Hour of Code!

Computer Science Education Week

December 5 - 11, 2016

To celebrate Computer Science Education Week, Mrs. Yollis and her students participated in the global Hour of Code! This is the fourth year of participation for Mrs. Yollis' class. 

Hour of Code ~ 2013

Hour of Code ~ 2014 

Hour of Code ~ 2015

Thank you, Hadi Partovi for creating this project!

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Computer Science week coincides with the birthdays of two computer science pioneers. A pioneer is a person who is one of the first to enter a field of study or explore a new area of thought. 

1. Ada Lovelace, born in England on December 10, 1815, is considered the world's first computer programmer.

Photo Credit


2.  Grace Hopper, whose birthday is December 9, 1906, was an American computer programmer and Navy rear admiral. She contributed to the development of the COBOL language and is credited with popularizing the term "computer bug" in the programming community.


Grace Hopper said, "To me programming is more than an important practical art. It is also a gigantic undertaking in the foundations of knowledge."

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The Hour of Code tutorials are found HERE. Students, you are free to continue using these tutorials at home with your parents. Share what you've learned with the class in the comment section!

We Tweeted about our progress using the hashtag #HourOfCode. 

What did you create with code?

What are some coding sites or apps that you like?

Teach us some code in the comment section!  

FBM Winner :: Elie's Java Script Game

Elie is our second place winner for Family Blogging Month! Congratulations on your win! 

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One of the prizes included a free post on Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog. Elie is a fine, fine coder and created this game for you on Code.org.

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

Here is the code Elie used to create this game:  

Here is Elie playing his game and narrating some of the elements. He used the Acer app called Kazam to make this screencast. 

Here is a link to Elie's game!

Did you win Elie's game? If not, try again!

What kinds of games have you created?

Aaron's Robots!

One of Mrs. Yollis' former students, Aaron, came back to class today and shared about coding and robotics. It was perfect timing because this week is Hour of Code! 

Aaron talked about how robots use motors and sensors. He writes code programs to make his robots move and complete tasks. Some coding programs Aaron uses are java script from Code.org and some are the drag and drop block style used in Scratch.   

Here is the mechanical robot named EverStorm. 

Student were very interested to learn how to make a robot move, and asked intelligent questions to learn more. 

After some discussion, Aaron brought his two robots to the rug to see them perform the commands Aaron had programmed. 

The class was impressed!

What did you learn about robots from Aaron?

How are robots like the games and tasks on Code.org and Hour of Code?

Do you have any follow-up questions for Aaron? 

Family Blogging Month Winners!

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Congratulations to our Family Blogging Month Winners, 

Nolan, Elie and Dylan!

  

Each blogger received a free kid's meal to a local restaurant, a fabulous crown to wear, and a free choice post on Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog!

Past FBM winners have made these blog posts: Meet Mr. Gallon Movie, Doggy Disobedience School, Sarah Performs Chopin, and Meet Heather's Dog, Rocky.

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Mrs. Yollis created the idea of Family Blogging Month back on April 1, 2010. The participation, the quality of the commenting, the interaction and learning that transpired via this classroom blog and the 365 Project makes Mrs. Yollis beam with pride.


Not only are her students and their family members becoming superior writers, but they are also honing important digital skills like how to communicate and contribute on line, how to limit personal information on the Internet, and how to develop a dynamic digital footprint. (To hone is a fancy verb that means to improve over time.) 

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Mrs. Yollis would like to personally thank all the parents and family members for their constant support.Your participation is the key to your child's educational success!

What did you think of Family Blogging Month?

Who commented from your family?

Where did your family comment from? 

What Are Text Features?

Mrs. Yollis' class is learning about informational text. 

Informational text, or nonfiction writing, is based on facts, real events, and real people. There are many helpful text features found in nonfiction writing. Some common text features are:  headings, subheadings, captions, diagrams, time lines, maps, charts, and the glossary.

Below is a humdinger of a video made by Sheriff Yollis and Sheriff Salsich. They hope their video helps you greenhorns learn about about these important reading features!

Yee-haw!

Here it is on Vimeo if YouTube is blocked.

The Nonfiction Trail from Jonah Salsich on Vimeo.

 What are your favorite text features?

(Headings, subheadings, captions, diagrams, time lines, maps, charts, and the glossary.)

In class, we are writing informational text. What two text features are you using in your informational text and WHY?

What text feature is not necessary in your information text?

An Online Community!

We are part of the Edublog Student Blogging Challenge. 

This week the focus is on the idea of community. One of the things we love about our class blog is that it is a fabulous way to build an online community!

There are many benefits to our online community. By having a class blog, we get to practice and promote our reading and writing skills. In addition, it gives us an online place to strengthen our digital citizenship skills and build quality digital footprints. Most of all, the class blog provides a wonderful space for students, families, and global friends to learn about one another.  :-)

Here is an excellent example of our online community. One connection leads to another. Watch the connections build in the comment section!  

This photo about The Real Four Corners started a chain of comments! 

The above photo lead to this geography post: Family Blogging Month :: The 50 States and some graphing about which states family members had visited. 

Here is Allie's graph. (Click to enlarge.)  

The Family Blogging Month :: The 50 States blog post lead to this chain of interesting comments in the comment section!

Allie's mom left a comment: 

Allie and Chaolin replied: 

Allie's mom replied back to the girls: 

Elie's mom joined in with a comment for Allie's mom:

Elie's dad wrote to his wife, Elie's mom:

Allie's mom replied back to Elie's mom

What a wonderful exchange! We love our online community!

What do you like about our online community?

What other communities do you belong to? How did you get involved and what do you enjoy about the community?