Legos: Making the Creative & Collaborative Connection

1. Legos: Making the Creative & Collaborative Connection Bobbi Luster Davidson Day School February 18, 2014

2. Agenda • “Hook” Activity – Lego Libs • Goals • Jr. FLL • Examples for centers, incorporation into lessons, or supporting activities in Lib/Tech • Lego Story Starter/Visualizer

3. Goals Think about technology more broadly 2. Create & collaborate 3. Library/Technology team for support

4. What is Technology? Any invention, including tools, machines, materials, techniques, and sources of power, that make people’s work easier. Source: Discovery Education

5. Are these examples of technology? • Car • Computer • Smartphone • Wheelchair • Sewing Machine • Shoes - ?? • Pens - ?? • Legos - ??

6. Goals Think about technology more broadly 2. Create & collaborate 3. Library/Technology team for support

7. Davidson Day School Mission Davidson Day School is a diverse independent school that cultivates academic excellence through collaboration, creativity, and character development.

8. Goals Think about technology more broadly 2. Create & collaborate 3. Library/Technology team for support

9. Library/Tinker Lab Mission • Davidson Day School’s Library/Tinker Lab supports all aspects of our Lower School curriculum in which we enable students to: • use a variety of technology and understand how it works; • innovate or create technology through research and hands-on activities; • and, realize that technology helps to improve livesor make work easier.

10. Why Legos? • Every students already knows how to use Legos and is familiar with them. • Can support a variety of learners, particularly those that may excel with hands-on activities. • Not dependent on the student or teacher to learn how to use a piece of hardware or software (with exception of some Lego software). • Not a budget-buster.

11. Jr. First Lego League • Inspiration for this presentation • Inquiry-based lesson that Lib/Tech currently supports • Third grade: • Incorporates/builds on research skills introduced in lib/tech earlier in the year and builds on simple machines lessons introduced in science. • Creativity • Collaboration • Character Development • Could this be rolled out in truncated or expanded versions for other grades? ABSOLUTELY!

12. Ideas Abound… • Diorama construction • Examples: • 1st grade – animal projects • 2nd grade – weather • 3rd grade – animal projects or incorporate into game building/Jumanji • 4th grade – U.S. region landscapes

13. Ideas Abound… • Word Families / Spelling / Capital & Lower Case/ Lego Libs • Builds on language arts work underway in current classrooms • Lib/Tech currently supports this through the use of word ladders and tablet applications (i.e. K and 1st)

14. Ideas Abound Lego Libs 1. 2.* * Note the inclusion of parts of speech, proofreader marks & punctuation.

15. Ideas Abound… • Music – Blocks could be used to “build” songs.

16. Ideas Abound… 1x1 bricks could represent quarter notes or quarter rests. 2 – 1x1 or 1 – 1x2 could be a half note, etc. Source: Ashley Queen http://elementarymusicresources.blogspot.com/p/my-smartboard-files.html

17. Ideas Abound • Science/PE Relay: Lego Balloon Car • Harder than it looks!!! Includes LOTS of opportunity for problem-solving! • Simple machines • Stability – horizontal & vertical • Measuring

18. Lego Story Starter • Lego Story Starters / Story Visualizer • hands-on brick building, story writing, photography and story or comic strip creation • Could it be created without the software? YES!

19. Lego Story Starter Source: Lego Education

20. Lego Story Starter Source: Lego Education

21. Lego Story Starter

22. Lego Story Starter

23. bluster@davidsonday.org