{"id":4886,"date":"2016-03-06T21:23:54","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T01:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=4886"},"modified":"2016-03-07T19:13:28","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T23:13:28","slug":"popular-building-bricks-serve-as-learning-tools-at-two-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/popular-building-bricks-serve-as-learning-tools-at-two-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular building bricks serve as learning tools at two schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Max and Mia have a problem.<\/p>\n

Actually, they have three problems, and they all involve baking, buying and selling cupcakes.<\/p>\n

Second-graders at Christopher Farms Elementary (CFES) are clamoring for Max and Mia\u2019s cupcakes \u2014 but not because they are a favorite dessert.<\/p>\n

\"CFES<\/p>\n

Rather, the tasty treats are LEGO\u00ae<\/sup> bricks serving as the basis for math problems students are solving together. Last month, the interlocking blocks represented individual flowers that second-graders turned into bouquets through the magic of addition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely engages them,\u201d said Mary Clifford, math specialist at CFES. \u201cThey get really excited about it just because it\u2019s a different way of learning math. It kind of tricks them into learning math because they don\u2019t realize what they are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CFES<\/p>\n

Also engaged with LEGO products are second-graders and third-graders in Newtown Elementary School\u2019s afterschool robotics club. They are using LEGO WeDo robotic kits to construct various figures and using related software to program them to move.<\/p>\n

Marion built and programmed a roaring lion to stand tall with pride on its front legs.<\/p>\n

\"Newtown<\/p>\n

Jordan\u2019s goal kicker spun one leg faster as he changed the coding to adjust the speed.<\/p>\n

\"Newtown<\/p>\n

Amaya\u2019s sailboat rocked back and forth in rough seas. And Rude\u2019s flying bird, which he named Scruffy, flapped its wings and chirped with sounds he programmed. He also coded Scruffy to \u201cribbit\u201d like a frog \u2013 just because.<\/p>\n

\"Newtown<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it would be the most fun if I built this guy,\u201d said Rude while holding Scruffy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked building it because I love LEGOs and I love technology,\u201d added Rude. \u201cIt is also helping me learn how to build something else at home that looks like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applying what they learn in school outside the classroom is an added benefit, and familiarity with the building bricks helps educators find common ground with students on which to build skills and promote learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are using things they are familiar with in a totally different way, so that\u2019s the good thing about it,\u201d says Edith Kernodle, CFES second-grade teacher. \u201cIt\u2019s not some new thing they\u2019re not going to see in their everyday life. They know what to do, but their thinking is totally different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CFES<\/p>\n

Sharing their thinking with one another is what Clifford asked Kernodle\u2019s students to do after constructing and solving the following problem: We bake 25 cupcakes for the school sale. We sell 12 cupcakes in the first hour. In the second hour we sell only 4 cupcakes. How many cupcakes do we have now?<\/em><\/p>\n

Using a document camera to display its written work to the class, one team described its problem solving.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw \u2018sell\u2019 so we had to SELL<\/em> them,\u201d emphasized the second-grader in his explanation. \u201cIn the second part, he sold four more cupcakes. Then how many cupcakes were left? There were nine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like they way you guys said the word \u2018sell,\u2019\u201d praised Clifford. \u201cThe word sell let\u2019s you know that you subtract.\u201d She noted later that second-graders are just beginning to learn about word problems and their ability to recognize vocabulary words that connote a mathematical equation is key.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this age, they really need to use manipulatives to solve problems, especially for computation, which is really heavy in second grade,\u201d added Kernodle. \u201cThe LEGOs help with that, and it really forces them to talk to one another. That accountable talk is really important because it helps them show and explain themselves by justifying their answers and how they solved the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clifford has seen the LEGO-driven problem solving make a difference in first grade as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was interesting because the teacher said that the kids who don\u2019t normally perform higher were able to problem solve better with LEGOs than the kids who normally excel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Problem solving is evident at Newtown as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, you have to see this,\u201d said Rude to his shoulder partner.<\/p>\n

\"Newtown<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, look! It spins!\u201d exclaimed another student when he correctly programs the coding.<\/p>\n

“I can\u2019t make it stop,\u201d announced a third student seeking help.<\/p>\n

Kevin Rickard, instructional technology specialist at Newton, plans to extend their learning by incorporating language arts and more software. The LEGO WeDo STEM level kits include opportunities for students to build a robotic forklift, crane, drawbridge, two carnival rides and drag racers.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext, they will collaborate to write a story with all their robots,\u201d said Rickard. \u201cMaybe they\u2019re on their way to the carnival and they have to go over the drawbridge, but they have to wait because there is a ship going underneath the bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their stories will become scripts for movies they produce with programs that allow students to build background scenes on computers.<\/p>\n

Marzir, who built the airplane rescue figure and programmed the propeller to spin, is already thinking of his story.<\/p>\n

\"Newtown<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s flying to Africa,\u201d he said when asked. It might visit Marion\u2019s standing lion or Rude\u2019s chirping bird when it lands.<\/p>\n

There is equal enthusiasm for learning with LEGOs in Kernodle\u2019s second-grade class. Especially when they take it to the next level and generate their own word problems to ask classmates to solve and explain.<\/p>\n

We have 17 cupcakes. We bought four, and next they tried to make 12. How many do we have in all?<\/em><\/p>\n

Me and Keagan have 14 cupcakes, then we sell 9 cupcakes to an old woman. How many are left?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"CFES<\/p>\n

They will solve each other\u2019s word problems after lunch \u2013 baking, buying, selling and eating LEGO cupcakes on their own terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like using LEGOs because they are easy to count, and we can move them around if we need to if we\u2019ve made a mistake,\u201d said Logan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helping me learn math, and we get to imagine that they\u2019re cupcakes,\u201d said second-grader McKenna. \u201cIt\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CFES<\/p>\n

\u201cI like this because it\u2019s not fun when you just do regular subtracting,\u201d said Tanner. \u201cIn here, only our brains can help us. Instead of writing stuff down, we build and I like that better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clifford and Rickard were each awarded Virginia Beach Education Foundation (VBEF) grants to purchase LEGO Education kits for use in their schools. Mass Mutual funded Clifford\u2019s grant at CFES, and Lifetouch underwrote Rickard\u2019s grant at Newtown Elementary School. For more information about how you can support creative and innovative learning projects in Virginia Beach City Public Schools, contact VBEF coordinator Debbie Griffey at Debbie.griffey@vbschools.com or 757-263-1337.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Max and Mia have a problem. Actually, they have three problems, and they all involve baking, buying and selling cupcakes. Second-graders at Christopher Farms Elementary (CFES) are clamoring for Max […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[118,56],"class_list":["post-4886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christopher-farms-elementary","tag-newtown-elementary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4886"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4899,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4886\/revisions\/4899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}