Tecumseh Public Schools Young 5s through second grade using robots to learn coding

Mary Lowe, The Daily Telegram
·4 min read
Second graders, from left, Owen Kane, Jacob Snyder, Ryan Waters and Ellie Newnum collaborate by creating sections of a "neighborhood" that allowed an OzoBot to travel and discover different locations. This project helps students learn about new places and people in social studies.
Second graders, from left, Owen Kane, Jacob Snyder, Ryan Waters and Ellie Newnum collaborate by creating sections of a "neighborhood" that allowed an OzoBot to travel and discover different locations. This project helps students learn about new places and people in social studies.

TECUMSEH — Tecumseh Public Schools students from the Young 5s through second grade are using robots to learn the basics of coding, among other lessons.

OzoBots can be paired with other literature, math and art concepts. The purpose of the project is to engage students in learning that involves problem-solving along with working with others. Students work on other programming projects using the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) curriculum, which includes science, technology, engineering and math.

Using the OzoBots gives students hands-on practice prior to doing programming on iPads. The robots allow students to work with programming, also called coding, without screen time making learning more interactive, creative, collaborative and age appropriate.

OzoBots use sensors to follow lines and color codes. Although the OzoBots can be used with an app, Amanda Spohn, STEM teacher at Tecumseh Acres Early Learning Center, likes to use screen-free lessons with her students so they can experience coding in a more hands-on, play-centered way. 

Makenzie Palmer, left, and Hazel Berna do their initial lesson work in the classroom. OzoBots use sensors to follow lines and color codes.
Makenzie Palmer, left, and Hazel Berna do their initial lesson work in the classroom. OzoBots use sensors to follow lines and color codes.

“At its face, students are learning the basics of coding. But they are also learning that computers only respond to the directions given to them and that the design process is critical in coming up with solutions to problems,” Spohn said. “We use the design process — Ask, Explore, Model, Evaluate, Explain — in all of our modules and it extends to this learning as well. Students have to design pathways for the robots to follow that solve a problem and have to test their ideas at every step before moving on.”

This type of STEM learning relates to future careers for the students.

“This may seem to be mostly about computer programming, but it is much more. Students always work in groups. Sometimes they are also assigned specific jobs while other times I let them figure it out,” Spohn said. “They have to communicate and collaborate to be successful. They learn pretty quickly that listening to others tends to lead to better results while fighting and ‘going solo’ tends to lead to errors and a general lack in progress.”

Spohn’s students love the OzoBots.

“Whenever students see robots, you've hooked them. Robots lead to an immediate high level of interest and engagement,” Spohn said.

Mason Clark, a first grade student in Spohn’s class, has an OzoBot at home.

Mason Clark, a first grade student in Tecumseh Early Learning Center STEM teacher Amanda Spohn’s class, has an OzoBot at home. He said his favorite thing about the OzoBot is the coding because he can make the OzoBot go in any direction he wants it to go.
Mason Clark, a first grade student in Tecumseh Early Learning Center STEM teacher Amanda Spohn’s class, has an OzoBot at home. He said his favorite thing about the OzoBot is the coding because he can make the OzoBot go in any direction he wants it to go.

“My favorite part of the OzoBot is the coding. I can make the OzoBot go in any direction I want it to go. I love having an OzoBot at home,” Clark said.

Another one of Spohn’s students, Declan DiGioia also enjoys coding.

“I really like OzoBots a lot. I like making my own codes the most. I have learned how to code a path. Coding is really fun to do and it’s easy when you learn,” DiGioia said. “My favorite thing about the OzoBot is that it is little and it lights up. I like that it goes where I code him to go.”

Declan DiGioia, a student in Tecumseh Early Learning Center STEM teacher Amanda Spohn's class, enjoys coding. He said he has learned how to code a path and that his favorite thing about the OzoBot is that it is little and it lights up.
Declan DiGioia, a student in Tecumseh Early Learning Center STEM teacher Amanda Spohn's class, enjoys coding. He said he has learned how to code a path and that his favorite thing about the OzoBot is that it is little and it lights up.

Spohn enjoys this work with her young students.

“I like what I like about anything concerning students — if it creates a high level of student engagement and makes students want to get up and come to school — then I've got them hooked in to not only working but doing difficult work,” Spohn said.

Spohn recently received a $1,484 Marilyn DiCarlo Memorial mini grant from the Tecumseh Schools Foundation that will allow her to purchase eight OzoBots. The ones they've been using are on loan from the Lenawee Intermediate School District.

The Tecumseh Schools Foundation Marilyn DiCarlo Memorial Mini Grant program awards grants for enrichment programs, lectures, student assemblies, research and development, projects that facilitate community partnerships, fine arts, and cultural programs for Tecumseh students. In this particular case, the grant went toward innovative classroom projects and special materials.

The Tecumseh Schools Foundation has provided funds to Spohn’s STEM classroom in the past. In 2017, the foundation gave her a Marilyn DiCarlo Memorial $1,200 mini grant.

This most recent grant will benefit all students at Tecumseh Acres Early Learning Center and may also be shared with students at Sutton Early Learning Center. 

“I am so grateful for their support. Although the district provides funding for our PLTW program, these robots are an additional cost that the foundation has generously covered,” Spohn said.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Tecumseh Public Schools youngest students using robots to learn coding