Superheroes, Collaboration and Community!

Superhero books are super popular with my young students. They love all things Avengers and Wonder Woman and Batman. These books are so popular that we have them all in a bin in the library. It is not worth taking the time to shelve them because kids are always looking to check them out. I wanted to think of a way to take something that my students are excited about and find a way to weave that into the curriculum.

Several years ago I attended an amazing professional development conference at High Tech High in San Diego, CA. How the school curriculum and student experience is crafted is inspiring. I incorporated so much about what I learned into my curriculum and work. I still receive High Tech High’s PD journal Unboxed, sharing projects and ideas. One project caught my eye, first graders at the school created and designed their own superheroes. This was the connection and inspiration I was looking for! Taking some ideas from the HTH description and making connections with the first grade class curriculum, a SUPER project was born!

                                            

The project started with exploring and reading lots of superhero books. We have a whole bin full of books on Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Ms. Marvel and more. We read some books together and collected data. After we read one superhero book as a class we collected information on what the superhero’s power was and how they used their power to help others in their community. Using a large grid on the wall, we add our data. Then students worked in small groups with a teacher or a teaching assistant to read several more superhero books. They collected their data and then reported the information back to the class and added it to our wall of data. By the end of our information gathering process, first graders collected data on over 15 superheroes.

Next, we introduced a silent sort. We talked about how we were going to try and organize our data to help understand how superheroes help their community. We started by modeling the process. I took two of the sticky notes from our data wall of examples of how superheroes help their community. I then started to stick them on the walls in different categories that went together. For example, “stands up for people” and “helps people who do not have a voice” went in the same category. Students then worked to move, sort and organize the data into categories. When we finished sorting all the information, we discussed the categories and named the overall theme of each group, this helped us create a list of superhero traits. Each class generated a theme list of five to seven traits of a superhero.This collaborative work showed first graders how to “establish connections with other learners to build on their own prior knowledge in a learning group” (III.B.2)  The list included: Standing up for others, taking care of people we know and don’t know, protecting animals, plants and all living things in the universe, being welcoming to all people in our community, standing up for people who cannot stand up for themselves and using their powers to help others and not for themselves.

The silent sort technique was a new strategy to share with students that showed how to “actively contribute to group discussions” (III.D.1). The sort is a great way to incorporate all students, especially those who need more time to process ideas and share their thinking. Organizing our ideas also helps students to collect their information and as a group decide on themes and ideas from this research, first graders “developed new understanding through engagement in a learning group.” (III.A.2)

Now that first graders collected and gathered information about superheroes they were ready to design their own superhero identity. First graders thought about how they would use their superhero powers to help the school community. After brainstorming ideas, they decided what super powers they would have, how they would use their superpowers to help people in the community and what their superhero name would be.

Next, using the Cricut software, students used shapes to design their own superhero logo. We then cut their logo out of press on vinyl and ironed their logo onto a cape!

The final step was taking their superhero picture. We placed a green screen cloth on the floor and had the student lie down on the floor in a superhero flying pose. We stood on a chair and took a picture from above using the green screen app Do Ink. Now they looked like real superheroes flying to the rescue. Students were able to keep their superhero capes and hopefully they will think about the superheroes they created and be inspired to help the community. I then created a website to share the project and our first grade superheroes with families and the community.

The project was a fun way to incorporate books that are very popular with our students and see them excited to read and share about superheroes. I was also able to introduce some new ways for students to collaborate and share information. Students used a new design tool with the Cricut software to create. They also learned about green screen apps and technology. First graders were so excited to design and create their own superhero identity!

Literacy Skills & Video Game Design: A Perfect Collaboration

 Video games, my students love them! They love gaming from Mario Cart to Minecraft. I am not a video game fanatic or even a casual gamer but I see the appeal of the format. Video games are engaging, fun and exciting and they are a format for storytelling. Some of the more advanced video games have complex worlds, characters, plots and storylines. So it made perfect sense to create a project that connected literacy and storytelling skills with video game making for my first graders. This project allowed me to make connections with the literacy skills that we are developing and what is happening in the classroom and accomplish some of our technology goals in one fun project.

Over the school year there is a common thread when I am sharing a book with my first graders, we talk about the setting, characters, the journey of the story, beginning, middle and end of the story and how those elements are all connected. With this project, I started the introduction following this process. We read one of my favorite books, The Great Gracie Chase. I like this book because of the simple fun storyline and the great illustrations. The book is the story of Gracie the dog,  who is upset when the painters at her house disrupt her quiet house and she is put out for barking. Gracie is deeply offended at this, so she decides to take herself for a walk, something she is not permitted to do. Then everyone in the town starts chasing Gracie to stop her, the race is through the town and more and more people join the chase, until everyone is worn out and Gracie then walks herself back home where it is quiet again.

We created a chart that shared all the details of the story; beginning, middle and end, characters, setting and how all those elements were connected in the book. We talked about the setting of the town and how it connected to the character of Gracie and how the beginning, middle and end flowed with the setting and Gracie. After we documented the elements of the story, we had a conversation about video game design. Many of the video games also have elements of storytelling including characters, backgrounds, protagonists and challenges. We talked about how video game designers work for years to create all of these parts of the game and make sure that their game connects and makes sense.

Next, I shared with students that they would be designing and building their own video games based on a story that they created. The first step was to storyboard and come up with the outlines of their game/story. I modeled my storyboard based on the Great Gracie Chase. I shared that my main character was Gracie the dog, the villains were a bicycle and a paintbrush, based on the people who chased Gracie, her power ups were hotdogs, a food she loves and a goldfish, her best friend,  and the points to collect in the game were dog bones. The setting and background was a neighborhood with a street, houses and trees. The goal was to get Gracie back to her house, the path that the story followed.

Students started by drawing pictures of their main character/hero, then their setting/background, their villain/protagonist and power ups, items their characters could collect to get new lives and powers. We talked about how they were telling a story with their games and needed to make sure that the elements of the game were connected. After the students sketched out their game elements and explained their stories it was time to move to the next step. 

Next, I introduced the app Bloxels. Bloxels is a game building program. The user designs different elements of the game, characters, power ups, villains, etc and allows the user to program the different elements with different features, like powers and lives. The program also uses color blocks for the code. The student is able to place the color coded blocks in the game to program where ground, water, hazards, power ups, villains are in game. The color coded blocks make this video game design program accessible for younger students, they are able to program and code the games following the color system so it is a perfect tool for emerging readers to feel successful in game and coding design producing a fun and impressive game to play.

The students spent several class sessions making their game elements in Bloxels and then coding and building the game in the program. The students connected the coding with their design elements and then tested and had other students test their games. They made different edits to the game based on feedback making sure that all the elements of their game worked, that their game was fun and challenging. (Learner III.C.1)

The final step was to publish the games and have a big gaming day. Students used the feedback I like, I wish, I wonder. After they play a classmate game, the student knows what they like about the game, what they wished they had changed about the game and what they wonder could be added to the game. This feedback routine helps students to expand on their feedback beyond “I liked it, it was fun” and also stays positive by sharing what they liked first and gives suggestions for changes as well as for advancing the game.  (Learner III.C.1)

This was a great project that connected literacy skills and terms that students work in the classroom, connected with coding, design and technology and wrapped it all up in video gaming, something that the students love! They had so much fun with their project and were so proud of the games they created!

Third Grade Cardboard Arcade Extravaganza: Collaboration & Cardboard a Perfect Combination

 When I start planning for projects with my students in the library, my first step is to check in with the classroom teachers and ask about themes, topics and ideas they are looking at in their curriculum. The third grade curriculum focuses on the history of Chicago. Over the years I have created different projects that connected with the curriculum that was happening in the classrooms. (School Library III.A.1) This year I wanted to create a project that would connect with their classroom curriculum but was also a collaborative, hands-on building project. The last couple years of Covid restrictions have limited the collaborative projects I have been able to do in the library. As I was thinking about this project I remember a previous project that I did about the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and the Ferris Wheel, one of the highlights of the fair. This sparked an idea about innovation and other famous firsts that started in the City of Chicago. This led to the Third Grade Cardboard Arcade Extravaganza!

Students started with reading the book Mr. Ferris and His Wheel, the story of the first Ferris Wheel ever built, and one of the biggest attractions at the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair. Students then learned about some of the other amazing innovations in Chicago’s history, everything from car radio to Roller Derby and mobile phones to the first brownie recipe. Third graders also learned that at one time in history, Chicago was the pinball machine capital of the world with all the games made and manufactured here in the city. I shared the story of  Caine’s Arcade, the viral video from 2012 that tells the story of a nine year old who built his own cardboard arcade. Then I shared their challenge, design and build their own cardboard arcade games.

This project was a connection with Chicago history and innovation in Chicago but the main goal and focus was on collaboration. I wanted to give my third graders an opportunity to focus on how they work with each other and remind them of those skills and get back into the collaboration mindset, something that was rusty since Covid mitigations limited student interaction. One of the main goals was to have students establish group norms before they got started designing so that they could learn to be better collaborators. The very first step when they were placed in their groups was to create their group norms for how they would agree on their design and material choices, how to manage disagreements and how to handle job assignments. After each group set their norms, we were ready to move to the design step. (Learner III.B.2, Learner III.D.1)

One of the first activities groups did was brainstorming and sorting. Students started by brainstorming ideas for arcade games they could make out of cardboard. Each student had a set of post it notes, I set a timer and students started writing down all of the games they could think of to make with cardboard. Some of the games were based on games at the arcade or ones they saw in Cain’s Arcade and some of the games were ones they made up. Students could write down names or draw pictures of their games. Next, they did a silent sort of their ideas, placing and moving their ideas into piles of similar game ideas. This allowed the teams to narrow down their ideas to about 3-4 game ideas. Students then talked and compromised to pick a final idea. Some of the groups decided right away noticing that they had the most post it notes in one type of game, some had to talk things through and compromise by taking parts from different games and combining them to make their own new game. (Learner III.C.1, Learner III.B.1, Learner III.A.2)

Teams worked together to decide on their game and then sketched out their design ideas, including what materials they would build with, the rules and instructions for their game and tickets, and prizes for players. Students in their teams also focused on working together to assign different jobs so that they could complete their cardboard arcades in the timeline that we had.

Then they started building! Using materials in the TIDES Garage, including lots and lots of cardboard from the cardboard closet, duct tape, plastic wrap, hooks, battery timers, pipe cleaners and more, they built their prototypes. Throughout the process, third graders tested their games, and made changes and adjustments to make sure they worked. They created signage for their games with instructions, and created ticket dispensers and prize bins. Teams tested their games by asking fellow classmates to read their instructions and test the games to make sure other third graders would be able to play the games. ( Learner, III.A.3, Learner III.C.1)

After every team finalized their games and added decorations, it was time for the Third Grade Cardboard Arcade Extravaganza!

The whole third grade gathered in the library to spend time playing all the amazing cardboard games that they built! Students and teachers had a great time playing games, collecting tickets and winning prizes. It was a fun way to celebrate the collaboration and design process the third graders engaged in to make some really cool arcade games!