Mother's Day Coding Project

Mother's Day is right around the corner and no doubt we will see all sorts of amazing projects coming out of the classrooms this week.  As a mom, it has always been something I look forward to during the year.  However, this year I've found a great opportunity for teachers to integrate coding into a Mother's Day project using the Tynker website.  

Your students can use coding to create a Mad Libs-style story for their mothers (or anyone, for that matter.)  The result is a funny and sweet tribute to their mothers.  What a wonderful way to integrate coding into your Language Arts class. 

Students can choose to apply their knowledge of grammar and storytelling to craft a story such as the one found here.

Another option for students is to create a customized digital card like the one found here.

Regardless which project students choose, I'm positive there will be a lot of impressed mother's out there.  Teachers can sign up for free on Tynker to access these projects and the tutorials.  Also, take a look at Tynker's Four Reasons Why Kids Should Learn to Program article.  It's a great reminder of the importance of coding skills for our students' future.

I hope you and your students enjoy "Tynker"ing this week and Happy Mother's Day to all teachers that are mothers at home, as well. 

~Rosie 

NEW! Connected Posts in Padlet

I was so happy to see that Padlet has included the ability to connect posts in their Freeform Layout.


The connectors are simple, neatly drawn arrows and you have the ability to place a label on them.  It's a great way to create simple flowcharts, infographics and other organizational charts in a collaborative environment.  

You can set one up in just a few easy steps:
1. Start with a Freeform Layout.
2. Make sure you have more than one post on your Padlet.  You do need to connect to something after all.
3. Visit the note's [...] menu and choose to "Connect to a post."
4. Choose which note you will connect and add your label text if needed.

I hope you enjoy using this simple new addition to Padlet and if you haven't tried Padlet yet, then head on over to https://padlet.com/ to learn more and sign up for a free account.

If you have great Padlet ideas for the classroom, please share with me in the comments below.

~Rosie