22/10/2021

Books For Brighter Times

Brighter Times Books inside spread preview

Rise and shine, it’s book blog time!

Welcome back to the MTA Book Blog, this month coming to you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from a very different-looking Sydney.

We were thrilled that so many of you enjoyed and responded to the last post, Picture Books For Unsettling Times, in which we looked at some beautiful books to help open up a dialogue and support students during various challenging times in their lives. Now, as many of us begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel after a very challenging 18 months, what better time to look forward and celebrate the brighter days ahead!

For many students, the lifting of lockdown restrictions heralds a return to the classroom, a reduction in screen-based interaction and a rediscovery of many fun social activities they have likely missed out on throughout the pandemic. In this post, I’ll be shining a spotlight on four dazzlingly delightful books that celebrate some of the aspects of post-lockdown life that students can look forward to, steering them towards a positive frame of mind as they refamiliarise themselves with face-to-face learning and social experiences.

So, draw back the curtains and settle down with me as we bathe in the glow of these glorious books for brighter times.

‘Your Birthday Was The Best!’ by Maggie Hutchings and Felicita Sala

We begin with a shiny new picture book (shortlisted for this year’s CBCA Book of the Year Awards) that will have your students giggling, squirming and then giggling some more! In ‘Your Birthday Was The Best’, we meet a cockroach who reminisces fondly about all the fun he had at a children’s birthday party, seemingly unaware that he wasn’t invited…

‘I was happy to see you. And you were so excited to see me you screamed!’

The hilarious juxtaposition between the narrative led by the endearingly earnest cockroach and the reality of the human characters’ experience – captured so magnificently by the horrified expressions of the guests in Sala’s gorgeous illustrations – will not only have your students falling about with laughter but is also a fabulous opportunity to promote and develop visual literacy skills.

Your students will likely have experienced very different birthdays during lockdown; whether that means a smaller celebration within the household, a Zoom party or a procession of drive-by well-wishers, there’s a good chance that many of them will have missed out on the shenanigans associated with a birthday party with all the trimmings. This hilarious and cheeky tale will evoke memories of lively birthday parties gone by and will certainly spark an excitable discussion of future party plans. ‘Your Birthday Was the Best’ also provides an excellent springboard for a fun creative writing prompt, perhaps directing students to recount their own birthday hijinks or to rewrite the account of the cockroach-crashed party from the perspective of one of the human guests.

‘Dinosaur Day Out’ by Sara Acton

In the delightfully charming ‘Dinosaur Day Out’, we join Sally and Max as they head to the museum with Dad to visit the dinosaur exhibit, only to discover that they are not the only ones enjoying a day out. The children embark on a tremendous hands-on dino experience, while the totally oblivious Dad narrates from his book. Similarly to ‘Your Birthday Was The Best’, the comical contrast between the different experiences of the characters in ‘Dinosaur Day Out’ is conveyed entirely through the illustrations, again supporting those important visual literacy skills. The irony that the adult character remains completely unaware of the extraordinary events taking place right under (or above) his nose is sure to delight your students.

Excursions have been largely off the cards for the past 18 months and this sweet, imaginative tale of an extra-special interactive day out captures the thrill of exploration and discovery that only an excursion brings. It will reignite students’ excitement for hands-on, real-life learning experiences as opposed to digital ones.

‘Lots of Frogs’ by Howard Calvert and Claudia Boldt

Next, we come to one of my favourite rhyming picture books, ‘Lots of Frogs’, where we join Tommy Fox on his doomed quest to keep a lid on his box of trouble-making frogs. This brilliant rhyming story is positively leaping with laugh-out-loud imagery and is propelled forwards by a rhythm that’s as lively and bouncy as Tommy’s frogs.

‘Net’s quite full, halfway there. Look! There’s five on teacher’s chair!’

The book takes us all around the school as we follow Tommy on his mission to get those naughty frogs back in their box, and even the staffroom isn’t off limits! Students will delight in the hilarious images of frogs wreaking havoc around the school and I guarantee that the whole classroom will erupt in a fit of giggles when you reach the line about a frog jumping in the headteacher’s hair! This fast-paced rhyming story is bursting with positive imagery and language associated with the school environment and is sure to help strengthen and reinforce students’ associations with the classroom as a place of enjoyment and enrichment.

‘Unplugged’ by Steve Antony

Yes, I know I say this a lot, but this is one of my favourite ever picture books! In ‘Unplugged’, by author/illustrator Steve Antony, we meet Blip, an adorable robot who spends her days completely absorbed by her computer, which is just fine by her. However, when a power cut leads to Blip becoming unplugged, she suddenly finds herself blinking in the bright lights of ‘outside’…

Anthony’s clever narrative device of repeating the exact same activities that Blip enjoys on her computer as she does outside (learning new things, playing fun games, dancing to music and visiting faraway places) allows him to sidestep a preachy or judgemental tone when comparing the two different environments for these experiences. Equally, the artistic technique of having the screen-based illustrations in black and white and the outside illustrations in full colour subtly conveys the idea of the richness and depth of analogue experiences compared to two-dimensional digital ones without being overtly critical of screen-based activities.

For the past 18 months, our entire lives have been lived mostly online, our learning, teaching and even our socialising have all been confined to the digital space. ‘Unplugged’ is a celebration of what happens when we switch off our digital lives and enjoy an analogue adventure! This is the perfect tale to help students reflect on the positive aspects of the transition away from screens and appreciate the opportunity to enjoy some hands-on learning and experiences. A follow-up discussion that encourages students to think about the things that you can’t do online, or that aren’t as good online, will help students focus on the benefits of moving out from behind the screen.

The titles in this collection are all wonderful celebrations of a post-lockdown world, perfect for reinforcing positive emotions and associations and supporting students as they transition back into face-to-face learning and social situations. Come rain or shine, picture books provide uniquely accessible springboards to broach wider conversation topics, and all of the books in this collection are rich sources of writing and discussion prompts to encourage students to make connections with each other and their own lives and experiences.

And now, as I don my sunnies and floppy hat, this is the perfect moment to remind you that, for a limited time, you can make hay while the sun shines and stock up on these books – or any other resources for your classroom – using our Brighter Times discount. What a bright idea!

Join me again next time, when we’ll decking the shelves with boughs of books, getting excited for the festive season and looking ahead to a brand-new year.

The future’s looking bright.

About the Author

Emily Bruce is the Managing Editor at Modern Teaching Aids (although she prefers the term Grammar-Wrangler-in-Chief). She has worked in children’s publishing in the UK and Australia for eight years and is passionate about finding the spark that ignites a lifelong love of literacy in the next generation of storytellers.

