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Rootstown Second Graders Program Ozobot Smart Toy Robots
The Rootstown second graders started their morning in the AT&T Classroom working on their writing projects to finalize the “How-to Books” that they created using Google Slides. The ability to comprehend and write nonfictional text is integral to success in all subject areas and consequently, it is an important focus of literacy instruction in the primary grades. The finished projects are so well done with each student’s book being very unique in its own way with regard to both the content (topic and writing) as well as the supporting digital media.
Later this morning the second graders were introduced to Ozobot “Smart” toy robots. The Ozobot is designed to provide children with opportunities to learn simple coding language while also encouraging children’s creativity and skills for problem-solving and deductive reasoning. The Ozobot device is programmed to follow black, red, blue, and green lines/paths which control the Ozobot’s movement and speed in different directions. The device has sensors that recognize color sequences (also known as “OzoCodes”) and interprets the sequences as commands for directing speed and movement. This morning the second graders worked in pairs and learned to calibrate their Ozobots to be able to respond to the coding sequences. The students started with an introductory activity to observe the Ozobot’s navigation through the various color codes on lines. Building from their observations, the students quickly learned how to combine various line sequences to create OzocCodes to alter their Ozobot’s direction and speed.
The student pairs designed their own tracks for their Ozobot starting with a black-lined path and then progressed through a series of challenges to help build their coding skills. The teams were excited to share their coding projects by projecting them with the document camera to the presentation screen.
The Rootstown second graders started their morning in the AT&T Classroom working on their writing projects to finalize the “How-to Books” that they created using Google Slides. The ability to comprehend and write nonfictional text is integral to success in all subject areas and consequently, it is an important focus of literacy instruction in the primary grades. The finished projects are so well done with each student’s book being very unique in its own way with regard to both the content (topic and writing) as well as the supporting digital media.
Later this morning the second graders were introduced to Ozobot “Smart” toy robots. The Ozobot is designed to provide children with opportunities to learn simple coding language while also encouraging children’s creativity and skills for problem-solving and deductive reasoning. The Ozobot device is programmed to follow black, red, blue, and green lines/paths which control the Ozobot’s movement and speed in different directions. The device has sensors that recognize color sequences (also known as “OzoCodes”) and interprets the sequences as commands for directing speed and movement. This morning the second graders worked in pairs and learned to calibrate their Ozobots to be able to respond to the coding sequences. The students started with an introductory activity to observe the Ozobot’s navigation through the various color codes on lines. Building from their observations, the students quickly learned how to combine various line sequences to create OzocCodes to alter their Ozobot’s direction and speed. 
The student pairs designed their own tracks for their Ozobot starting with a black-lined path and then progressed through a series of challenges to help build their coding skills. The teams were excited to share their coding projects by projecting them with the document camera to the presentation screen.
