LTG Year 3 Lessons

  • During Year 3 of the Learning Technology Grant program, teachers received professional development on the CoderZ program, a digital coding program by Lego Education. The CoderZ program provides different learning programs, based on the age and proficiency in coding of the learners. In the LTG, the program during Year 3 focused on our 5thgrade learners and incorporated geometry and algebra, as well as computation, into learning. Students progressed through various “lands” and challenges in the program, working together and individually. We used Zoom each week for students, teachers and administrators to log in allowing for full group lessons for up to 20 students each day and break out rooms for teachers and the program facilitators to work with small groups. Each week of the program, a different and more complex lesson was learned during the two-hour sessions. At the end of the program, students showcased their work and described their learning and their projects. These videos are part of our digital showcase.

    Teachers extended student learning by applying STEM principles learned through the We Do 2.0 kits by Lego and CoderZ’s coding programs to develop their own lessons or to integrate the lessons used in the LTG into their own classrooms. Extensions were made using both equipment purchased through the grant and through digital programs. One of these programs was Minecraft Education, a Microsoft program. Near the end of the year, students in the Yonkers Public Schools studied the International Space Station and space flight, using the Microsoft Suite of applications. Through creating their own space stations using the digital Minecraft Education program, students collaborated in their research to answer the driving question: How can space exploration solve today’s problems?