Empowering Minds: Fostering Critical Thinking in K-5 Students by Kathy Lundstrom

Ozobot Site with resources

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-02 19:59:03 UTC

Sphero in Education

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-02 19:59:52 UTC

Pitsco Site with curriculum

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-02 20:00:41 UTC

Ozobot Cost

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-04 15:39:04 UTC

12 Bots for $2050

**We received 24 Ozobots through a grant from our ESU in 2023.

Sphero Cost

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-04 15:42:53 UTC

The Sphero Bolt is $179. We received four through our Cross County Booster Club Grant in 2023.

**We also just received funds through the Rural Technology Fund foundation https://ruraltechfund.org/ for five more!

Drone Cost

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-04 15:47:01 UTC

We received five Pitsco Drones through an ESU grant in 2022. The cost to purchase five drones would be $995.

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-04 16:52:03 UTC

1st & 2nd grade students have been working on story maps in library/media. When we combined with S.T.E.A.M. class, students created a map of their story and programmed the Ozobots to travel the map making various stops and changes along the way to go along with the story.

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-04 16:55:42 UTC

Third grade students were put into groups of three and told that they were going to be snowed in. Their challenge was to create a snowplow with specific materials in a class period. While creating their snowplow, they needed to use the Cross County thinking process to solve their problem. The activity was a three day activity that included time to test, improve, and share which provided to be quite necessary!

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-04 21:06:47 UTC

Print for snowplow activity

Teacher Slideshow in Canva for Snow Plow Activity

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-04 21:11:48 UTC

Student Project Planner for Snow Plow Critical Thinking Activity

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-04 21:14:32 UTC

Graphic Organizer

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 16:28:08 UTC

Fifth grade students create a short research paper about the drone profession they choose before flying the drones. During the research process students are learning about how drones might effect our society in both positive and negative ways.

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 16:32:19 UTC

Instructions for flying Pitsco Drones.

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 16:33:25 UTC

Independent Drone Station

UBTECH Education

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 16:38:54 UTC

Cost

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 16:46:53 UTC

We received 2 Beginner, 2 Intermediate and 2 Advanced kits through an ESU grant in 2023.

Robot Research Project

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 17:19:40 UTC

Fourth grade students pick a robot to research from the Robots Guide page before they begin to build!

Smart Buddies are no longer available to purchase :(

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 17:34:42 UTC

Sad review :(

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 17:38:33 UTC

We received 8 Smart Buddies through an ESU grant in 2022. We struggled with connection issues. We are currently down to four that are working. They were more stressful than useful for our students. The idea of using coding to get them to go where we wanted was ideal for problem solving and critical thinking, but we could not rely on them and they caused more frustration than learning opportunities, unfortunately.

They are no longer available to purchase. That makes us think we were not the only ones struggling with them.

Jimu Robot Resources

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 18:20:46 UTC

Cost

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 18:22:48 UTC

We purchased six Jimu Robots in 2021 with Library funds. They ranged from $59-150 per robot.

Lesson with Critical Thinking

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 18:47:00 UTC

Fourth grade students get to build their Jimu robot after their research project is completed. These kits come with an app that includes detailed instructions on how to build the robot. Teamwork, communication, problem solving, building and rebuilding are just a few of the skills required while constructing the robots.

After robots are completed. We have group of student who are in charge of creating an obstacle course for the robots to complete based on their abilities. Students who are not as engaged in the building process tend to love the role of creating the course.

We also had a "Show and Share" where students rotated around the room to learn about all of the robots and what they could do. Students discussed their challenges and triumphs along the journey of building.

4th Grade Students at Work Collaborating and Building.

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-07 18:50:02 UTC

4th Grade Shares Their Complete UBTech Beginner Robot

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-10 15:41:04 UTC

3rd Grade Snowplow Sphero Challenge

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-10 15:48:23 UTC

Cross County Thinking Process

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-10 21:58:01 UTC

School Improvement Goal: By spring 2025, all students will improve reasoning/critical thinking skills as measured by MAP data, NSCAS Growth and a district-wide Proficiency Scale.

Critical Thinking Proficiency Scale

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-10 22:01:27 UTC

Created by Cross County School Improvement Team

1st & 2nd Grade Ozobot Storymap

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-10 22:04:56 UTC

Kathy Lundstrom

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-10 22:14:39 UTC

K-12 Media/Technology Integration

K-5 Library/Computers

9-12 Computer Science

klundstrom@crosscounty.esu7.org

@kklundstrom

Jennifer Lange

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-10 22:16:28 UTC

HS Math

K-5 S.T.E.A.M.

jlange@crosscounty.esu7.org

@Mrs_JLangeCCCS

Project Video

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-11 14:58:20 UTC

This video showcases students actively engaging in the critical thinking process and utilizing technology for projects in both library and S.T.E.A.M.

Ozobot Race Track Template

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-13 17:55:43 UTC

Rural Technology Funds

klundstrom2 — 2024-03-14 19:05:47 UTC

We received funds for five more Spheros through the Rural Technology Fund Grant.