A Learning Arcade for All
Our school year started with many opportunities for students to interact and learn. We had student council elections, mock Presidential elections, and participated in the International Dot Day as a whole school. This is a fun day we joined three years ago while I was still teaching fifth grade. Each year our students and teachers get more creative and it is fun to watch and be a part of this global event.
October came quickly and our Third Annual Learning Arcade was open for the enjoyment of students, parents, and teachers. Students in grades K-8 designed, built, and shared cardboard arcade games connected to an academic content area. This year, the Cardboard Challenge became our first attempt at whole school PBL project. It was a busy month, visiting all classrooms, sharing ideas, asking questions, and watching teachers and students engage in great conversations about creating, designing, and building using only recycled materials. Four years ago, I learned about Caine’s Arcade and the Cardboard Challenge, and decided I wanted to join this movement. I was not sure how to sell it to my principal so I created a project based unit (which has been a requirement at our school for several years now) tying the Arcade to content areas. I convinced my colleagues in grades 3-5 at the time to join me in the project so we could have a “middle grades” Learning Arcade. Our principal loved the idea and so we started what is now tradition and a much awaited event at our school.
This was the first year doing whole school and while we had our challenges, the end result was a big success. We had our middle school students create and design games for our pre-school students. On Arcade Day, we had middle school set up the arcade for pre-school in our multi-purpose room during the morning. Students presented their creations to younger students, explained the rules, and helped them play and have fun. While this was going on in the multipurpose room, our K-2 students opened their doors for 3-5 to come visit and “play” at their classroom arcades. The afternoon was just as busy, with students in 3-5 opening their doors for all grades to come in and play.
Parents, teachers, and our parish office staff all joined in the fun and learned from all the academic games created by our students. We are already making plans for next year to continue using this project as our starter PBL. With new things learned this year in coding and using robots and Ozobots, I can’t hardly wait to see what creations will come to life at our 4th Learning Arcade!
