Every day when the bell rings at 7:50 am, I have the distinct privilege of greeting my 21 first graders. Every day, these students from all different backgrounds trickle into my room with smiles on their faces and a go get 'em attitude. They come in and put their full trust in us! They trust that we're going to provide them with all the tools they'll need to learn how to read and become successful first graders ready for the next year.
My students, though different in so many ways, all have that same drive to succeed, that same innocent curiosity.
We are a rural school district with a huge degree of differing socioeconomic backgrounds. And though we are small, our community is overflowing with enormous amounts of school spirit and pride.
My Project
Have you ever heard of first graders coding robots to carry out a specific set of instructions to complete a designed task? I hadn't either until I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a Code.org training at the start of this school year. There, I was immersed in this wonderful world of teaching students to code.
I was astounded by the opportunities students will have if we give them the tools necessary to be 21st century learners.
Part of this includes starting young and helping students embrace their critical thinking abilities. Something as simple as a Bee Bot can help! A Bee Bot is a robot that students can program to carry out a specific set of instructions (a code).
This Bee Bot starter kit and additional Bee Bots will allow us to practice our critical thinking and coding skills in an age appropriate manner while also practicing our math skills, reading skills, spelling skills etc. For example, by setting up our learning mat with letters, students can code the Bee Bot to stop on letters that spell our spelling words. I will be able to give them a definition, and they will have to code the Bee Bot to stop on the word that matches that definition. Practicing math facts? Throw out a math problem and have the Bee Bot stop on the number that correctly answers the problem. The opportunities are endless!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Dellaquila and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
