Alien Assignment Teacher Review | Common Sense Education

Teacher Review for Alien Assignment

Common Sense Privacy Evaluation: Not Recommended

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Ellen P.
Classroom teacher

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My Rating

Learning Scores

Engagement

Pedagogy

Support

Classroom feedback

My Students Liked It Yes

My Students Learned Yes

I Would Recommend It Yes

Setup Time Less than 5 minutes

Great for Creation
Small group
Student-driven work

Great with Advanced learners
ELL
General
Low literacy
Special needs

How I Use It

I used this app with my students prior to small group science projects on force and motion. I wanted to set the expectations for collaborative work prior to the actual project. I put student into groups of four students. These were the groups that would work together for the science project. Each child was assigned a job: problem identifier, problem recorder, brainstorming leader, photographer. I told and modeled for students the steps to complete the mission: 1) Identify the problem and record it. 2) Brainstorm possible solutions (at least one idea per person. 3) Take a photo of your solution. 4) Rotate jobs. This worked well because each child knew they would get a turn with the iPad.

My Take

There is something so exciting about this app. My students seemed very concerned when I told then they would be working with a small group on the iPad. How could four people share an iPad? Yet when they started the app and received their assignment, the concerned individuals emerged as a team! Students were winding around trying to find objects around the room that fit the criteria given. They then took pictures and, once they had collected them all, brought the iPad to me to review their pictures. I love this app as a teaching tool to emphasize creative thinking and collaboration. I would like a way for students to go back and do the same mission again. By repeating the mission students would have come up with new ways to solve the same problem, hence much higher order thinking.

Great app for creative thinking and teaching kids to work together

Learning Scores

Classroom feedback

How I Use It

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