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29/09/202108/11/2021

Crafts To Inspire Christmas Creativity

Christmas is such a special time of year, and no doubt in recent times it has become an even more important holiday where families can bond and celebrate. Inspiring joy and inviting groups of students to create festive crafts brings about warmth and connection. The act of making can have such a positive effect on our mental health, so inviting children and adults alike to break out the felt, paper and a pom pom or two will ignite the Christmas spirit as we roll into the festive season.

Personalised Christmas Bags

Who doesn’t love a unique and fun reusable shopping bag nowadays, especially since the removal of single-use plastic. There are so many possibilities with a calico shopping bag, as previously seen with the block print stamps. Students will enjoy coming up with festive designs such as reindeers, baubles, Christmas trees and Santa on his sleigh, making this project an individual experience.

Once they have decided on their design, students can either cut felt shapes freehand or create paper patterns to pin to the fabric. Students will have fun arranging their felt pieces onto the calico bag before gluing them down. Giving students the option of adding embellishments like buttons, ribbons, pom poms and sequins to their textile arrangement adds a lovely three-dimensional texture to their final composition. Certainly a must-have to stand out from the crowd when Christmas shopping.

Featured Products:

Calico Shopping Bag – Pack of 10
Christmas Felt- Pack of 50

Simple Mosaicking

When thinking about the art of mosaicking, I know sometimes the process can be quite daunting. Especially the idea of using tile adhesive and grout with students. However, these resin mosaic tiles are fantastic as they can be used on all types of surfaces, can be cut with scissors if necessary and can be adhered with craft glue or pushed into mediums like Magiclay. Students can adorn papier-mache shapes such as baubles or cones since the process is not too complex. They can explore patterns when making Christmas coasters and photo frames, and for young children it will develop their fine motor skills as they pick up each little mosaic square. These mosaic tiles shimmer so brightly in the light that they are sure to spark the imagination of all who encounter them.

Featured Products:

Mosaic Tiles Christmas Colours
Square Wooden Coasters- Pack of 20

Paper Mache Cones – Pack of 6
Christmas Paper Mache Balls with Gold String

Christmas Pom Poms – Pack of 300

Fun and Easy Shrink Film

This Christmas project certainly brings back a fond memory from my childhood where I made shrinky dinks out of chip packets. The process has certainly come a long way since then with much sophistication. Your students will be absolutely fascinated with this process and will be glued to the oven door as they watch their decorations bend and contort before laying flat.
These Christmas Shrink Film Decorations have lovely patterns and designs where students can use permanent markers or pencils to add colour. I personally like pencils as they enable students to explore ombres and blending, which looks striking when shrunk to a miniature size. Paired with leather thronging for a necklace or placed on a metal key ring, they become a brilliant present or keepsake.

Featured Product:

Christmas Shrink Film Decorations- Pack of 12

Christmas Stamping

Who doesn’t love a stamp, especially when it is adorned with an iconic Christmas object! Stamps are so versatile for this time of year and can be applied to a wide variety of materials. Pair them with acrylic paint, block ink, embossing fluid or ink pads, the medium and colours that can be used are endless and expose students to the concept of repetition. Whether stamping on fabric or paper, the final print can be used to create many different Christmas-inspired delights.

These include Christmas cards where prints can be layered on top of paper, fabrics and hessian. Santa portraits can be drawn inside wreath prints and stamps can be repeated over the surface of a card. A lovely way to add colour to your prints is with watercolours or pencils; this not only enhances the print but also allows students to explore different colour combinations. This type of project is always a favourite as people of all ages enjoy giving cards to their loved ones.

If Christmas cards are not your thing, stamps can also be pushed into clay to leave an impression on its surface. Whether you use air-dried clay or earthenware, these lovely pieces can be turned into pendants and brooches by adding holes or pin backs. Once dried or fired, you can have so much fun adding colour to these stamp designs and, when complete, a spot of gloss really brings them to life. Students will really treasure these as well as delight in giving them to special people in their lives.

If fabric is more your cup of tea, then these stamps are just delightful. Using fabric paint and a roller, they can be used to create repetitive designs onto T-shirts and calico shopping bags. Students will love coming up with their own compositions with the different stamps and can play with pattern when choosing colours.

Featured Products:

Christmas Block Print Stamps- Set of 6

Christmas Pom Poms – Pack of 300

Creatistics Air Dry Ceramic Clay

Calico Shopping bag- Pack of 10

Bling up Your Favourite Artwork

A framed artwork from a young artist would have to be the most special Christmas gift a child can give you. Whether it is a pencil drawing, a watercolour painting or a printout of a digital piece, these glitter photo frames are just fabulous. Imagine combining your students’ artwork with a snow globe. Students will love placing their work on one side and then filling the other side up with water to give their masterpiece a touch of sparkle. Students can make artwork specifically to the size of these frames or artwork can be photographed and resized digitally before being printed out. Who doesn’t love a little glitter in their life?

Featured Products:

Glitter Liquid Photo Frame – Pack of 10

Christmas Pom Poms – Pack of 300

Cute as a Button Reindeers

Can you name all the reindeer that pull Santa’s sleigh? These reindeer ornaments are just the cutest and I know your students will think so too. Their most obvious use is to create a reindeer face, whether it be with markers, pencils or watercolours, and it is then placed inside and covered with the glass cabochon. Another alternative to creating the reindeer would be to place a pattern piece of paper under the cabochon and then add eyes and a nose to the surface of the glass with craft materials. Either way, these reindeers can then become pendants or ornaments where they can be further personalised when adding colours and embellishments to the wooden backing.
There will always be that student who will think outside the box and do something a little bit different. Who said it had to be a reindeer? I certainly agree. You can also fill these pendants with small paintings of Christmas icons and adorn your backing to match. The creativity is endless.

Featured Product:

Wooden Reindeer Ornaments- Pack of 10

Versatile Paper

Ah, don’t you just love the smell of paper during the festive season! It is the aroma of a million ideas and possibilities for an abundance of folded, cut and collaged crafts. Whether it be patterned paper or tissue paper, they are equally fun and useful, so it is fantastic when they come in a single handy pack. From origami folded stars to Christmas cards and decoupage Christmas baubles, what is your favourite way to use paper during the festive season?

I particularly love to show students how to fold and roll paper into different shapes that can then be used on three-dimensional forms. A cone is the perfect beginning of a Christmas tree where paper can be applied in different ways to create interesting forms. Paper can be fringed or rolled into little cones and layered all the way up to form the tree. I always tell my students that paper is so versatile and that with a little snip and a twist it can become something amazing!

