With Constitution Day approaching in the United States on September 17th, I thought I would share “Do I Have a Right?” from iCivics. It is free, and you can play it on your web browser or using the iPad app. The game helps you to learn the rights you are given by the constitution as you assign cases to lawyers based on their specialties. There is now a Powerpoint extension pack that teachers can use to reinforce what the students learn after they play the game. The game is really engaging (my daughter and I love to play it together), and only one of many fabulous resources brought to you by iCivics. If you haven’t used iCivics before, here is a little more information from a previous post.
A few years ago, I thought I would help out the parents of my gifted and talented students by writing about some games, toys, or books that I thought might make good purchases during the holiday season. I called the series of posts, “Gifts for the Gifted,” and I have continued to do it annually on every Friday in November and December. These gifts are suggestions for any child – not just those who qualify for a GT program. Sometimes I receive a free product for review, but I am not paid for these posts, and I never recommend a product that I wouldn’t buy for my own child. For past “Gifts for the Gifted” posts, you can visit this page.
Osmo first made the “Gifts for the Gifted” list in 2014. Since then, the company has continued to push the envelope as it produces more interactive, educational games for children that combine physical pieces with the digital interface of an iPad. Here is what I wrote about Osmo’s “Coding” game this summer:
It seems like just yesterday when our class was asked to beta test a new product from a company called Tangible Play. It was a tangram game that integrated physical pieces with an app on your iPad using a special base and mirror. Our students even got to teleconference with the developers to give feedback on their experience.
Since then, the un-named set we tested has become Osmo, and there have been many evolutions of the tangram game as well as new additions to the suite of games available. It has been gratifying to see a company that is so interested in education to grow and continue to contribute to educational technology in such a positive way.
The latest Osmo set is, “Coding.” My students have been trying it out this summer during our robot camp, and I have been watching their play with interest. The set includes magnetics blocks that look similar to the coding blocks you might see in Scratch or Blockly. You can move them around and snap them together. My students particularly like the “play” block with an arrow button to press whenever they are ready to start the program.
On the iPad screen, players have a friendly looking creature named Awbie, who they can direct to move toward different objects in the app while using the physical blocks on the table.
One thing I love about all of the Osmo apps is that they include practically no instructions. There are some on-screen gestures showing where to move blocks at the beginning, but that’s about it. The students figure out on their own where Awbie needs to go, and quickly deduce which blocks to use as the game slowly becomes more challenging.
Students from 6-11 have enjoyed the Coding game from Osmo and there is often a crowd gathered around it as the students encourage players to try certain blocks. It has been a great warm-up activity as kids arrive for our camp each day.
Like all Tangible Play apps for Osmo, Coding is free. However, you do need to purchase the physical pieces and the set that includes the base and mirror piece if you don’t already have it. Coding is another great resource to introduce programming to young students.
The Hopscotch app (iOS only) has long been a favorite for my student coders. They have lots of tutorials, and the students who participate in a couple of those often ask if they can code their own projects after learning the basics. If you have some iPads in your classroom, you may want to let some or all of your class try the “Carve a Pumpkin with Hopscotch” tutorial.
It’s best if you can allow pairs of students work at their own pace, rather than try to keep the whole class on the same steps at the same time. Keep in mind that the app has been updated a couple of times since this tutorial was made, so some of the tools may be slightly different.
As if American politics aren’t scary enough, the United States celebrates Halloween next Monday, which is all kind of wrong – because spending a day with students who can’t wait to trick-or-treat plus 4 more days after they fill up on sugary candy should not be required of any teacher if you are at all interested in helping him or her maintain a semblance of sanity.
The president I would vote for would resolve to make Halloween on a Saturday for the rest of eternity, but so far I haven’t seen that mentioned in anyone’s campaign.
For those of you who are in the same boat (or should I say, riding the same broom?), here are some resources I’ve collected in the past that might help to briefly engage your students in something other than daydreaming about all of the candy they will need to confess to eating at their next dental appointment:
We all have things that scare us, of course. In the book that my 5th grade gifted students are reading, The Giver, the main character is “apprehensive” about an upcoming event. To help the students connect to the text, I asked them to list some of the things that worry or scare them. Using our green screen and the Green Screen app by DoInk, I had the students superimpose themselves on the image of Edvard Munch’s, The Scream. The students then used the WordFoto app to add their specific fears to the picture. Here is one result. (You can click on it to see a larger view.)
When I looked closely at this student’s final product, I noticed the word, “division.” I was a little upset because I had told the students not to put silly things just to get a laugh. In my mind, division and multiplication would fall into that category, especially since this particular student has never had any problems achieving well in math.
“Why did you put this word when I told you not to put something silly?” I asked him as I pointed at his picture.
He looked at me solemnly. “I meant the division of people. You know, how war and other things divide us.”
It seems like just yesterday when our class was asked to beta test a new product from a company called Tangible Play. It was a tangram game that integrated physical pieces with an app on your iPad using a special base and mirror. Our students even got to teleconference with the developers to give feedback on their experience.
Since then, the un-named set we tested has become Osmo, and there have been many evolutions of the tangram game as well as new additions to the suite of games available. It has been gratifying to see a company that is so interested in education to grow and continue to contribute to educational technology in such a positive way.
The latest Osmo set is, “Coding.” My students have been trying it out this summer during our robot camp, and I have been watching their play with interest. The set includes magnetics blocks that look similar to the coding blocks you might see in Scratch or Blockly. You can move them around and snap them together. My students particularly like the “play” block with an arrow button to press whenever they are ready to start the program.
On the iPad screen, players have a friendly looking creature named Awbie, who they can direct to move toward different objects in the app while using the physical blocks on the table.
One thing I love about all of the Osmo apps is that they include practically no instructions. There are some on-screen gestures showing where to move blocks at the beginning, but that’s about it. The students figure out on their own where Awbie needs to go, and quickly deduce which blocks to use as the game slowly becomes more challenging.
Students from 6-11 have enjoyed the Coding game from Osmo and there is often a crowd gathered around it as the students encourage players to try certain blocks. It has been a great warm-up activity as kids arrive for our camp each day.
Like all Tangible Play apps for Osmo, Coding is free. However, you do need to purchase the physical pieces and the set that includes the base and mirror piece if you don’t already have it. Coding is another great resource to introduce programming to young students.
