Fifth graders at Laburnum Elementary have been learning about the layers of the Earth in Science (SOL5.7d), so today students in Ms. Johnson’s class created 3-D models of the Earth using CoSpaces. First, I set up a free classroom account, and the students logged in with a code. Usually, the first thing you do in CoSpaces is click the Environment button at the bottom and chose an environment. We decided to use the default environment for this project to save time. Then, we clicked on Library button and chose the Build tab to find the half-sphere shape. We added that to our scene, and I showed them how to use the pop-up tools to raise the shape and rotate it. Right-clicking on the shape brings up a menu that we used to change the color of the shape. Since this represented the crust, we also added a label using the right-click menu. Then, we duplicated the shape, shrunk it a bit, recolored it, and labeled this new half-sphere as the mantle. Some chose to try to push the shape into the crust, while others left theirs out. The students continued in this way, adding the rest of the layers of the Earth. Finally, we chose a character from the characters library to add to the scene. The characters can be customized and given speech bubbles by right-clicking on them. CoSpaces has a coding component as well, but we didn’t have time to code during this lesson. We shared our projects in Schoology, and you can see some student examples here.

Fifth graders at Holladay Elementary have been learning about classifying objects (SOL5.1a) and organisms (SOL5.5b) using various characteristics. Today, students in Ms. Haislip’s class practiced this skill by classifying their classmates. First, we went to AvatarMaker and created an avatar that looked like us–same hair style, eye color, etc. We downloaded the image as a 200×200 png file (click “Download”). Then we uploaded it to a shared Google slideshow so everyone could see each other’s avatars. Once all the avatars were uploaded, I turned off file sharing so no one would accidentally move or delete the images. I arranged the avatars neatly on the slide then instructed the students to make a copy of the slideshow (File > Make a copy). On their own copies, they duplicated the class slide (Right click > Duplicate slide), and we discussed ways to classify the students into groups with common characteristics. The students had many great ideas: gender, hair color, eye color, glasses, facial expression, etc. They chose a characteristic and typed it in the top of the slide. Next, they clicked and dragged the images to sort them into groups. As an option for making the groups clearer, I demonstrated how to create shapes with the Shapes tool and send them to the back (Arrange > Order > Send to Back). If students finished, they could make additional copies of the slide and create different sorts. You can see some student examples here.