Featured Products:

Christmas Paper & Tissue Pack of 300

Christmas Papier Mache Balls Pack of 10
Paper Mache Cones – Pack of 6

This year, I hope Christmas brings an extra bit of magic and joy to us all. I hope that Christmas projects and crafts can be enjoyed and used to highlight how special the festive season is to families, friends and communities. I hope that the act of creating and giving can bring us together to regain that feeling of pure happiness that we experience when exploring and expressing ourselves creatively.

About the Author
Olivia is a specialist Visual Art Teacher in an ELC, primary and secondary school setting. She has a broad breadth of experience with inquiry learning and is an IBO qualified educator. Olivia particularly enjoys developing Visual Art units around STEAM which include electronics, technology, and science concepts. Follow Olivia on Instagram in her quest to inspire creativity @creativemindsinbloom.

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29/08/202114/10/2021

Picture Books For Unsettling Times

Welcome back to the MTA Book Blog, this month coming to you from my lockdown book cave here in Sydney.

If you haven’t had chance yet, do check out the previous book blog post, Telling the Story of Lockdown, posted back in June. At the time, I could never have guessed that we were only days away from a new and challenging chapter of Australia and New Zealand’s own pandemic story.

The events of the past 18 months have certainly highlighted the importance of being able to cope with unexpected change and challenges, so, for this post, I have selected five gorgeous picture books that feature characters who are experiencing disruption in all shapes and sizes. From the inconvenient and frustrating to the utterly life-changing, these stories span the spectrum of sources of disruption and challenge in a child’s life and, crucially, offer hope through their various outcomes.

So, relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw, put the kettle on and settle down with me to discover these perfect picture books for unsettling times.

‘We’re Stuck’ by Sue DeGennaro

Let’s start by getting stuck into the adorable ‘We’re Stuck’ by Australian author/illustrator, Sue deGennaro. When the residents of Building 24 shuffle into their lift one morning, they are all far too preoccupied with their own busyness to even notice one another. But, when the lift suddenly breaks down, with a dismayed birthday boy trapped inside, the lift’s occupants soon shift their focus from their own needs to each other’s.

A sweet and heart-warming tale of resilience, adaptability and community, students will certainly be able to relate to the themes addressed in ‘We’re Stuck’. A follow-up discussion that invites students to share their own experiences of being stuck in place and having to put their plans on hold will create a meaningful text-to-real-world connection and encourage them to reflect on the importance of recognising that some of life’s unsettling challenges are merely a moment in time.

‘Norton and the Bear’ by Gabriel Evans

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Or is it just annoying? This is the question at the heart of the delightfully charming ‘Norton and the Bear’ by Aussie author/illustrator Gabriel Evans. Norton prides himself on his unique dress sense, so when the relentlessly complimentary Bear insists on copying Norton’s outfit at every turn it is simply unbearable! However, after Norton loses his temper with the Bear and insists that he stop copying him, the Bear turns up with a new accessory that Norton really, REALLY likes…

Between the ages of 3 and 5 is when children begin to form a sense of self, developing their identity and individuality. ‘Norton and the Bear’ perfectly illustrates how challenges to our identity can loom large, especially for young children for whom the sense of self is still relatively fragile. Whether you identify more with the frustrated Norton or the endearingly earnest Bear, I guarantee that you and your students will instantly fall in love with this story and find comfort in the knowledge that, unsettling though it may be, imitation is almost always a form of flattery!

‘Florette’ by Anna Walker

Yet another stunning picture book from an Australian author/illustrator extraordinaire, ‘Florette’ by Anna Walker introduces us to Mae, whose life has been uprooted by her family’s decision to move to the city. Mae misses her friends, she misses her old life and, most of all, she misses her garden. However, when she ventures further into her new environment, Mae finds something that plants the seed for a different type of garden, and some new friends along with it.

Moving house is an immensely unsettling and disruptive event that many of your students will likely be able to relate to. Through Walker’s skilful visual storytelling, ‘Florette’ quietly celebrates children’s emotional resilience in adapting to environmental change and shows us that, ultimately, home is not a place, but a feeling, and one which we can carry with us and recreate wherever we go.

‘The Rabbit Listened’ by Cori Doerrfeld

Next up, we have ‘The Rabbit Listened’, and I should put in my disclaimer up front and say, I absolutely love this book. In this gentle, insightful story we meet Taylor, who is struck by a sudden loss that brings his day (literally) crashing down. Everyone around Taylor tries to coach him in how he should cope with his sadness, but it is only when they all leave and a little rabbit comes to sit and listen that Taylor finds the space to adequately process his emotions.

When someone we care about is upset, it can be a very natural response to try and impose our own coping strategies on them, and to even lose patience when they aren’t responsive to our efforts to ‘fix’ the situation. This is something that can be especially difficult for young children to understand, and ‘The Rabbit Listened’ provides the perfect framework to begin that discussion around different approaches to processing trauma, both for the one who is suffering and, importantly, for those around them.

‘Finn’s Feather’ by Rachel Noble and Zoey Abbott

Tissues at the ready for this one. In the heart-wrenchingly touching ‘Finn’s Feather’ we join Finn, who, on the first day of spring, opens his front door to find a feather on his doorstep. Confident in the knowledge that the feather is a gift from his recently deceased brother, Hamish, Finn excitedly shows the feather first to his mother and then to his teacher, neither of whom seem to want to encourage Finn’s belief that the feather was sent by his brother. However, when Finn shows the feather to his best friend Lucas, he immediately matches Finn’s excitement and the two boys set about finding ways to make the feather the centrepiece of their games.

Similarly to ‘The Rabbit Listened’, the beauty of ‘Finn’s Feather’ is the way it illustrates the highly unique and personal ways in which trauma manifests, particularly in children, and demonstrates the ineffectiveness of trying to impose our own coping mechanisms or perceived acceptable patterns of behaviour on the one who is suffering. The hero of this story is certainly Finn’s best friend Lucas who, far from dismissing Finn’s belief in the provenance of the feather, simply meets him where he is and allows him to exist in the reality of his grief.

Although the collective disruption that we are all currently experiencing will not last forever, unexpected change and challenge will rear their heads regularly throughout a child’s life. Books like these are fantastic tools to help build emotional resilience and provide a safe and accessible springboard for discussion during all manner of unsettling times.

And now, as I retreat into my book fort, I leave you with these wise words from beloved children’s author, E.B White.

‘A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people – people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.’

Stay safe out there.

About the Author

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30/07/202130/07/2021

Hands-On Learning Experiences With Osmo

The Osmo range features some of my favourite classroom resources for introducing coding and integrating technology across multiple key learning areas. Today I’m going to share with you the top five things I love about Osmo. Read along to find top-rated products and resources that my students and I love to use in our classroom.

