Intermediate SAGE
Grade 3
Units of Study
The month of January is here, and with it, we are beginning a new semester of learning. Our third grade students have been very busy in their Units of Study this past quarter! Read on to learn more about each unit and the progress we have made since last quarter!
Broadcasting
Young Architect Studio
Kids in the Kitchen - the Chemistry of Food
3-D Printing
Power It Up!
We continued our work this quarter with littleBits modules. The students have
used their creativity to create a prototype utilizing LEGOs and littleBits modules
and used an iPad to add to their digital portfolio.
Although the students can work on littleBits projects individually, most projects this past quarter have involved small groups. Collaboration is perhaps the most important 21st century skill, and one that is consistently mentioned as desirable for the workplace. While most of our projects 1st quarter involved lights, sounds, and switches, most of the projects this quarter expanded the range of capability by including motion and /or environmental sensors.
Aviation
How to Train Your Robot
This quarter the students were able to use creative thinking and problem solving. The students had their first design challenge which they had to identify a problem that the robot could solve or an action it could take. They then had to describe the problem or actions the robot needed to make and then write the program. Each student was able to test their program. If the program failed, the student evaluated the failure and took time to try to improve their design. The students were also Introduced to inputs (sensors). Students learned how to make the robot respond to outside stimulus (claps). In this activity they were able to program the robot to flash one of its LED lights, drive, and dance in response to clapping.
Spanish
Second quarter showed a great deal of growth in 3rd graders’ abilities to recognize the Spanish alphabet and to use the correct pronunciation of words. They also learned beginning greetings, colors, numbers, calendar, and weather phrases. These foundational skills will help us as we move into third quarter. We’ll begin working on names of classroom objects and using prepositions to locate these objects. (The pencil is under the chair.) Recognizing and responding to words and phrases are significant first steps in learning a foreign language.