Second Graders Create Story Maps with Sphero Robot

by the ILIS Department
Second graders have been learning about story mapping and tracking the path a character takes in a story. They used their literacy skills to create a map that traced the path of a character or characters in a story, then drew their interpretation of the path in a map. Second graders worked in groups to read books that follow the character(s) on a specific path, including Pizza Mouse by Michael Garland, Usha and the Big Digger by Amitha Jagannath Knight, Inky’s Amazing Escape: How a Very Smart Octopus Found His Way Home by Sy Montgomery, The Great Gracie Chase by Cynthia Rylant and Looking for a Moose by Phyllis Root.

After reading the stories in small groups and creating their character paths, students worked in the Sphero EDU app and used Sphero BOLT robots to create a physical representation of their character maps. The Sphero BOLT is a programmable robot ball that can drive and code, providing opportunities to be creative and have fun while learning. Students learn programming, complete hands-on activities with the Sphero BOLT and, in this project, had to think about directionality and the perspectives of their characters. Second graders worked in their groups on coding their robots to represent their characters on the path and used LEGOs to build landmarks that were found within their stories.

After they completed their design, coding and building, students presented their work to the rest of their classmates. In addition to sharing about the stories they read, students created and expressed their ideas and interpretations of their stories and practiced hands-on coding and mapping skills throughout the project.

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