Literacy & Numeracy Integration

Osmo has a large range of apps that cater to English and mathematics curriculum links as well as literacy and numeracy general capabilities. I began my Osmo journey with the Genius Starter Kit (ages 6-10), which allowed me to explore apps such as Osmo Words, Osmo Numbers and five other great programs. The Genius Starter Kit encourages versatile use of accessories across multiple apps and allows students to explore concepts they are developing whilst extending their understanding to new settings. Purchasing the Genius Starter Kit provided me with opportunities to explore various accessories such as the word tiles, number tiles and tangram pieces. It was as simple as unpacking the box and downloading the app!

The Osmo Words app has been a crowd favourite in my learning space and fantastic for promoting letter recognition, decoding and spelling rules across various age groups. Students can work alongside a computer guide or challenge their friends to a multiplayer competition. Adjusting the ability level has allowed flexible use of the product across various users and their needs. The Osmo accessories can be purchased separately and the Osmo support team can quite often generously provide replacements. No one likes missing pieces, right?

The Osmo Math Wizard series (ages 6-8) has been recently launched, which focuses on place value and measurement concepts within the mathematics curriculum. These new additions to the Osmo range provide engaging ways to promote fluencies within these concept areas. Both programs include interactive guides, printed student workbooks, sturdy game pieces, storage solutions and game-based learning opportunities. The Osmo reflector and the interactive guide provides feedback to the child on their place value and measurement work. This app enables multiple users to create accounts which allows for the product to be used by a classroom shared audience.

$OSMO Math Wizard Place Value game on carpet$ $OSMO Math Wizard Measurement game on carpet$

The Osmo range includes various other apps such as Osmo Kaleidoscope and Osmo Tangram, which assist in promoting discrete parts of the mathematics curriculum or combining the ICT General Capability and Numeracy General Capability in your play-based learning experiences.

Projector App

The Osmo Projector app was launched during peak COVID-19 home learning in Australia. Responding to urgent requests from educators seeking the right tool to teach in an online or remote learning environment, Osmo created this free app to use in conjunction with the Osmo base and reflector. The app allows educators to scribe on whiteboards, worksheets or manipulate objects in front of the reflector and base, and the iPad will display this in the correct orientation for viewers. When combined with online conferencing platforms such as Zoom or by using AirPlay to stream from your device to LED displays in the classroom, this provides an innovative way to use your iPad as a projector for face-to-face and virtual learning.

In my classroom, I AirPlay my iPad to my Macbook which is displayed on my LED TV screen. I use the Projector app to illustrate sequencing concepts such as arrows and patterns from my work station, allowing all students to view this live-action while I’m modelling a lesson to the class. A benefit to this app is that you can screen record your learning experience and upload it to online portfolios or live cast during online conferencing.

Coding Starter Kit

The Osmo Coding Starter Kit (ages 5-10) provides users with access to the Osmo Coding Awbie, Osmo Coding Jam and Osmo Coding Duo apps. These hands-on learning apps provide various ways to access the Digital Technologies curriculum concepts of directional sequencing, algorithms and abstraction. This kit provides fabulous introductory and intermediate learning opportunities with self-paced programs and built-in computer support guides. With a mix between structured learning tasks and free-play opportunities, the Coding Starter Kit is a go-to product of mine as a Specialist Digital Technologies teacher. Plus, if the students are begging to use them at lunch time- the resources must be fairly awesome!

I use these resources in my Digital Technologies lessons, lunch-time coding clubs and before/after school at the students’ requests. To introduce the activities, I model and co-complete tasks with the students first and then allow them to continue to complete the programs independently. After a couple of structured lessons, my students can now access this resource as an independent activity as a fast-finisher task.

Osmo Pizza Co.

The Osmo Pizza Co. Game is easily my personal favourite game to play using the Osmo base and reflector. Have you ever watched a child play a game where you are itching to move them aside so that you can have a go? You will feel that way with this game. The premise of the game is to serve customers in a pizza shop by taking orders then preparing and presenting pizzas to the customers. Additional curriculum links can be made to financial mathematics as the user is also responsible for billing the customers at the end of their visit. As the timer counts down and the customer lines grow longer, you’ll find your competitive side shines as you succeed as a virtual small business pizza shop owner.

Storage

Storage! The thing that makes almost every educator’s heart sing. Osmo considers their storage to make it easy for students and teachers alike to grab-and-go with their products. Every accessory and starter kit comes in durable storage solutions that allow every piece to have its own home. As someone who owns various Osmo kits, I organise the storage containers into a large plastic container so students know exactly how to access the resources when needed. The items stack together neatly and come with clear, colour-coordinated labels which means even my youngest students can find what they’re looking for and pack them away efficiently.

There you have it! My top five favourite things about the Osmo range! Osmo has made a positive difference in my classroom and has been a fantastic way to easily and efficiently integrate technology across multiple key learning areas.

Featured Products:

Osmo Genius Starter Kit

Osmo Coding Starter Kit

Osmo Pizza Co. Starter Kit

About the Author

Taylor is a Specialist Digital Technologies Teacher. In her five years of teaching, she has found a passion for integrating a range of technologies into her classroom and strives to share these experiences with those around her. Follow Taylor along in her teaching journey on Instagram @taylorteachestech

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24/06/2021

Telling The Story Of Lockdown

Welcome back to the MTA Book Blog, where I, Managing Editor and Bookworm-in-Residence here at MTA, am once again dropping into your inbox to spread the word about one of the awesome book packs that we’ve been busily curating for your classroom.

We were over the moon (wink) that so many of you enjoyed the first post, ‘Storytime in Space’, and joined in with the National Simultaneous Storytime read-along from the International Space Station, what an unforgettable experience!

For this post, we are firmly back on planet Earth, as we explore a collection of stunning picture books that chronicle the event that has undeniably touched every one of us and every corner of the globe over the past 18 months, the COVID-19 pandemic. In the ‘Together Apart’ book pack, we have compiled four gorgeous picture books that reflect on the pandemic and capture the lived experience of lockdown through inclusive, empathetic and sensitive storytelling. So, gather round (maintaining a 1.5 metre distance, of course), as we settle down together, but apart, to discover these beautiful new books that so exquisitely tell their own stories of lockdown.

‘While We Can’t Hug’ by Polly Dunbar and Eoin McLaughlin

We begin with an adorable picture book that addresses perhaps one of the toughest aspects of the pandemic for young children, and that is the restrictions to physical contact with our loved ones. ‘While We Can’t Hug’ is the heart-warming second picture book from author/illustrator duo Polly Dunbar and Eoin McLaughlin, the team behind ‘The Hug’. This bestselling picture book once again features best friends Hedgehog and Tortoise who desperately want to give each other a big hug but aren’t allowed to touch.

