Engage

Launch the Engage Section

ACTS is what the teacher will do and ASKS is how the teacher will facilitate.

ACTS	ASKS
Make a connection to Lab 2. Say, “We now know a little about how the 123 Robot works with us, but now we need to figure out how WE work with the 123 Robot. Demo the Do’s and Do Not’s. The teacher should take out the 123 Robot, and pretend to snatch it off the table and mimic winding up to throw it to a student. Teacher will replay taking the 123 Robot out with the student’s corrections. Then pass it gently to a student, and ask if he/she can show how to pass it to the next person. Teacher moves to the child who has the robot, and asks him/her to press an arrow. As the child goes to press it, the teacher should try to keep pressing buttons at the same time. Teacher thanks the students who participated in the “demo”, and collects the 123 Robot back. Give students a chance to practice careful passing of the 123 Robot.	What will happen if we all try to grab and touch the buttons at the same time? Is that how we should handle our 123 Robots when we take them out? What should I do differently? Respond enthusiastically to student’s corrections: Oh, I see. Thank you for showing me how to take care of my 123 Robot so well. Is that all I need to know? What about that? Can we all press the buttons at the same time? Thank you. I can already tell that you are going to be really good at what we’re about to do today. Let’s practice how we can work with our 123 Robots.

ACTS

ASKS

Make a connection to Lab 2. Say, “We now know a little about how the 123 Robot works with us, but now we need to figure out how WE work with the 123 Robot.
Demo the Do’s and Do Not’s. The teacher should take out the 123 Robot, and pretend to snatch it off the table and mimic winding up to throw it to a student.
Teacher will replay taking the 123 Robot out with the student’s corrections. Then pass it gently to a student, and ask if he/she can show how to pass it to the next person.
Teacher moves to the child who has the robot, and asks him/her to press an arrow. As the child goes to press it, the teacher should try to keep pressing buttons at the same time.
Teacher thanks the students who participated in the “demo”, and collects the 123 Robot back.
Give students a chance to practice careful passing of the 123 Robot.

What will happen if we all try to grab and touch the buttons at the same time?
Is that how we should handle our 123 Robots when we take them out? What should I do differently?
Respond enthusiastically to student’s corrections: Oh, I see. Thank you for showing me how to take care of my 123 Robot so well. Is that all I need to know?
What about that? Can we all press the buttons at the same time?
Thank you. I can already tell that you are going to be really good at what we’re about to do today.
Let’s practice how we can work with our 123 Robots.

InstructInstruct students that while they know a little about how the 123 Robot itself works, today they are going to make some decisions together about how they will take care of their 123 Robots.
- Suggested language: We have classroom and school rules and agreements so that we know how to play and work together, right? So now we’re going to think about how to create some of the same kinds of rules and agreements for how to treat our robots and each other, while we work together.
DistributeDistribute the Robot Rules print out to students (optional). Project the Meet Your Robot story.
FacilitateFacilitate a conversation connecting likes/dislikes from the Meet Your Robot story to how rules are made. (Likes are things that you should do to take care of the 123 Robot. We should not do anything that the 123 robot dislikes.)
- Suggested prompts: What is a rule in our classroom that helps us to be treated in a way that we like? What is something that Vex likes that might help us make a good rule? What is something Vex does not like, that might help us make a good rule?
OfferOffer positive feedback for students as they make successful connections between the information in the story, their own experiences of rules, and Robot Rule ideas.

Teacher Troubleshooting

Allow students to sit with their group and give students specific roles or tasks in the group. One student can be the scribe—writing or sketching ideas, while the other student handles the 123 Robot. Make sure to let students switch roles at least once during the Engage section of the Lab.

Give frequent, timely, and positive reinforcement for any and all prosocial behaviors that occur in relation to the 123 Robot. It may seem repetitive, but when a new product or process in the classroom brings excitement, it is easy for students to lose track of the behavioral strides they may have made in other areas.

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