Spheros and Free Verse Poetry Rules the Roost Today

We had such a fun morning exploring our new robot friends that I decided to order another Ollie for the class. Watching the engagement, curiosity, and excitement in the agent's faces drove me to Amazon as soon as I got a chance. I also ordered some varying tire accessories so we can make decisions about what tires work best where! Students had a chance to work in small teams experimenting with our robots. Thanks to those students who brought in their app ready devices. If you agent wants the apps here they are again for the Ollie, the BB-8, and the Sphero:


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sphero/id1032845453?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sphero-sprk/id1017847674?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ollie-app/id908850579?mt=8

Students amazed me this morning, figuring out how to get the robots to move. They even formed a human circle for the robots and had them race around! I cannot wait to see where this adventure takes us. 

If you would like to learn more about these amazing STEAM toys visit: http://www.sphero.com/! 

Another great adventure we had today was in writing. I taught students how to write a free verse poem about something a magician would have in his hat using word referents. We started with a small paragraph. Then we highlighted the word referents in yellow, stron verbs in green, adjectives in purple, and the sound in red. 

What’s In The Hat?

There he stood with his hat in his hand. The magician extraordinaire reached in and pulled out a short, snouted beast. This curly tailed critter was all pink and prickly. This mud covered creature was not a dove or a rabbit! Mud splattered the magic man as the rotund animal shook. An OINK escaped its snout. Imagine there was a pig in a hat!

Then I crossed out some little words and copied the sentences into phraes or fragments, making a poem! I cannot wait to see what students create tomorrow!

There he stood with his hat in his hand.

magician extraordinaire reached in and pulled out

a short, snouted beast.

This curly tailed critter

all pink and prickly.

This mud covered creature was not

dove nor a rabbit!

Mud splattered the magic man

as the rotund animal shook.

An OINK escaped its snout.

 Imagine

a pig in a hat!