“Don’t worry,” said Owl. “There are lots of ways to show someone you love them.”

Hedgehog and Tortoise share a wave, blow kisses, write letters, do silly dances and sing songs together, joyfully demonstrating the various ways we can show affection to those we can’t be physically close to due to the pandemic. This book would be the perfect springboard to a discussion about the new ways of communication that your students adapted to during lockdown, perhaps it was Zoom calls with cousins or blowing kisses through a window to grandparents, or simply spreading some joy to strangers by painting pictures of rainbows just like Hedgehog and Tortoise. Which leads us to…

‘Share Your Rainbow’ by various artists

Throughout lockdown, (perhaps during your permitted daily hour of exercise) you will most likely have seen windows full of pictures of rainbows. Early in the pandemic, the rainbow emerged as the international symbol of hope for better days to come. In ‘Share Your Rainbow’, 18 acclaimed artists come together, while apart, to look ahead and share their interpretations of what the ‘rainbow’ – or ‘better days to come’ – means to them, inspired by the millions of children all over the world who displayed their rainbows in their windows.

“I cannot wait to yak with my neighbours, and laugh with my neighbours, and snarf up toasted marshmallows with my neighbours.”

The eclectic mix of illustration styles, diverse characters and relatable imagery makes ‘Share Your Rainbow’ an uplifting and hopeful record of this remarkable period of our lives, and will no doubt be a catalyst for conversation about what your students were most grateful for when lockdown restrictions eased. A follow-up activity that encourages students to draw their ‘rainbow’ would make for a stunning collage display and would provide a poignant visual reminder of the spectrum of experiences and challenges that we all faced during lockdown.

‘Windows’ by Patrick Guest and Jonathan Bentley

Inspired by author Patrick Guest’s own experience of having to leave his family home during lockdown due to his son’s Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, ‘Windows’ is a beautiful, contemplative story that captures the wistfulness of lockdown ennui. Brought to life by Jonathan Bentley’s stunning watercolour illustrations, ‘Windows’ follows five children as they observe the dramatic changes to their outside worlds from the safety of their windows. The story opens with the children daydreaming as they observe the shapes of the clouds, a reflection on how the sudden forced slowdown of lockdown allowed us all to observe more of nature’s quiet comings and goings. Gradually, more and more members of the characters’ communities begin to feature, and the children are able to connect and draw strength from their communities from a distance, for example by leaving rainbows and teddy bears in their windows. The story concludes with a socially distanced appearance from each child’s grandfather, cheering them up with a silly dance and a song:

“I’d love to give you all a hug,
I’d love to squash this silly bug,
but just for now, I’ll keep away, until the lovely, happy day, when all the world can dance and kiss, and hug the ones we really miss.”

‘Windows’ is an uplifting story of how communities and humanity pulled together, despite being apart, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Comprehensive teaching notes, including suggested follow-up activities, are available to download here from our website.

‘Outside, Inside’ by LeUyen Pham

If you’ve managed to get this far through the ‘Together Apart’ book pack without tearing up, then get ready for a flood of feelings. ‘Outside, Inside’ by Caldecott Honor Winner LeUyen Pham is a heart-wrenchingly beautiful picture book that addresses not only those of us who had to move their lives inside during lockdown, but also those essential and frontline workers who remained outside to serve their communities. There may well be students in your classroom who had parents or family members who fall into this category, and ‘Outside, Inside’ does a fantastic job of honouring these key workers and allowing for their experience to be represented. The format of the book contrasts the inside world with the outside world on alternating spreads, illustrating the different challenges faced by people on both sides of the door.

“We had birthdays without parties, shared words without sound, and reached each other without touching.”

Pham’s writing is moving and poetic, and her illustrations are diverse, rich with detail and bracingly real, perhaps due to the fact that she was inspired by real photos of the pandemic when creating the illustrations for ‘Outside, Inside’. This book is truly destined to become a timeless testament to the lived experience of lockdown for children all over the world and will be an invaluable conversation starter and catalyst for emotional expression, both inside and outside the classroom.

The pandemic continues to impact our lives and will do for a long time yet to come. It seems inevitable that this moment in history will be something we look back and reflect upon well into the future, much as we do with other major events that have shaped the international landscape and consciousness. The titles in the ‘Together Apart’ book pack will undoubtedly help you to facilitate meaningful conversations with your students and encourage them to verbalise the complex emotions they have experienced during lockdown and the pandemic. And who knows, sharing these four stories of lockdown may inspire a whole classroom-full of future authors who have their own lockdown stories to tell.

Elbow bumps all round.

About the Author

Emily Bruce is the Managing Editor at Modern Teaching Aids (although she prefers the term Grammar-Wrangler-in-Chief). She has worked in children’s publishing in the UK and Australia for over seven years and is passionate about finding the spark that ignites a lifelong love of literacy in the next generation of storytellers.

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11/06/202111/06/2021

Learning Maths Through Play

Beebot on Beebot street mat on classroom floor

Students must hold maths in their hands before they can hold maths in their heads”
(Anonymous)

Teaching mathematical concepts to young students can be done in a fun and engaging way through hands-on learning experiences. By introducing maths concepts through play-based learning activities, students can make connections by seeing and holding maths in their hands.

In this post, I will share a number of resources and ways you can teach mathematical concepts through play-based learning experiences.

Number & Algebra:

Number & Place Value

SumBlox

SumBlox are a great resource for the Junior Primary classroom. They are multi-sensory maths tools that allow students to visualise and understand the value of numbers through the various number block heights that increase with the value of the number. SumBlox help students build a strong understanding of maths concepts including patterns, addition and subtraction.

Money & Financial Mathematics

Money Play Through Shops

Setting up a class shop is a great way for students to understand the value of money. Each student can be given a set amount of play money, or be rewarded with money for completing tasks in the class, that they can then spend at the class shop. Students can take on the role of shopkeeper and customer to learn about the cost of items and the change that needs to be given to the customer.

Bee-Bot Money Mat

The Money Mat combined with a Bee-Bot, Blue-Bot, Dash, or other robot is a great way to incorporate technology into a maths lesson. Students can program their robot to manoeuvre to the different money amounts. To extend students’ thinking, they can add or subtract different money amounts together.

Both the Money Coin Spinner and the Money Note Spinner can be used to randomise the amount of money students need to program their robot to. Even without the Bee-Bot mat and robots, students can use the spinners to calculate the money amounts.

Patterns & Algebra

Exploring Patterns

Having students explore and create patterns helps them visualise the maths concepts being taught. Using various items like the Bear Counters, Counting Links or Wooden Counting Cubes students can organise and create a variety of patterns to show their understanding.

Measurement & Geometry

Using Units of Measurement

How Much Does It Weigh?

