Summer school is a great opportunity to try out some unconventional projects - the kids need extra motivation to continue to show up and work when it should be summer vacation. One of the most popular items in our Makerspace are the Sphero SPRK+ Robots. These small, easy-to-use robots are constantly skittering around underfoot in the library during the school year. They are sealed, so they are waterproof, too! I'd heard about using the Spheros to paint on Pinterest a few months ago, and I just KNEW we had to try it! However, the idea of having a classroom full of middle schoolers driving paint-covered robots around my carpeted library made me twitchy. I knew it would have to be a small group setting when other students would not be walking into the library... summer school seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out this fun way to create some abstract artwork! We used 9'x12' plastic painting tarps on the floor, the SPRK+ Sphero robots, the SpheroEdu app, washable tempera paints, 8.5"x11" cardstock, and one iPad per Sphero: I was really impressed with their completed work! We discovered a few tips: 1. LESS IS MORE. Paint, that is... use less paint than you think you need. It spreads! 2. SLOW DOWN. Turn the drive speed down on the Spheros - otherwise you'll end up driving paint-covered robots on the carpet. Not that we did that or anything... 3. MODEL. I know that shouldn't need to be said, but model the expected behaviors first so the kids understand what they are to do (and NOT to do). I modeled everything and the kids were very careful and responsible with the robots and the paint. What could have been a huge mess was a really fun art project! If I were to do this during a regular school year, I would add a coding component too - the students did some limited coding with this project, but mostly drove the robots over their paper. I would use larger sheets of paper and require the kids code their robot to drive a pattern or path! My summer school sessions were time-limited, so for this project they were driving the robots manually. Check out some pictures of the students' work below, and don't forget to comment on how you might use Spheros to make art!
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Teaching summer school can be a challenge - many kids are loathe to give up their summer fun to come in to school and work. I knew in order to keep the kids engaged that we were going to have to do some really fun activities... enter Makey Makey! Makey Makey kits are super popular in our Makerspace! If you have never heard of these, check out this video... you'll fall in love, just like we have! PRO TIP: Makey Makey kits are available through the Scholastic Resource catalog if you have book fair money to spend! The students were challenged to design and build a video game controller. We followed the engineering and design process, outlined below: I started by giving them a brief tutorial on how the Makey Makey kits work, and we reviewed the basics of electrical circuits in the process. I supplied them with the kits and other materials to use to make the "buttons" on their controllers: water, playdough, aluminum foil, water (in petri dishes), and of course they had each other to use as well. You can also use fruit - pretty much anything that conducts a mild current! The kids used the Makey Makey App website as well as some flash-based old school video games (Super Mario, Super Mario 3, Tetris, etc.) More advanced coders can use Scratch to create their own games to work with the kits, too! Here are some of their creations... I'm so proud of them! Do you think you could use Makey Makey kits in your classroom? Comment below with how - I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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About the AuthorHi! Welcome to my blog! My name is Christine Hurley. This is my 17th year of teaching - I've taught Kindergarten, 4th grade, elementary media, and now I am in my 6th year of teaching middle school media! Archives
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