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Meet Your Cubelets


Scope & Sequence
Grades 4-6

The following scope and sequence is designed for intermediate students (grades 4-6). Each lesson is intended to last 45 minutes and 10 lessons are designed as a two-week introduction to Cubelets so all students are familiar with the learning tool. Please use your professional judgment in deciding when you need to repeat a lesson, skip a lesson, or combine two lessons based on your class and your students. View the Google Docs version here.

1 – Cubelets Open Play

2 – Investigate SENSE and ACT Cubelets

3 – Building 3- and 4-block robots

4 – Investigate THINK Cubelets

5 – Investigate Two SENSES

6 – Modeling Robots

7 – Cubelets Challenges

8 – Cubelets Storytelling, pt. 1

9 – Cubelets Storytelling, pt. 2

10 – Paper Coding

1 – Cubelets Open Play
Outline
Students play with Cubelets naturally
  • Practice group norms
  • Explore Cubelets – how to turn on Battery, how they attach together
Objectives
Students will use their natural curiosity to explore Cubelets.
Assessment
Teachers look for:
  • Student collaboration skills
  • Students noticing black SENSE blocks

2 – Investigating SENSE & ACT Cubelets
Outline
  • Read aloud Robot Rumpus by Sean Taylor
  • Investigate ACT Cubelets one by one
  • Investigate SENSE Cubelets one by one
Objectives
Students will investigate each ACT and SENSE Cubelet.
Assessment
Teachers look for:
  • Group collaboration skills
  • Students testing each Cubelet in multiple ways
  • Clear explanations of what each Cubelet does
  • Accurate Cubelets vocabulary

3 – Designing 3- and 4-Block Robots
Outline
  • Build Drive Bot with Distance SENSE
  • Build robots using multiple ACT Cubelets
Objectives
Students will practice flexible thinking by redesigning their robots for different jobs.
Assessment
Teachers look for:
  • Students rotate individual Cubelets within a robot
  • Students switch the order of blocks in their robot

4 – Investigating THINK Cubelets
Outline
  • Students investigate what happens when they add the red INVERSE Cubelet to their robots
  • Students investigate what happens when they add the green PASSIVE Cubelet to their robots
  • Students write Claim-Evidence-Reasoning Statements
Objectives
Students will apply the scientific method to investigate THINK Cubelets.
Assessment
Teachers look for:
  • Students test THINK Cubelets multiple times with different ACT and SENSE Cubelets
  • Student collaboration skills
  • Students begin to apply THINK Cubelets using “what if” statements

5 – Investigating Two SENSES
Outline
  • Students investigate robot constructions with two SENSES
  • Students discuss findings from the investigation
Objectives
Students apply their understanding of Cubelets to robots that use 2 SENSE Cubelets.
Assessment
Teachers look for:
  • Students discover two basic rules for multiple SENSES
  • Students continue to ask questions and check their understanding

6 – Modeling Robots
Outline
  • Students build a variety of robot constructions
  • Students choose at least one to model
  • Students swap scientific drawings and attempt to build the robot that matches the image
Objectives
Students will practice scientific modeling by drawing models of the robots they build.
Assessment
Teachers look for:
  • Students drawing with unique properties in mind
  • Students use words to explain their drawings
  • Note: scaffold modeling with this worksheet

7 – Cubelets Challenges
Outline
  • Read aloud The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
  • Teacher gives challenges, students design to meet challenge constraints
  • Students draw models of their designs
  • Students share their responses to the challenges
Objectives
Students will use critical thinking skills to build a specific robot based on a description.
Assessment
Teachers look for:
  • Students understand the description of a robot
  • Students stay on task
  • Students collaborate with peers

8 & 9 – Cubelets Storytelling, parts 1 & 2
Outline
  • Read aloud The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli
  • Students build robot constructions with their group and choose one to write about
  • Draw a picture of their robot IN a story
    • Could be tied to seasons or holidays or special places or imaginations
  • Students plan and draft their story
  • Students share their stories with classmates
Objectives
Students will practice telling stories based on their understanding of how their Cubelet robot SENSEs and ACTs.
Assessment
Teachers look for:
  • Students describe their robot accurately
  • Students tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end
  • Students collaborate with peers

10 – Paper Coding
Outline
  • Introduce learning target and learning task
  • Students investigate Cubelets robot construction
  • DStudents investigate using paper plates/cardstock to make a robot walk in a straight line
Objectives
Students will use spatial reasoning and computational thinking skills to use paper as a programming tool for a robot construction.
Assessment

Students can explain how their paper coding works, and talk about their design process.