Students can explore the concepts of measurement through hands-on learning by physically holding the various objects to compare which item is heavier and lighter. First they can predict their answer, then test by holding the objects in their hands before finally measuring the exact weight of the items using the scale.

Statistics & Probability

Data Representation & Interpretation

What’s in the Bag?

Teachers can place a selection of objects in these colourful drawstring bags to suit their learning intention. An example is having five yellow bears and two green bears in a bag.
The teacher could then ask;
– ‘Will I pick out a red bear?’ (Students can respond with ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘impossible’.)
– ‘Is it more likely that I’ll pick out a yellow or a green bear?’

These are just some of the ways you can incorporate play into your mathematics lessons. There are so many learning experiences we can create to support our students’ understanding of mathematical concepts through hands-on play, it really is just up to the creativity of your lesson design to meet your students’ needs.

What hands-on lessons have you created to support your students’ mathematical understanding? We’d love to hear from you!

About the author

Eleni Kyritsis is an award-winning Year 3 teacher and Leader of Curriculum and innovation from Melbourne, Australia. Eleni facilitates professional learning workshops around the world that focus on unleashing creativity and curiosity in classrooms. You can contact her at elenikyritis.com and @misskyritsis

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26/03/202103/12/2021

Introducing LEGO Education BricQ In The Classroom

LEGO Education BricQ Motion Models on Table

LEGO® Education has developed a comprehensive range of STEAM products that encourage students of all ages to design and create. Their latest product, BricQ Motion, is designed for students at primary and lower secondary school year levels. This wonderful kit provides hands-on STEAM learning experiences for students to explore forces and motion and their interactions.

There are two different kits in the LEGO Education BricQ Motion range:

- LEGO Education BricQ Motion Essential – Foundation – Year 5
- LEGO Education BricQ Motion Prime – Year 5 – Year 8

Both of these kits provide students with templates/lessons that support the learning of STEAM concepts without the need for a device in hand. The kits are colour-coded, making it so much easier for students to locate the various LEGO pieces than ever before.

LEGO Education BricQ Motion Essential Kit
The BricQ Motion Essential Kit is a hands-on STEAM solution for early years students. This kit allows students to explore physical science and experiment and create to bring it to life. The science concepts that this set covers include:

- push and pull
- forces and friction
- energy and motion

Set includes:

- 523 LEGO elements
- storage box and sorting trays
- two building instructions booklets
  - Book 1 aimed at students from Foundation-Year 2
  - Book 2 aimed at students from Year 3-5

LEGO Education BricQ Motion Prime Kit
The BricQ Morion Prime Kit challenges students in Year 5-8 to apply scientific inquiry skills while inspiring them to deepen their understanding of forces, motion and energy.
Science concepts that this set covers include:

- Newton’s law of motion
- forces and friction
- energy and motion
- scientific inquiry

Set includes:

- 562 LEGO elements
- building instruction booklet
- storage box and sorting trays

To support teachers to get the most from these kits along with all other LEGO products, teachers can find detailed lesson plans on the LEGO Education website that include video tutorials and templates as well as additional challenges for students to explore, all linked to the curriculum. https://education.lego.com/

There are currently two curriculum units available for the BricQ Motions kits on the LEGO Education website that are designed for teachers to follow to support students in developing key curriculum learning outcomes.
Each curriculum unit contains:

- seven to eight lessons of 45 minutes each
- 30 minutes of literacy and maths extension activities for each lesson
- six to ten hours of educational content

Curriculum Unit: Train to Win (Years F – 2)
The ‘Train to Win’ curriculum unit explores the concepts of forces and motion. Students explore a range of investigations about the cause and effect of push and pull forces.

Curriculum Unit: Winning with Science (Year 3-6)
The ‘Winning with Science’ curriculum unit explores the concepts of forces and motions with a focus on the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces. Students investigate the patterns within an object’s motions and begin to predict and determine its future motion.

Lesson Ideas:
Whenever I introduce a new resource into the classroom, I believe it is important to allow students time to explore and engage with the resource to gather an understanding of what it can achieve.

The great thing about the LEGO Education kits is that the possibilities are truly endless. Teachers can choose to follow the lesson guides provided or allow students the opportunity to create their own masterpieces to suit their learning experience.

When introducing the LEGO Education BricQ Motion set, I had students work in pairs to recreate one of the creations within the lesson guides. When students completed their design, they each shared their creations with another group. Once students have the understanding of how the BricQ set works and the various elements provided within the kit, I can confidently provide students with challenges aligned to our units of work, where they can use the lesson guides as a starting point and then adapt and change where needed to design their own creation.

Below are some lesson ideas to engage your students with the LEGO Education BricQ Motion sets.

LEGO Education Mini Olympics
With the Olympics planned to go ahead this year, students can recreate many of the events using BricQ Motion. Students can explore and create the different science concepts whilst having fun and competing in various Olympic events. Teachers can connect learning to not only the science curriculum but also the mathematics curriculum by creating tallies and totals of the results for each event.

Events to include in your mini Olympics:

Rally Racing:

*Refer to the Gravity Car Derby lesson on the LEGO Education website as a guide for students to use and adapt.

- Design a car to race against others.
- Students can create a variety of prototypes, testing wheel sizes, number of lego pieces etc to create the fastest moving car.
- Race the cars on a flat surface or alternatively create a small ramp and see which car travels the furthest.

Sailing Cars

*Refer to the Sailing Car lesson on the LEGO Education website.

- Students create their own Sailing Car.
- Explore what type of sail they would like to use ie paper thickness, sail size
- Race the Sailing Cars to see whose Sail Car travels the furthest.

ShotPut Throw:

* Refer to the Free Throw Catapult lesson on the LEGO Education website

- Students create a prototype to project a ball the furthest.
- Place small balls into the catapult to see how far their shot-put (small ball) travels.

Various Challenges:
The LEGO Education BricQ Motion kits provide many open-ended challenges for students to complete. These can be connected to the units of work you cover throughout the year.

Here are some challenges you might want to try with your students:

- Design a playground that shows different types of forces.
- Create something with a pulley function.
- Create a car of the future.
- Create an obstacle course.

How will you use LEGO® Education BricQ Motion in your classroom? We’d love to hear from you!

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24/03/2021

Using Electricity As An Art Medium

Visual art lessons have progressed over time, and art educators have pushed beyond the humble papier-mâché pig and into the realm of endless possibilities. A mixture of new mediums and technologies paired with classic favourites, a well-rounded art program can provide students with the necessary skills and tools, to not only become well-developed artists, but also critical thinkers with strong visual literacy capabilities.

