Creature Craze - Season Planning In Progress...
DISCLAIMER - I hesitate to do this, for so many reasons. You need to read all the materials and plan your 8 meetings yourself. You are smart, creative and have different skills and interests than I do. Your strategy for guiding your team to meet their goals should be your own! I am sure there are plans that will work better than what I propose to do, and there may be missed opportunities or things I've forgotten. But some coaches have requested more specific ideas (even though there is a 100+ page team meeting guide for Waste Wise available in your coach's materials from your FIRST "Dashboard.") So here goes, a first stab at what Pat and I will try to lead the kids through this season:
On Monday, October 17
Email the parents:
- Welcome to the team!
- Coach cell phones
- Ask for their cell phone in case of emergency during a meeting
- No food/drink policy
- What is FLL Jr.
- Promote the G-REC website for more information - 1) http://glastonburyrobotics.weebly.com 2) go to FLL Jr. tab, 3) pull down menu to "For Parents (Jr.)"
- Important dates - meetings and the Expo
- Meeting times
- Room number
- In case of inclement weather, tell them to check G-REC parents' page for updates
- Sign out at the end of meeting
- T-shirt order form - tell them you are going to ask for their child's shirt size at the first meeting
Week 1 - October 19
- Welcome the children to the room, introduce ourselves to the parents, make sure we have their cell phone number
- Play a get to know you game and a name game
- Introduce FLL Jr.
- Introduce the Creature Craze Challenge, including: define habitat, talk about the interconnectedness of nature with concrete examples, tell them that this year's challenge includes a focus on honey bees, look at Engineering Notebook - "Session 3: Honey Bees and Habitats" together
- Brainstorm animals of interest, discuss how we will make a selection (voting? consensus?)
- Explain name and logos
- Choose a name, Engineering Notebook - "Session 1: Name That Team!"
- Experiment with logos, possibly ask them to make a design for homework, tell them that we need to submit the final at the very latest on the evening of our third meeting.
BEFORE THEY GO
- Ask the parents to sign our their children at pick up
- Ask them to fill out their child's shirt size for the team, and let them know if they would like any extra T-shirts for their family, to bring $10 to the next meeting per shirt. (The child on the team is already paid for with their registration fee.)
- Play a get to know you game and a name game
- Introduce FLL Jr.
- Introduce the Creature Craze Challenge, including: define habitat, talk about the interconnectedness of nature with concrete examples, tell them that this year's challenge includes a focus on honey bees, look at Engineering Notebook - "Session 3: Honey Bees and Habitats" together
- Brainstorm animals of interest, discuss how we will make a selection (voting? consensus?)
- Explain name and logos
- Choose a name, Engineering Notebook - "Session 1: Name That Team!"
- Experiment with logos, possibly ask them to make a design for homework, tell them that we need to submit the final at the very latest on the evening of our third meeting.
BEFORE THEY GO
- Ask the parents to sign our their children at pick up
- Ask them to fill out their child's shirt size for the team, and let them know if they would like any extra T-shirts for their family, to bring $10 to the next meeting per shirt. (The child on the team is already paid for with their registration fee.)
Week 2 - October 26
- Open with a fun team challenge, like the human knot, or a fun game
- Adapter from "Build to Express," - as the children to each build something and share it with the group. Maybe something to do with our animal if we've chosen...
- Take a photo of each child with what they built for the "Show Me Poster"
- Choose an animal if we haven't already
- Look at our logos and hopefully finalize T-shirt design
- Look at the Inspire Set, ask the children to build the bee and the hive
- Engineering Notebook - "Session 2: Meet Elisa the Honey Bee"
- Possibly use my laptop to show them a video about bees, or ask the parents to do so for homework
- Engineering Notebook - "Session 4: Habitat Explorers" - talk about our animal, brainstorm a possible field trip, ask them to bring a book next time about our animal and share what they've learned with the group
ACTION ITEMS AFTER THE MEETING
- Print photos of the kids at Walgreens for the next meeting
- Email [email protected] the following:
1) scan or photo of the T-shirt order and
2) .pdf file of the Team Logo for the front of our T-shirts
- Adapter from "Build to Express," - as the children to each build something and share it with the group. Maybe something to do with our animal if we've chosen...
