Coding and Robotics – Week 5
Coding and Robotics Quest – This week was the last week of the coding course. Starting next week, until the end of the session, the Eagles will learn robotics using Lego robots. During this week’s Quest launch, I led a really nice activity about Placeholders and Variables (originally from the Code.org course with small changes I made). I asked each Eagle to draw a robot. After five minutes, each Eagle received three notes and had to write the name of the robot on the first note, its height on the second note and its purpose on the third note. I put the notes into envelopes according to the topics, and wrote the following sentence on the board: “I’m a robot! My name is ______ [robot’s name], I am ________ high [robot’s height] and my purpose in the world is _________ [robot’s purpose]. I took the notes out of the envelopes, and each time we assembled an entire robot and tried to see if we guessed one of their robots. The Eagles really enjoyed the activity, and they understood the concepts of Placeholders and Variables easily.
Art – During this week’s art class, the Eagles began to create a cartoon. They prepared a long, narrow page, divided it into small squares and began drawing on each square. I promise to upload photos later!
Free Time – This week, a particularly challenging wave of cold hit us. On Thursday, the temperature outside was 5 degrees, and yet the Eagles wanted to go outside. Of course I happily agreed, and took the photo I attache to the post as evidence 🙂 They all wore warm clothes that were suitable for snowy weather, so no one was cold. I again received proof of how true is the idea of “There is no such thing as bad weather” (I strongly recommend this book!)
Writer’s Workshop – I am happy to announce that all the Eagles in the studio have gone through the writing crisis and are all in the process of writing their essay in order to convince the imaginary philanthropist Chris to donate $10 million to the national park of their choosing. This week those who finished, began giving each other feedback and thus improving their final product.