Expert Viewpoint
Robotics Connects Young Learners to Core Curriculum and Each Other
Collaborative lessons help teachers accelerate learning for all students in math, literacy, and SEL.
Teachers
this year are
welcoming students with a wider than usual range of academic
progress, even in the earliest grades. While some K–3 students are
weeks or months behind grade-level expectations due to lost
schooling, others are ahead because they thrived during remote
learning. In this unique year, districts need resources to reach all
students where they are. At the same time, teachers
looking to work as efficiently as possible need tools and techniques
that connect to multiple core subjects and build community among kids
who have returned to in-person learning (or are experiencing it for
the first time).
Engaging
robotics activities that reinforce core subjects like math and
literacy by using collaborative learning strategies can help teachers
reach all of their students—but first teachers must be comfortable
with the robots and coding concepts themselves. Early childhood
teachers seldom have experience with computer science, and many
districts don’t have instructional technology specialists, so robots
based on longstanding best practices in early childhood education are
a smart place to start. And because today’s teachers are more
time-starved than ever, in-depth, in-person PD that doesn’t take up
a great deal of teachers’ time is essential to lay the groundwork
for lessons that accelerate learning not only in computer science,
but in math, literacy, and SEL as well. Here are some examples of how
early education teachers can use robotics to make the most of their
instructional time.
Introducing
Students to School and Each Other
My
suggested activities below are all based on the KIBO
robot,
but other robots can work similarly. For example, students can
program their robot to greet every student in the class by flashing a
light when kids clap the syllables of each student’s name. This
activity builds not only community, but literacy, rhythm and music
skills as well. Encouraging the students to recognize and greet each
other by name helps build a community through social-emotional skills
practice.
Students
can also use robots with sound recorders to capture and share short
audio clips, such as a message to new students sharing their favorite
things about the school. They can then program the robot to maneuver
to another area of the class and deliver their message to a student
or teacher.
Inspiring
Collaboration
Some
of this year’s kindergarteners or even first graders may have never
experienced in-person school before. Once they’ve been introduced
to their classrooms, they need to learn basic collaboration skills
such as how to work in small groups and share materials. One
effective way to do this is to form small groups that include one
robot for every two or three students. Kids are naturally excited to
get their hands on robots, so small-group work teaches them the
patience and self-control that go into sharing.
From
there, teachers can assign specific roles to members of the group.
For example:
-
The
Robot Wrangler is responsible for building the robot. -
The
Programmer is responsible for creating the program that guides what
the robot does. -
The
Checker verifies that the robot has been built and …….