Women's Month

2023 Women's History Theme “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.”

Grades 4-5: Scratch Coding for  Women's Month:  two characters have a conversation about a famous person.

Here is an example for Mae Jemison: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/660958035

Opening line: One character says: What do you know about Mae Jemison?   (or whatever famous person you chose to work on). The second character responds with a fact, and then they keep talking about the famous person, having a conversation, revealing at least three facts.   Extra Credit: at the end, you can add 3 questions (like a test) with multiple choices for answers (a. b. c. d.), and ask the "player" to click on the correct answer.  You can give the player points.

For example if your choice of famous person is Mae Jemison Mae Jemison, First African American Astronaut (video 2:83 and  biography on womenhistory.com)

When the program starts

Annie says: "Ben, what do you know about Mae Jemison?"

Ben: "I know that she was the first African American astronaut. What else should I know about her?"

Annie: "She's so cool!  She had a choice of becoming a professional dancer or a doctor.  She chose to be a doctor".

Ben: "Wait, what?!  So how did she end up becoming an astronaut?"

Annie: ...


First Week in March? - Assigned to new classes. Welcome my new students

Assigned to new classes. Welcome my new students

Grades K-1: Code.org Course A or B

Grade 2 - Typing.com & building student background knowledge: BrainPOP Jr Continents and Oceans

Grades 3-5:  Get to know each other activity and Google Doc review: About me and my Avatar instructions  

                       Once you finished your doc, click Share, send to ablake@bostonpublicschools.org 

2023 May - AAPI month

May is AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) month - Resources for students: 

https://libraries.state.ma.us/login?eburl=https%3A%2F%2Flibrary.eb.com&ebtarget=%2Flevels%2Fyoungadults%2Farticle%2FAsian-Americans-at-a-glance%2F634254%23350338.toc&ebboatid=9264690

Scratch, original balloon clicking game:

Use the tutorial that comes with Scratch to make a balloon clicking game:

Enhanced Balloon Clicking Games:


Friday Lego Robotics Club

 Clean Up Lesson Plan 

FINISHED - Tinkercad Flood Solutions project for grades 3-5

Ms Wang's 5th grade class, please put a slide for yourself in this slide deck

Mr. Amara's 3rd Grade Class, please put a slide for yourself in this slide deck



FINISHED - Hopper Code for Robotics Club

Lego Club: Invention Squad Lessons

Hopper Race:

Building Instructions for Hopper

Coding Tips for Hopper