Spelling with Bee-Bot
To celebrate Computer Science Education Week,
Piney Point Elementary School held a Robotic Spelling Bee and Open
House. Elementary school students, teachers and invited guests
participated in this contest. As a first step, students practiced
spelling words using “Focus on Bee-Bot,” which simulates Bee-Bot
programming with a variety of maths. The alphabet mat was used for the
spelling bee.
After moving the simulated Bee-Bot on the computer was mastered,
students programmed a Bee-Bot floor robot on an actual Alphabet Mat to
spell words. They started with one-letter words and moved up to
six-letter words. Students moved through the levels using words from the
sentence, “I want to design a present for my brain.” Students can’t wait
for the next spelling bee to tackle the next levels. It was fascinating watching the different strategies students used to
solve this problem. A science teacher said this is hard and really
requires scientific processes and thinking.
A student teaching his teacher how to program Bee-Bot and cheering for
success.
Practicing spelling words with “Focus on Bee-Bot” - “See my score of 20!”
Mrs. North would love to hear from other elementary school teachers about what they do to bring
computer science education to younger children.
Dancing with the Bees
Contact Information
| Name | Karen North |
| Position | Technology Instructor |
| School | Piney Point Elementary School |
| Location | Houston, TX |
| Address | 8921 Pagewood, Houston, TX 77063 |
| knorth@houstonisd.org | |
| Website | https://www.houstonisd.org/Domain/19116 |
| Tags | Bee-Bot, Texas, Learning Mats, Video, Computer Science |
| Age | Grades 1–4 |