Mrs. Velde’s technology class and the Roughneck Tech Club learned how to code hide and seek games this week using Scratch.  Students customized characters and backgrounds to make their games original and reflect their creativity.  In order for the game to be challenging,  students learned to make characters disappear and reappear at random intervals.  Tech club members also coded characters to reappear at random positions on their background image. Of course, it would not be a game if there was no score; therefore, students learned how to code their games to keep score and reset to zero when the game started over. Check out the code sequence below.

Ready to check out some of the games?  Play Underwater Hide and Seek. Hint: You may have to allow Flash

Click on the diver when he appears on the screen to earn points. Click on the flag to start the game.

Play Hide and Seek Reindeer! Click on the reindeer when he appears on the screen to earn points. Click on the flag to start the game.

Start making your own game at Scratch.mit.edu!

We held our first Teacher Lunch and Learn of the year today. Check out all the information by clicking on the flyer below and scrolling down.

The Lexus Eco Challenge is an exciting national STEM competition for grades 6–12 that awards a total of $500,000 in grants and scholarships to eligible teachers, students, and schools each year.  Featuring three separate challenges, the Lexus Eco Challenge gets students involved in project-based learning, teamwork, and skill building as they work to develop a solution to an environmental issue that affects their community.

Challenge 1: Land & Water Topics

• Landfills, Waste Management, and Recycling
• Forest Destruction/Deforestation and Desertification
• Endangered Species and Loss of Biodiversity
• Water Conservation and Fresh Water Shortages
• Shrinking Wetlands and Aquatic Habitats
• Threats to the World’s Waterways and Oceans, e.g., (Poorly Managed Fishing, Pollution, Coastal Tourism and Development, and Shipping)

The Roughneck Tech Club is busy designing solutions to solve an environmental problem related to land and/or water. Final submissions are due on October 15, 2018, and we cannot wait to see all the creative eco-campaigns our students’ design.

Stay tuned…

The Roughneck Book Club held its first meeting of the 2018-2019 school year today! Students began working on a new project in which they will create a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ book using Google forms. One of the most important elements of any story is the main character.  Using a cool website named Adroidify, students spent time developing memorable characters. Students created some unique images by choosing their character’s hair, clothing, and movements from the options available. Hopefully, the students will be inspired to create unforgettable characters for their original stories. The book club hopes to have their stories finished in October to share with students at White Oak Primary.

Coding is an essential skill for students in our ever-changing digital world.  By learning to code, students are really learning problem solving strategies, how to share and communicate their ideas, and design unique solutions for our modern world.

Are you ready to teach your students coding? Not sure where to begin? Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. Scratch is provided free of charge and has easy step by step tutorials for parents and educators.

The Roughneck Tech Club started Scratch today by animating their name. Students followed the step by step tutorial to create their first program. Scratch provides a series of tutorials to help students learn to navigate the coding program.

As students successfully coded their names with special effects and sounds, they began to learn that coding involves learning precise logical steps, troubleshooting errors, and being creative.

Not only did students learn beginning coding skills, but they learned teamwork. Students who had difficulty with a coding step could rely on their neighbors to give them a helping hand.