2019 ITEM Fall Conference

Literacy and Coding came together beautifully for our LSTA Grant project in our Saint Paul Public elementary library programs during the 2018-19 school year. We created coding lessons that correlated with existing literacy lessons. Fourth graders created video games about countries using Bloxels and first graders retold stories with BlueBots. Come to our session to learn about each grade level's coding/literacy project.

STEM, MakerSpace, robotics - the words conjure pictures of fun, activity, and excitement. And all of that can be found but sometimes the challenge is to link the activity to learning and critical thinking. Students love to play with robots such as Dash and Dot, Ozobots, and Spheros but moving the activity from play to learning is where the magic happens. There are resources and curriculum to support learning and we will explores ways to integrate the skills needed for the robots to reinforce the concepts students are developing in the classroom. A list of resources is included and attendees are encouraged to share their own ideas and resources.