First Graders Play Copycat with Kidspiration

First graders become very well-versed using the tool Kidspiration. In addition to making webs of their spelling words each week, student use the various reading, math and social studies/science templates included in the program to compliment their weekly stories, practice math skills, and organization information about topics such as the weather, their bodies, and the solar system. This week, students used virtual pattern blocks within Math View to create pictures.

Each student was given a bag of random pattern blocks to create a picture. The children were asked to use all their blocks in the picture and were only allowed to trade blocks with a neighbor who was also willing to trade. After designing their picture on the computer table, students had to recreate their picture using virtual blocks on the computer. This activity fosters spatial awareness, an important skill for developing readers as well as beginning geometry skills. Students used rotation tools to help flip blocks and the color palette to match colors between the real blocks and virtual blocks. Once their picture was copied, students were asked to write at least one sentence about their design, remembering that a sentence always starts with a capital letter and ends with punctuation.