Sweetwater School District
Cristy McBee shares with us how she uses Bee-Bots.
“I have been using the Bee-Bots since the first day of school for a number of activities. I
teach kindergarten so the use has been with those students, although we
have also hosted several visiting classes from around our county with
grade levels ranging from PreK through 5th grade and they have all
enjoyed using Bee-Bots.
“We use the robots for one- and two-step
directions at the start. I teach them to turn them on and off and to
clear them (this is the first direction they learn). Next I teach them
how to move the Bee-Bots forward, make turns, and move them backward.
They practice both of these on the clear Card Mat, which I fill up with icons or pictures that I want them to become
familiar with for classroom and school procedures and rules.
“Once my students have a good understanding of the care and operation of the Bee-Bots, I move to a more curriculum-based learning process. Bee-Bots are used for full-class lessons, group lessons, partner lessons, and in individual centers. I use the Shapes, Colors, and Size Mat during math to teach the four basic shapes and the basic colors. I also make my own cards to use with the clear Card Mat to include the additional colors these students need to know to meet proficiency.
Most students know the basic shapes and colors,
so I match the students with partners that need help learning these
concepts. My ELL and special needs students love to learn the shapes and
colors through this means and I will use Bee-Bots as interventions for
them when they do not grasp their colors and shapes in a timely manner
like the others.”
“I use the Alphabet Mat during language arts lessons to introduce and teach letter identification and sounds. Later on we use this mat for beginning and ending sounds. Again, this can be used in a small group or individual center for interventions too.”
“I use the Number Line Mat to teach the basic numbers at the beginning and later we step it up to include concepts like what comes before or after a number and also with basic addition and subtraction.
“I use the CVC Mat
for learning basic words
at the beginning and then later with rhyming and spelling. I also use
this same mat in the Focus on Bee-Bot computer program at one of my
technology centers and as an intervention for students who need the
extra help.
“With the clear Card Mat I change out the squares to include numbers, letters, sight words, color words, spelling words, icons from science and social studies, etc. I have also created several of my own 16-grid mats, which we use for whole class instruction when we introduce new words or letters. The 16-grid mats are our most used mats.
“Finally, we use the Community Mat for basic map skills. We learn directions (N, E, S, and W) and also learn to identify landmarks. At other times the students will use this mat with the road pieces and just play.
“We introduced the Pro-Bot robot later in the year so it is more of a discovery device at this point. I plan to use them in the future to teach more advanced directions, problem-solving, team-work, etc.”
Contact Information
| Name | Cristy McBee |
| Position | Technology Coordinator |
| School | Sweetwater School District |
| Location | Rock Springs, WY |
| Address | 3600 Foothill Boulevard, P.O. Box 1089, Rock Springs, WY 82901 |
| Website | http://www.sweetwater1.org |
| Tags | Bee-Bot, Pro-Bot, Wyoming, Learning Mats |
| Age | Preschool, Grades 1-5 |