Rolling Out The SPRK "Schools, Parents, Robots, Kids" Program In Our Library With Sphero

Today when the fifth graders were in the library and finishing up their nonfiction eBooks, I gave a few of them the fun job of getting out our new Sphero's and giving them a little try.  

It was the first time the three had used the Sphero's but they quickly figured out how they were ran by the apps on my iPad and ones that they could still add.                                   

                  

It was fun to watch them figure this out.....connecting all of them to the right one on the iPad, marking them with that information, adding apps that they might need, and even just turning the Sphero's on was exciting to learn along with the girls.  

They couldn't wait to try out the different apps and soon had a few favorites. 

The girls could have stayed in the library for the rest of the day....They had the best time!  

After a hour with the Sphero's and all of the different apps, I asked them if they would like to be part of the new SPRK program from Sphero.  

They quickly said "YES" and we made plans to get started tomorrow in the new makerspace within our library. 

On the Sphero website you can find, Sphero For Education or SPRK (Schools, Parents, Robots, Kids) which will fill you in on how you can get your students involved too.

There are a few things you need to know as you start.  

On the Sphero for Education page, 

there are lots of wonderful resources and ideas on how to integrate Sphero into the curriculum, school, and even outside the classroom too. 

Over the next several weeks, I am going to work through each of the five SPRK lessons that are included as part of Sphero for Education.  

I downloaded all of them tonight as well as the Introduction to Learning with Sphero.

When I read this one through, I got even more excited to pilot the Sphero's in the library with the group of my fifth grade friends.

We are going to learn so much with the SPRK program lessons as the students work in small groups to write computer programs that control how the Sphero rolls and appears.

I am excited to join the community of teachers and parents that Sphero are encouraging to connect through "Community Forum's" and "Meetups".  

We will have fun posting photos and videos on the #SPRKscholarship Instagram from the Van Meter Library Voice Instagram too.  

Tomorrow we will get the two ones I just received out of the boxes and have a whole lot of fun.

We will post about each of the five lessons within the SPRK program.....so stay tuned.  And have fun learning along with us.

Creating Original Limericks With Local Iowa Poet Brent Aronsen, Buncee, HaikuDeck, and FlipGrid In The Library

Last Friday we had a special guest come to our library....a perfect one for poetry month.  

Author, Brent Aronsen, from Des Moines, came to Van Meter School to share his love for poetry as he read limmericks from his book All Mixed Up...A Collection of Limericks for Kids 

He shared with our kindergarteners first. We had so much fun reading all of the limericks from his book.

Next he shared with our fourth graders.

He told them what a limerick was and how to write their own.

They took out their iPads and took notes as he spoke.  Then they wrote their own by themselves or with a friend.  

Brent helped all of the fourth graders as they thought of words to have fun with in their limerick.

After they wrote a limerick, the fourth graders used Buncee online and the HaikuDeck app to share their limerick with all of us.

The fourth graders also added a few of their limericks to the Poetry Month FlipGrid.

I love how they shared their limericks using HaikuDeck as they recorded themselves showing their work.  

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app

The last class Brent worked with were our second graders.  Since they didn't have iPads to take notes quick, I wrote down a quick guide for them on a piece of paper.  I included one of Brent's limericks on the top as an example.  

This worked really well as they wrote their limerick too.

They included their limericks on this new FlipGrid just for Brent's work with all of their classmates.  I just loved listening to them over the weekend....what a wonderful job they did.  

Thank you Brent for coming to Van Meter to share your work and to help our young people write their own limericks too.  We look forward to when you come and visit us again. 

What I Heard As I Walked Into My Cousin's Kindergarten Room On Friday....."Mrs. Miller, listen to our guiding question!"

Our kindergarteners have a really big week ahead of them.  This is the week that they share their research projects and teach all of us about their Iowa animal they chose to learn about.  

On Monday, they will Skype with our dear friend Seymour Simon.  Each student will share their project with Seymour and the class.  To kick off this project, we connected with Seymour, so this will be the perfect way to really bring things together.  The time together will get them all ready for the "Iowa Animal Research Project Playground" on Tuesday in the library.  

During the "Project Playground" they will have a chance to share with all of the kindergarten parents and teachers as they go around the library to hear from each child. 

Last Friday, I popped my head into my cousin Christa McClintock's kindergarten classroom.  I love what I saw and heard.  They were all at the carpet with their little animal research packet in hand and bouncing all over the place with excitement because they were getting ready to share with each other. 

One thing they will share during the "Poetry Playground" is the driving question that they wrote.  So as I stood there in Christa's room I heard her say, 

Please find a group of three and practice talking about your driving question with one another.  

They were not only getting to share their wonderful Iowa animal packets that they brought back to school that day, they were also learning from each other as they shared what they were most passionate about their animals.  

The conversations and sharing was awesome!  I heard them say things like, 

"I love your driving question.  I bet you had fun making a project to show the answer to that."

"I thought after I wrote my driving question that I should have also included that."  

"I love how you researched why a raccoon dips his food in water. I can't wait to find out on Monday and Tuesday." 

By giving our youngest learners the opportunity to take research and learning into their own hands, we empowered them.

We gave them a voice and a wonderful thing to share with others.  We gave them ownership of their learning and something to be very proud of.

We gave them an opportunity to be successful and to be the teacher.

This project based learning experience has been a wonderful experience for all of us to be part of.

Now I just can't even wait for what the week has in store for the kindergarteners and all of us.