How we use robots and art to make meeting computer science standards fun

Key points:

After the state of New Jersey revised its computer science standards in 2020, I was part of a professional learning community tasked with helping educators across all subject areas understand the computer science standards and incorporate them into their classrooms.

Our group came from all over the state, representing different grades and subjects, and our mission was to create an online guide to help teachers break down each standard, then provide a video tutorial or example of a lesson to address the standard, which we wrote as a team. The project, a collaboration between the state of New Jersey and Montclair State University to create a multi-year Computer Science Education Center, provided me with funding to purchase BELLY robots, which have become the focus of my school's STEAM program.

Igniting wonder in young learners through STEAM

This grant was about more than just buying cool new gadgets, it focused on making computer science standards accessible to educators beyond traditional science and engineering departments. In doing so, we have been able to teach programming not in isolation, but as an integral part of our broader curriculum. This approach has allowed us to create interdisciplinary lessons that spark curiosity, imagination, and engagement.

With KIBO, a hands-on coding robot designed specifically for young learners, we have a way to introduce robotics and programming to elementary school students without the need for screens. We can combine programming with art and show students the parallels between programming and storytelling. A great example of this interdisciplinary approach was the lesson plan I wrote for our second graders.

The synergy of science and storytelling

Bible amazon.com/Balloons-over-Broadway-Puppeteer-Education/dp/0547199457″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Balloons over Broadway tells the true story of the master puppeteer who invented the first balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Using the book as inspiration, I created a prompt to guide students in transforming their KIBO robots into floats and recreating the parade by coding them to navigate the route down “Broadway.” During library media classes, students coded the parade presentation using the wooden programming building blocks, and computer science assisted with green screen filming and editing to recreate the New York City backdrop depicted in the book. Our art teacher introduced students to Jeff Koons, instructing them to draw artistic inspiration from the artist's iconic balloon dog.

For the final product, we produced a video that showed student-programmed KIBO robots traveling a parade route through a virtual New York City. The lesson fused creative storytelling and art with technology, robotics, and engineering. Watching my students’ faces light up as they saw their creations come to life was a powerful reminder of the impact of hands-on, integrated STEAM projects like this one.

Children's songs with a technological touch

The success of my Balloons over Broadway This lesson inspired me to take a similar approach for our first graders, using nursery rhymes as a jumping-off point. This particular lesson plan was designed around a storytelling literacy standard that uses the “first, next, then, last” structure, which is similar to the patterns students use in programming. By integrating this storytelling format into the lesson, I was able to create a natural connection to the coding component. Students were able to collaboratively build coding sequences that reflected the familiar structure of the story, leading to a better understanding of the technology while also problem-solving by exploring what KIBO programming blocks they felt were necessary to tell the nursery rhyme story to the audience.

I introduced the class to several classic children's songs to retell, including The tiny spider, Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peepand Hello diddle diddleAfter creating their coding sequences, students used KIBO’s wooden programming blocks to guide their robots in telling the stories. They brainstormed and collaborated to determine which sounds and actions best matched the action of the nursery rhymes, and then programmed their robots accordingly. The project ended with groups presenting four different characters they had designed on a tissue box and placed on KIBO’s art platform, so that each student in each group could have their own character.

It was extraordinary to witness their creative problem-solving abilities. I had never seen them so calm and supportive of each other. Everyone applauded!

To prepare for the new school year, I have received some extensions for KIBO, including the Marker extension set and the Free throw extension gameMy plan for the upcoming fall class is to ask students to design their own lesson plans using these new tools. I can't wait to see what students come up with – the way our first graders worked through their projects during the nursery rhyme retelling lesson gives me confidence that students are ready to build on their previous work and take it to the next level.

These lessons provide my students with learning scenarios that prepare them for the interconnected challenges of the real world, especially when it comes to technology and creative problem-solving. By creating lesson plans that not only meet current computer science standards but also anticipate future challenges, I am equipping my young students with the diverse set of skills they need to thrive in our ever-evolving world.