RCET is excited to welcome back The Lippman School for their fifth consecutive year in the AT&T Classroom. Over the next two weeks the children will be exploring a variety of tools and applications within the context of their curriculum. All of the web-based tools that the students are using can be accessed at the class’s Symbaloo site. Symbaloo is a free bookmarking tool and is particularly useful with younger children as the icons provide an effective visual cue to help children recognize the site they need to access for a particular activity. You can access the Symbaloo for Ms. Westover’s class at http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/lippmansymbaloo
This morning the students were introduced to ABCya Story Maker, a free web-based tool that children can use for writing and illustration. The program offers a variety of drawing tools that can be used for creating pictures and scenes. Story projects can encompass one page or multiple pages that can be printed and saved digitally.
Later this morning the class had a coding lesson using Scratch Jr., a free application developed for young children ages 5+ by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. Scratch Jr. engages children in using an introductory programming language to create animations, interactive stories and games. Children combine graphical programming blocks to animate characters to move, jump, dance, and sing. Children are also able to customize the characters in the paint editor, add their own voices and sounds, and insert photos of themselves. In addition to introductory programming and coding skills, Scratch Jr. also supports the development of skills related to sequencing and numeracy while also fostering children's’ creative and critical thinking. The app is available as a free download for iPads and Android tablets.
