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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Fourth-grade students at Robinwood Lane Elementary chose a Pokemon character to find using directions their fellow classmates created.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.'Robinwood Lane Elementary School fourth-grade students found a Pokemon and took a picture like they were capturing it for a project on Sept. 16.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Two fourth-grade students read the maps other fourth-grade students made to try and capture Pokemon characters in the Robinwood Lane Elementary school building on Sept. 16.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Some of the students at Robinwood Lane Elementary stopped to figure out which way to go to find the hidden Pokemon on Sept. 16.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Students walked the halls of Robinwood Lane Elementary on Sept. 16 to try and find hidden Pokemon throughout the bulding using directions their classmates made.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Jeanette Tamulonis, a fourth-grade teacher at Robinwood Lane Elementary, created a lesson using the popular Pokemon Go game for the fourth-grade students.
The activity helped the students differentiate the difference between using absolute and relative locations. They had to create their own directions using relative location to lead students to find Pokemon that were hidden around the school.
“The idea is you want three different characters photographed in the iPad by the time we are done searching,” said Tamulonis.
The students first had to choose a character. They would choose a location in the building to hide the characters. The directions they wrote had to be clear and use relative location. The students walked around the building to get an idea of how the directions need to be written and to learn what is north, east, south and west. The students then created a map on grid paper to help with the hunt.
All of the students were put into groups to create the directions and hide the Pokemon. They would stay in the same groups to try and find where the other Pokemon were placed. Some students had an easy time finding the characters using the directions their classmates had created, while others had a harder time.
The characters were placed anywhere in the building. Some were in classrooms, while others were in rooms like the library or music room. As the students searched in the rooms, they had to keep in mind that other students were working and to not disrupt the class. The students in class also weren’t allowed to give any hints to where the character was located.
“I sent out a message saying ‘we want to do this activity, if you don’t want the kids interrupting the class or coming in the room just let me know and that room will be off limits,’ and not one person said no,” said Tamulonis.
The students were excited to participate in a lesson that incorporated a game they enjoy playing. This was the first time Tamulonis had done this activity and was happy with the outcome.