Monday Made It: Welcome to the SEO

Eeeeee! I'm so excited about my Monday Made It this week, even if it's mostly an idea!

Last year I found the website PowToon and fell in love with the amazing presentations you can create. They are such a creative way to deliver content! Anyways, one of their templates was especially appealing to me, and I thought would be for fourth graders too, but I couldn't figure out how to use it. I have now, though!

I used the Mission template to create a short video that I'll introduce my students to in the first few weeks of school. It welcomes them to the "SEO" (Secret Education Organization) and explains that they're looking for a class to add to their mission team, who is in search of an important code/password. Each mission requires team work, but will ONLY be delivered when the class is exceptionally well behaved. The first mission will probably be a getting-to-know-you exercise. Maybe an application or a letter convincing the SEO to accept our class as part of their team?

I haven't officially decided on the code yet, but the plan is that for each mission students complete, they'll earn a letter. I have three ideas for what the code will be:

1. The first location to a scavenger hunt (Under the Slide) 
2. The name of a reward of some sort (Snack Outside Today)
3. Genius Hour (we'll start when they finish)

Missions will be anything I do in class, just introduced ahead of time in a fun way. They can be simple or a little more involved:

1. Determine the theme of [given picture book]; the third letter in the theme is the third letter in the code
2. Create an argument for and against using solar energy (give a letter after with a note from the SEO thanking students for their advice)
3. Find all factors of 42. The fourth factor's associated letter is the first letter in our code.
4. Reach the 6th level of Code.org. Count the number of steps you need to take. The associated letter is the 6th letter of the code.

I guess all of my ideas so far are associated letter ideas... I'll have to keep coming up with new ones :) I'm so unbelievably excited about this!!! It's just something silly, but I hope it adds a little more excitement to our days and encourages a positive work environment. I think it could work in well with STEM challenges, too!