Lessons – Teaching with Technology

Fun, Ideas, Lessons, Math, Roanoke County Schools

Breakout EDU

Posted on October 16, 2016July 5, 2017 by Tina Coffey

This summer while attending ISTE, I learned about a cool new game for the classroom called Breakout EDU. Here’s a short video about it.

Since receiving my kit, I’ve played it four times–twice with my college students and twice with fifth graders. All ages loved it. For the fifth grade game, I used an adaptation of two of the games on the site (http://www.breakoutedu.com/). The game centered around missing iPads, and students had to use their knowledge of place value to decode the clues to find them.

There are many games already pre-made to use with the kits (for free) and I enjoy making them up too. I’m looking forward to playing with some first graders on Halloween!

Lessons, Makerspace, Robots, Teachers Pay Teachers

Robotic Fraction, Decimals, and Percentages

Posted on April 3, 2016July 5, 2017 by Tina Coffey

I just posted a lesson I’ve used with various 5th grade classes as they were studying fractions and decimals. We used the Lego EV3 robots, and were able to complete the activity in an hour.

Here’s how the activity works. Using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 robot and a touch sensor, each group of students inputs a fraction. Then they convert the fraction into a decimal and a percentage using hand calculations, and double check their work using the EV3 robot. They observe the robot moving forward and record the distance it moves. Students learn that the distance moved is a fraction of the full distance, based on the fraction that they input. For instance, if they input ½, the robot moves half of the original distance. Using this information, students work backwards to compute the full distance. Groups then are challenged to move the robot as close as possible to a target distance by inputting a fraction into the EV3 bot. Four different challenges of increasing difficulty are available in this lesson. Most students complete 2 within an hour, but the extra are included for students who master the concepts quickly.

The kids had a blast with this lesson and were fully engaged. I love how it really makes them think about fractions in a real sense, and that they have to draw on their understanding to figure out the challenges.

If you have access to EV3 robots and want to try the lesson, you can get it here:

21st Century Learning, Lessons, Roanoke County Schools, Tech Tools

Hour of Code 2015

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Tina Coffey

Any teacher can do this…no need to know code! Just visit https://hourofcode.com/us to get started.

21st Century Learning, iPad, Lessons, Projects, Roanoke County Schools, STEM

The Vowel Zoo!

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Tina Coffey

Students in Mrs. White’s Kindergarten classes researched and made animals that started with the short vowel sound. They worked in small groups to build their creations, and then animated them with an app called ChatterPix Kids. Take a look at their zoo below!

The projects are also posted on the Oak Grove Digital Archive, including Vowel Zoos from Mrs. Blankenship’s Class and Mrs. Fox’s Class.

21st Century Learning, Blogs and Blogging, digital storytelling, English, iPad, Lessons, Math, Projects, Roanoke County Schools, Science, STEM, Video, Writing

Lego iMovie Trailers

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Tina Coffey

Students in Mrs. Sharp’s and Mrs. Downey’s Math and Writing classes used Legos to practice skills! First, they created lego houses based on a STEM activity created by Mrs. Downey. They found the area and perimeter of each of the rooms in their houses, and made sure to include at least one simple machine and working light.

Lego Houses: