Vicki's Tech Hub

 Having opportunities for students to think critically, communicate those thoughts, and collaborate with a partner in real-world situations provides ample learning opportunities. This month is Space Month and 4th grade students have spent the month learning about the different moons in the solar system. The goal was to use robots to take a moonwalk on a scaled floor model of the planets and a few specific moons. The robots stopped at each of the designated moons, told an interesting fact about the moon, and then moved to the next moon. The coding objective was to create a block coding program where the robot traveled to all the moons and the iPad spoke the facts.  (Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub) The kids did a phenomenal job! They had to communicate and collaborate with their partner while critically thinking and using creative means to achieve their objective - visit all the moons. They ran into several real-world problems, such as running into each other's robots. Running ...

 Critical thinking assists a student in navigating their understanding of the world through personal observation and comprehension. This fosters self-assurance and confidence as students realize the outcomes are derived from a thoughtful process that leads to meaningful results. When you combine critical thinking and creativity, students learn better. Engagement, achievement, and motivation all increase when students are free to explore and show their learning in meaningful ways.  The combination of critical thinking and creativity occurs in one of my favorite projects - the five-photo essay. In this activity, students retell a story using only 5 photos. I have students retell a real story like the sinking of the Titanic or a battle of the Revolutionary War. I create a digital resource library with primary source resources such as newspaper clippings, photographs, or diary entries.  In this lesson, I used the retelling of the Titanic. Students had to tell the story of the...