- Take a photo of each child with what they built for the "Show Me Poster"
- Choose an animal if we haven't already
- Look at our logos and hopefully finalize T-shirt design
- Look at the Inspire Set, ask the children to build the bee and the hive
- Engineering Notebook - "Session 2: Meet Elisa the Honey Bee"
- Possibly use my laptop to show them a video about bees, or ask the parents to do so for homework
- Engineering Notebook - "Session 4: Habitat Explorers" - talk about our animal, brainstorm a possible field trip, ask them to bring a book next time about our animal and share what they've learned with the group
ACTION ITEMS AFTER THE MEETING
- Print photos of the kids at Walgreens for the next meeting
- Email [email protected] the following:
1) scan or photo of the T-shirt order and
2) .pdf file of the Team Logo for the front of our T-shirts
Week 3 - November 2
- Show the kids their photos and have them write a few sentences about themselves. Name, age, school, and 2-3 interesting facts. Once they are happy with what they wrote, have them glue their photo. Save these for the "Show Me Poster"
- Finalize the shirt design if you didn't already do that last week and email to shirt coordinator volunteer
- Have the kids share their books about our animal and what they learned
- Introduce the model and its requirements
- Talk about moving parts
- Build something in pairs with the Simple Machines set - possibly gears
ACTION ITEMS AFTER THE MEETING
LAST CALL FOR T-SHIRTS - NOVEMBER 2nd! I will be sending all the files to Paul on Thursday morning.
Email [email protected] the following:
1) scan or photo of the T-shirt order and
2) .pdf file of the Team Logo for the front of our T-shirts
- Finalize the shirt design if you didn't already do that last week and email to shirt coordinator volunteer
- Have the kids share their books about our animal and what they learned
- Introduce the model and its requirements
- Talk about moving parts
- Build something in pairs with the Simple Machines set - possibly gears
ACTION ITEMS AFTER THE MEETING
LAST CALL FOR T-SHIRTS - NOVEMBER 2nd! I will be sending all the files to Paul on Thursday morning.
Email [email protected] the following:
1) scan or photo of the T-shirt order and
2) .pdf file of the Team Logo for the front of our T-shirts
Week 4 - November 9
- Open with a fun game to do with our animal
- Introduce the "Show Me Poster" using Engineering Notebook - "Session 11: Make the Show Me Poster" as a guide, talk about finding answers to the questions posed
- Introduce Simple Machines, and connect what they built last week with the concept
- Show simple machines from my kitchen, to explain how they help us get things done more easily
- Have the kids brainstorm simple machines from their experiences - school? playground? toys at home?
- Introduce a second building challenge from the Simple Machines set, switching up the pairs from last week
- Introduce the "Show Me Poster" using Engineering Notebook - "Session 11: Make the Show Me Poster" as a guide, talk about finding answers to the questions posed
- Introduce Simple Machines, and connect what they built last week with the concept
- Show simple machines from my kitchen, to explain how they help us get things done more easily
- Have the kids brainstorm simple machines from their experiences - school? playground? toys at home?
- Introduce a second building challenge from the Simple Machines set, switching up the pairs from last week
Week 5 - THURSDAY, November 17
- Start planning the model today. Talk about Engineering Notebook - "Session 5: Introduction to Engineering Design"
- Also look at Engineering Notebook - "Session 8: Plan the LEGO Model"
- Last chance to use the Simple Machines sets before their parts get incorporated into the model
- During our Simple Machines activity (switch pairs again), mention that we will need to include at least one motorized simple machine in our model
- Also look at Engineering Notebook - "Session 8: Plan the LEGO Model"
- Last chance to use the Simple Machines sets before their parts get incorporated into the model
- During our Simple Machines activity (switch pairs again), mention that we will need to include at least one motorized simple machine in our model
Week 6 - November 30
- Build the Model, with help from Engineering Notebook - "Session 9: Build the LEGO Model"
- If there is time, work on the "Show Me Poster"
- If there is time, work on the "Show Me Poster"
Week 7 - December 7
- Engineering Notebook - "Session 10: Improve the LEGO Model"
- Work on the "Show Me Poster"
- Work on the "Show Me Poster"
Week 8 - December 14
- Practice answering questions for the "judges" with help from Engineering Notebook's "Session 12: Prepare to Share"
- Final touches to the "Show Me Board"
- Final touches to the model
- Final touches to the "Show Me Board"
- Final touches to the model