There are many contemporary artists that explore the idea of light and sound as art elements and engage their audience with auditory moments and light sequences. For an artist like Haroon Mirza, electricity has become his medium of choice. I was lucky enough to experience his exhibition at ACCA Melbourne and I was particularly fascinated by the installation hanging from the ceiling which, to me, mimicked a modern-day chandelier. I stood and watched the light sequences for quite some time, and it made me think about the idea of electricity as an art medium and how I could implement it further into my primary art program.

Embroidery Characters with Copper Tape Circuits

I initially began the investigation into this concept by exploring the use of copper tape circuits. The unit they were implemented into was one that explored characters using a variety of different provocations for idea development. The students developed many character designs using shapes, pavement cracks and ink blobs to decide on a design they would pursue further.

Their drawing was then transferred to fabric and they were placed in an embroidery hoop so that threads could be added to the final composition. The students were then shown how to create a parallel circuit using copper tape with the shape of this circuit being determined by the LED light placement in their design.

They learnt how to construct a chibitronics paper battery holder for a coin cell battery that would power their circuit and they adhered chibitronic LED light stickers. When applying the stickers, the students learnt about the importance of the positive and negative sides as they related to their battery and were able to problem-solve when a sticker didn’t work or wasn’t shining brightly. The delight on each student’s face when the circuit was then placed behind their fabric was priceless.

Featured Product:
Metallic Embroidery Thread – Pack of 24

Google Earth Inspired Maps with a Copper Tape Circuit

Seeing the great learning moments that were taking place when adding electricity as another art element, I implemented this notion into another unit where the circuit was viewed as more than just light. The students explored maps as not only a record of a place but also as an individual’s journey. This included places of importance to the student and it also enabled them to delve into typographical maps and cartography as provocations.
The students began by exploring places on Google Earth and they used either oil or dry pastels to represent them on cartridge paper. This process enabled each young artist to identify colour and shapes where they could enlarge elements of the map on their iPads with ease.

An acetate overlay was added to the artwork to represent the topographical component of a map. The acetate enabled the colour map underneath to be seen clearly whilst building patterns and layers to the artwork.
The final element added was the circuit. These were intended to represent the idea of a pathway or journey. These copper tape circuits were more complex than the characters as the artworks were larger, more angles and turns were made, and more lights were used. We soon realised that the connections needed to be firmly stuck together for each light on the circuit to shine brightly. A wonderful moment for them to problem-solve. The students really enjoyed adding the LED light component to their artwork, as it enabled them to represent the idea of mapping and journeys on their work whilst giving them the opportunity to learn about the mechanics of a circuit.

Featured Products:
Cartridge Paper 125gsm A2 – Pack of 500
Soft Pastels Portrait – Pack of 24
Oil Pastels Large – Pack of 12

Soft Sculpture Characters with E-Textiles Circuits

After exploring copper tape circuits, I wanted to find another way to add light to artworks that could be more organic in its shape rather than being determined by the copper tapes form. This is what led me to e-textiles.

Again in a unit based around characters, the students followed the same brainstorming and designing process, but this time created their characters out of felt. They then needed to determine where their lights would go and were shown how to create parallel circuits with conductive thread that was sewn into the felt. This time, rather than a paper they used a LilyPad battery holder with a switch that was paired with the LilyPad LEDs. They had to make sure that the positive and negative terminals matched for their circuit to be a success.

Students found very creative places to put their lights within their character designs and we had glowing bow ties, sparkling cheeks and shining crowns.

They were also very innovative when determining ways to cover the battery holder with felt flaps and disguising their stitches with 3D paint.

When reflecting on the process of this soft sculpture character, the students identified the LED light circuit as one of the most successful parts of their work. Not only did the process enable them to develop an understanding of circuitry but it also enhanced their sewing skills as well as enabling them to use light as a creative component of their design.

Featured Products:
Felt Sheets 10 Colours 20 x 30cm – Pack of 50
Kids PVA School Glue – 1 Litre
Conductive Thread – 23m
Colour Slix 3D Paint – Pack of 8

I believe I have only just scratched the surface when it comes to electricity as an art medium where I could be inspired further by artist Haroon Mirza. This could include exploring the idea of light sequencing and programming within artworks that could extend the creative possibilities further for students. Giving them greater control over how the light components of their pieces are viewed by their audience and giving them the opportunity to develop their skills with programming as well as circuitry. The possibilities are endless.

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05/03/2021

Using Sphero Specdrums In The Classroom

Specdrum ring and Boomwhackers with tablet

Since the development of Sphero 2.0 and more recently SPRK+ and BOLT, Spheros have become one of the most popular tools in schools all around the world to teach students the fundamentals of coding and computational thinking. As these technologies continue to iterate and improve, so do the opportunities to empower our students’ learning experiences with creative lesson design.

Sphero has released a new product in Specdrums. The Specdrums are rings that connect via Bluetooth to the Specdrums MIX or EDU apps, to create and play music, sounds or recorded audio when the rings touch specific colours. The great thing with Specdrums is that the rings can pick up on colours on any material, plastic, paper and even the paint on walls, making their use very versatile in the classroom.

The two apps you can use with Specdrums are;

Specdrums EDU App

The Specdrums EDU app connects via Bluetooth to the Specdrums rings. It allows students to use the pre-programmed sound packs which include instruments, synths, strings, animals and sound effects. Students have the ability to create and record their own sounds. Students then link their sounds to specific colours, and when the Specdrums rings touch that colour the associated sound will play. When students have finalised their Specdrums colour codes they can be shared with others via the apps QR creator feature.

Specdrums MIX App

The Specdrums MIX app uses the Specdrums mat, which comes together with the Specdrums rings when purchased. It allows students to become their own DJ by exploring and creating their own musical remixes. Students have the ability to record their own voice and sounds that can then be played back when the ring touches the specific colours of the mat.

Sphero Specdrums was originally designed with the intention to create and produce music. Along with its use in the music classroom, Specdrums can be integrated and linked to other curriculum areas with creative lesson design. Here are some of my favourite integrated Specdrums lesson ideas;

Music
Students can explore and remix their own music by changing the colours to respond to notes and music scales in both the Specdrums EDU and the MIX apps. Within the EDU app students can click and select different instruments to play including the piano and stringed instruments, linking the notes to various colours which can be customised accordingly.

Boomwhackers Lesson:
Boomwhackers are eight polyethylene coloured percussion tubes perfectly tuned to the C major scale. As students learn about the specific sounds each note makes they can associate these with the various colours of the Boomwhackers. Using the Specdrums ring, students can then replicate these colours with the same scale.

ART
Students can bring their art masterpieces to life by creating sounds or recording explanations that are played when the Sphero Specdrums touches specific parts of their artwork.

