First graders just completed a rotation in the Innovation Lab focusing on map skills along with fairy tales and fables. Within the unit students created their own maps using KidPix and explored their own community in Google Earth. Our last activity was probably the most fun. Students used Ozobots to navigate maps they created with paper and markers. We were able to integrate coding skills through the use of Ozocodes, or color sequences, students added to their maps. These codes made the Ozobots speed up and slow down, zigzag, turn around, etc.  Sometimes the codes worked perfectly and other times they did not, this proved to be a good lesson in troubleshooting and teamwork.  After a little practice students created their final maps and we watched the Ozobots navigate the lines and read the odes, all along telling the fable or fairy tale. 

As part of their colonization unit, fifth graders visited the innovation lab to experience the hardships of settling in a new land. In a Minecraft world, students were assigned teams and roles, provided with a limited set of tools and resources, and presented with similar survival challenges to the 1607 Jamestown settlers. Finding food, building shelters, and sharing tools and skills were all experienced by the students within the virtual world. Some groups struggled, others thrived, but all were highly engaged as the topic of colonization was brought to life!

Miss Bell's fourth grade class recently completed a research and digital content creation project in which they produced a green screen video asking the audience to guess their location based on the clues given and the backgrounds created. After some final editing, the video is ready for prime time. Enjoy!