Get Creative At Home with PebbleGo

Whether you are an educator or a family, right now we are all navigating the world of learning at home. There are so many digital resources to utilize, but that does not mean learners have to stay in front of a screen all day. Here are 4 different projects that use the PebbleGo modules and spark creativity with resources you might already have around your home.
 

Take Some Nature Photography

It’s springtime and flowers and plants are beginning to emerge outdoors. Learners can spend some time reading about the outdoors in PebbleGo’s science module. In plant classifications, they will find conifers, ferns, mosses, and flowering plants.  In plant parts, they can read about roots, flowers, leaves, and trunks. Once learners have built some background knowledge, they can take a walk outside and gather some materials from nature that they have read about such as pine cones, flowers, leaves, sticks, and rocks. On a table, driveway, or other clear space, learners  can experiment with arranging the objects into words or pictures. With a camera they can take a picture of their creation and have a family member share it online or in a virtual class meeting. They could also leave the picture or word outside for walkers to enjoy looking at.

Write a List Poem

April is poetry month and a great time to experiment with different kinds of poetry. One fun type is list poetry. A list poem is an inventory of people, places, things, or ideas that are organized in a poetic way. Using PebbleGo Animals or Dinosaurs, learners can choose an animal or dinosaur to explore. Then, they can use the article to create a list poem about their animal or dinosaur called “Things to Do If You Are A _________________________”. Poems can be shared at home, on Flipgrid, or in a virtual class meeting.

Here’s an example based on the dolphins article:

Things to Do if You Are a Dolphin
Get soft skin in a salt water spa
Gobble up fish, squid, and shrimp for lunch
Steer through the warm ocean highway
Leap as high as you can above the surface
 

Invent a New Game

When staying in your home for long periods of time, you tend to have a lot of trash and recycling: empty boxes, bags, bottles, tubes, and more.  Why not put some of this collection to use? In the PebbleGo Social Studies module, there are articles on “Games Around the World” and “Games and Fun Then and Now”. After learning about a variety of games and game styles around the world, learners can create their own game.

• Gather some clean items from the recycling. The objects found might inspire a certain type of game
• Sketch out some ideas on paper: What will the game look like? What is the goal of the game? What are the rules? What pieces might need to be created?
• Create a game board and/or the pieces needed to play the game using the objects gathered
• Try the game out.
• Make changes to the game if needed
  

Become a Famous Person

In school, we often spend time learning about people in history. Sometimes we have wax museums where students dress up as a famous person, stand in the hallways of the school, and recite a short monologue. This type of experience could transition to home using PebbleGo Biographies. Learners can select any person from PebbleGo to research. Then, they can write a short monologue from facts under each heading of biographies.

Biography Monologue

• My name is___________________________________________________________
• I was born ___________________________________________________________
• In my early life, _______________________________________________________
• One important thing I did in my life was ____________________________________
• Another thing I did was _________________________________________________

After writing the monologue, learners can explore what items from home could be used to create a costume: clothes in their closet, objects for props, or materials to create something simple. Flipgrid can be used to host a virtual wax museum where each learner records a monologue and everyone enjoys learning about someone new. If educators use virtual meeting tools, learners could share their monologues in a class meeting.
 

Home Learning

During these uncharted times, it is easy to get overwhelmed. When planning learning, keep it simple and fun while taking advantage of materials and activities learners can safely do at home. If you try any of these experiences or create your own uses for PebbleGo at home, tweet photos and tag @capstonepub.