Second Grade PLTW

 Second graders have been working on learning how computers work. They played a game called "Rosie's Runtime" where they had to get Rosie the Robotic Dog back home by giving her exact directions in the form of command cards. Just like a computer, Rosie has to be told exactly what to do through "code", or a computer program. These are directions people give, and computers will doing nothing more and nothing less than what their program says. Students would hand their cards to "Rosie", (usually played by their classroom teacher), trying to get her home with her dog bones. If Rosie did not make it home successfully, they had a "bug" in the program and needed to go back and fix it.

 Students collaborate with each other to write the best program for Rosie to follow. She has to pick up both of her dog bones and get back home without stepping in any mud puddles!

 After 2nd graders learned that you have to give computers commands in order for them to do what you want them to, they learned how to use the app, Scratch Jr. In this app, they created a "scorekeeper". They created characters and wrote code for these characters so that they could use their project to keep score as they played a math game with a partner.

Students use the scorekeeper program they created in Scratch, Jr. so they could give themselves a point whenever they won a round of the math game. The scorekeeper included two soccer goals and a soccer ball. The winner of the math game is whichever student had the soccer ball reach their goal first!

First Grade PLTW

 First grade students in PLTW have been working on creating their own stories. They choose the characters, setting, problem, and solution. Next, they illustrate the story in their science notebooks (PLTW "Launch Logs").

 Here, a student is working very diligently on his story's illustrations.

 When students have finished sketching four scenes of their story, they get an iPad and get on an app called Scratch, Jr. In this app, they can create the backgrounds and characters in their story, and they can also write simple computer programs to make their characters move, speak, hide and come back, and many other commands. First graders make their stories come to life using computer science! It is wonderful watching students' creativity take shape while using the tools of the 21st Century!

This student is choosing blocks, or "code", to give his character directions to move.

AAPS District STEAM Expo

Ann Arbor Public Schools held the first annual District STEAM Expo Thursday, March 3, at Huron High School. Pattengill 4th grade students showcased their Engineering skills, as well as their public speaking skills! They explained to visitors how they used the Engineering Design Process in the construction of their bike pulleys and how their creations helped them solve the problem presented to them in the unit. This is only the beginning of  amazing STEAM creations coming from our students in the Bryant/Pattengill CommUNITY!

In Janice Hendrick's Pattengill Art class, 4th graders answered the question, "What would you do if you had endless energy?"  and drew amazing pictures to illustrate their creative and heartwarming responses! We merged the key concept of our Science Unit, Energy, with Art, to give students another way of expressing their ideas about this concept.