Washington Students Study Basic Coding with Bee Bots

Washington Primary School teacher Melissa Mazzalonga’s class had a wonderful time coding Bee Bots in library media specialist Rebecca Kraus’ technology class.

Washington Principal Dr. Michelle J. Richards is a strong proponent of technology education and integrating it into all academic areas.

“The Bee-Bots are programmable, screen-free floor robots that offer great exposure to early elementary computer science,” Dr. Richards said. “The students press buttons to input directional commands, such as move forward or turn. This sort of robotic coding reinforces and teaches students how to give directions in order, otherwise known as to put an algorithm in the correct sequence.”

To navigate the robot across a grid, students must work together through communication and problem solving. These tools are exceptionally effective for kindergarteners because they teach these skills in a collaborative, hands-on play experience.

Beyond basic coding, Bee-Bots strengthen spatial reasoning and persistence, allowing students to master the fundamentals of computational thinking before they ever sit down in front of a computer screen.

Prior to this lesson, Mrs. Kraus presented a lesson in which students practiced full body movement coding with floor mats so that students can master moving forward and turning like a robot using kinesthetic movement.