In yesterday’s post about the iPad app, Daisy the Dinosaur, I referenced some ways to introduce kids to computer programming. For those of you who want to pursue this further, I thought you might like this post by Marshall Brain, “Teaching Your Kids How to Write Computer Programs”. This is a fairly detailed summary of … Read more
Daisy the Dinosaur is an iPad app that teaches basic programming to young children. It has a Challenge Mode, in which the user is given 5 challenges that increase in difficulty, beginning with programming the dinosaur to walk forward. In Freeplay Mode, the user can experiment with several different commands, including making Daisy grow or … Read more
With the recent touchdown of the Mars rover, Curiosity, the beginning of the school year would be a great time to ignite your students’ curiosity about space exploration. On the Follow Your Curiosity site, NASA has provided 5 lesson plans with student and teacher guides for grades 6-8. I think that you could modify them … Read more
Mark your calendar for September 15th, which is International Dot Day! Sponsored by FableVision Learning in coordination with Peter Reynolds, author of The Dot, this is a day on which educators pledge to encourage their students’ creativity. You can sign up formally to participate in International Dot Day, or you can choose your own way … Read more
Curiosity.com is a website from the Discovery Channel. It is visually appealing, and has many topics that you might be, well, curious about. For example, you can see the 30 strangest landmarks in America or view an image gallery of geniuses. Curiosity.com is not “vetted” for educational purposes, but there is a link to Curiosity in the … Read more
I have not used Choruzz in my classroom yet, but I can see the possibilities. This site allows you to create your own playlist of songs. There is no sign-in or registration required. Once you create a list, and “publish” it, you are given an embed code and a unique URL, so that anyone you … Read more