Sphero Team
Students and teacher sitting at table working with littleBits.

This mini-lesson is an excerpt from our Educator’s Guide, which contains other lessons, challenges, tips & tricks, & more. Click here to read the full Educators Guide.

Lesson Plan Design with littleBits

As you begin to design littleBits lessons for your own classroom, you may find it helpful to think through and use the following framework for planning inquiry-based lessons, especially when students are getting started with littleBits modules.

Create Connections 

Set the stage for learning by engaging student interest in the purpose of the lesson. This may include brainstorming, discussion, and defining the lesson objective. Consider:

  • What prior knowledge might help students with this lesson, and how can you activate this knowledge?
  • How can you help students begin to generate questions to engage them in the lesson?
  • How will you make connections between this lesson and past learning experiences?

Teach Concepts

Provide time for students to actively explore littleBits modules and begin to generate questions for further exploration. Consider:

  • What specific concepts would be useful for students to understand in order to be successful with this lesson?
  • What concepts can students discover through experimentation with littleBits, and what concepts are best taught through explicit instruction?
  • What steps would help students refine and improve their design? For example, sketching or peer brainstorming. 

Two students create an invention with littleBits at a table in their classroom.

 

Foster Engagement

Students are given an opportunity to conceptualize and verbalize their thinking, and demonstrate what they are learning through prototypes. Formal terms are introduced and concepts are explained to students as needed. Consider:

  • Which modules will students need to accomplish the goals of the lesson?
  • What questions can you ask to further refine students’ thinking and focus them on the goals of the lesson?
  • How can you encourage student ideation?

Encourage Practice

Students further refine and extend their conceptual understanding through additional experiences. This may include testing and refining the original prototype. Consider:

  • What questions could you ask students to refine their thinking?
  • How can you challenge students to think beyond the current task and deepen their understanding?

A boy builds a littleBits invention at a table in a classroom.

Close with Consideration

Students share and document their understanding of the key concepts presented in the lesson. Consider:

  • What authentic assessment measure will help you determine if students have met the lesson objectives?
  • What opportunities exist to incorporate other curricular areas, such as English Language Arts, into the assessment
  • How will students share and document their understanding?