Primary & Secondary Colours
When learning about primary and secondary colours, students can create art pieces and programme the Specdrums ring to pick up on colours within their art piece to explain their learning. For example, when the Sphero Specdrums touches a particular colour students can record themselves explaining what happens when that colour is mixed with another.

Feelings/ Emotions
Using a provocation such as the movie ‘Inside Out’ or the picture book ‘Feel A Little: Little Poems About Big Feelings’ by Jenny Palmer, students can learn about the various emotions we experience through coloured characters. Using the Sphero Specdrums, students can explain how they feel by touching the various colours with the Sphero Specdrums to explain their feelings. Students can create a remix of sounds and have other students try to guess what emotion they are trying to portray through the use of colour and sound.

Unit of Inquiry – Melbourne
With creative lesson design there are many ways to integrate the Sphero Specdrums into your units of work.

Connecting to our Year 3 unit looking at the History of Melbourne, students used the Sphero Specdrums together with a Sphero Bolt to create a model of the city of Melbourne. Students researched information about the unique buildings in Melbourne and then used coloured dots to create an interactive model where others could listen to their researched explanation. (Read previous post to read about how the Sphero Bolt was used to move the trams through the city)

Interactive Posters:
Students create posters or brochures all the time to showcase their learning on a range of topics. Using the Sphero Specdrums, students can enhance their completed product by recording themselves read and explain each key informative aspect of their work for others to listen and learn from. Here are two examples of interactive posters;

There are so many ways to use the Sphero Specdrums in the classroom. This new technology has only been available for a very short period of time and is continually being developed and improved to transform teaching and learning in our classrooms.

How have you used the Specdrums in your classroom?

About the author

Eleni Kyritsis is an award-winning Year 3 teacher and Leader of Curriculum and innovation from Melbourne, Australia. Eleni facilitates professional learning workshops around the world that focus on unleashing creativity and curiositrobotoic in classrooms. You can contact her at elenikyritis.com and @misskyritsis

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05/02/202121/05/2021

Exploring Screen-Free Robotics With KUBO

Finding the right Digital Technologies resources for your classroom can be tricky, especially when there are so many to choose from. This blog post is going to put a special spotlight on one resource that may help to support your curriculum and engage your young learners. Let me help you take the guesswork out of selecting a robotic resource to support your early years classroom!

Directional sequencing is an important step towards more abstract coding and programming that develops in the higher bands of the Digital Technologies curriculum. The concept of directional sequencing can quite easily be coupled with the Mathematics discipline and the Numeracy General Capabilities. Finding meaningful ways to integrate approaches to learning is a key indicator of working smarter, not harder. But how can we make this meaningful and relevant in an everyday classroom?

Introducing Kubo!

Kubo is not only a fantastic support for directional sequencing, but it can also be used to extend basic sequencing skills to include iteration. Plus, he’s super cute. Kubo uses unique technology, puzzle-like TagTiles® and colour activity maps to provide playful access to the Digital Technologies curriculum and engaging activities for students.

In my specialist Digital Technologies lessons, I use a range of digital and unplugged resources to approach the concept of sequencing. Providing a range of activities builds comfortability in the discrete skills and capabilities we intend to pass on to students. Kubo is quickly becoming a crowd-favourite activity!

In particular, the ability to record and play back sequences of code has maintained high engagement in our lessons. The activity shown below illustrates a sample line of code that has been created and recorded by the robot. It’s as simple as building the line of code, placing the ‘record’ TagTiles® at the beginning and end and allowing Kubo to roll over the top to memorise the code. Then, simply move your Kubo onto the mat and discover the successes of the sequence. This activity has flexible differentiation, where students can begin with simple lines of code and then continue to extend as their skillset increases to lengthen the code or to include iterations.

A new rotational activity that I’ve been incorporating with my Year 2 classes is called ‘Kubo Challenges’. This includes students using challenge task cards to sequence their Kubo robots to ‘collect’ various items on the town map or reach various alpha-numeric grid references. Students use their iPads and digital portfolios to take video evidence of them completing each challenge task card. This is increasing student ICT General Capabilities and providing an easy way for myself to flick through the various work samples of a large number of students within a cohort. Additionally, publishing this evidence to a digital portfolio provides students with a platform to reflect and build on previous learning experiences.

Incorporating the alpha-numeric grid referencing is also a great way to add value to the lesson by touching on the Numeracy General Capability. Students can refine their understanding of location and transformation and activate prior knowledge of concepts within the Mathematics curriculum. Click here to download a free copy of the challenge cards I use.

I like to partner students up for these Kubo Challenges to encourage teamwork, peer support and resilience. This is an enjoyable rotation for the students to participate in and, better yet, it’s super simple and resourceful to set up each lesson. After investing in a few ‘training lessons’ for the students to understand the procedures, techniques and expected behaviours, this rotational activity now simply runs itself.

Inside the Kubo product box you will receive a range of TagTiles®, Micro-USB charging cord, easy-to-store coloured activity map and the Kubo robotic device. The Micro-USB attachment makes storage while charging very simple and compact. Kubo also have a YouTube channel with plenty of tutorials for setting up, implementing and extending on coding concepts.

Robotics resources may be difficult for schools to fund and in any sense, the robotics need to be respected by all users. A few rules I have my students practise when using the Kubo are:

- Hold the Kubo with two hands (one on top, one underneath).
- Walk, don’t run! You might knock over, drop or step on a robot.
- Do not push and pull the Kubo like a toy car.
- Always count and place the TagTiles® back in the container neatly.
- Sharing is caring.
- Always charge the robot when finished.

Having rules in place for the use of robotics in the classroom will also boost student ownership of the learning experience. Students will develop a respect and appreciation for the resources they are accessing and will show a higher level of focus on the activity in front of them.

Selecting the right robotic device for your classroom can be overwhelming. I recommend checking out the Kubo information and videos available on the MTA website if you’re interested in giving Kubo a go! Finding resources that support meaningful engagement within the field of Digital Technologies is key for the effective implementation of the curriculum. Find what works for your classroom and I challenge you to find further cross-curricular links you can make with the technology you have. I’m confident you’ll find the best way that works for you, allowing you to share the passion you have for your lessons with your students.

Featured Product

Kubo Coding Core Kit

About the Author

Taylor is a Specialist Digital Technologies Teacher in a primary school setting. In her five years of teaching, she has found a passion for integrating a range of technologies into her classroom and strives to share these experiences with those around her. Follow Taylor along in her teaching journey on Instagram @taylorteachestech

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Students must hold maths in their hands before they can hold maths in their heads” (Anonymous)

Number & Algebra:

Measurement & Geometry

Statistics & Probability

Students must hold maths in their hands before they can hold maths in their heads”
(Anonymous)