Schoology, Minecraft, and Fitbits make Science

I have had a great time learning about schoology and making a mock up first lesson on the platform.  I've even dragged my friends into the process to help me learn to better use it and get unique feedback from parents.  It's been nice to have CJ and EMan also "taking" the class along with us.

In case you're new here, we're learning about blood this week.  We're learning the parts of blood and what blood does for our bodies.

An added bonus: Typing, spelling and critical thinking in an engaging environment

I decided to make a body in a Minecraft world.  It's coming along nicely and I LOVE having help from my super brilliant husband who has explored the game more in depth than I have.  We're on day 3 of our Schoology/Minecraft Blood lesson today.  As a trial run, I think it's working out quite well.  We're certainly fixing things along the way. 

A good friend even stayed after our preschool lesson today to walk through the Minecraft world and make sure she had an understanding of what she'd be doing with her daughter.

Oh, how do Fitbits make Science?  Well, we had a bit of Minecraft OVERLOAD since January 2nd (CJ's 6th birthday: when he received the game).  Steve and I decided that the amount of time they were allowed to play Minecraft would be related to the number of steps they take in a day.  Once they hit 2,000 steps on their Fitbit they are allowed to play Minecraft for 1 hour.  Today they didn't get to play all day long with regular schooling and such taking up most of the day.  So now, at 5pm, they each have 4,000+ steps and are allowed to play for up to 2 hours.  Though I have no solid opinion on regulating time spent on digital devices, I do enjoy the requirement of "breaks" to get some movement in.  

I've not done any direct instruction with our science lesson so far.  They've watched the music video.  Read a book and explored the Minecraft world.  This is EMan (4.5 years old) explaining what he is working on today.