The first and second graders involved in this endeavor had some help from the third and fourth graders.

During an afternoon of steering the Cubetto robots across grids drawn on big sheets of paper, all of the students learned more about coding. The third and fourth graders also gained the experience of helping and coaching the younger kids.

“They’re getting to go to another level of learning by showing and teaching,” said Jeanette Larrabee, a third and fourth grade teacher.

The process of moving the Cubetto robots around actually began with lessons that started in January.

- Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Annabelle Klos, a third grader at Community Christian School in Fort Dodge, looks up from the panel she is using to control a Cubetto robot Wednesday afternoon at the school. The green tokens on the panel direct the robot to go straight ahead.

Larrabee said her class has spent at least half an hour a week on lessons related to the Cubetto and coding. She said the students have learned the basic steps of computer coding, and have learned some of the terminology of coding.

“They’ve done amazingly well,” she said.

To prepare for Wednesday, the students were directed to write a story about where they would send Cubetto on a trip. For example, one student wrote about going to the zoo.

The students drew maps, which were basically grids of six squares by six squares, that the Cubetto would travel on. Each map includes something the robot needed to avoid, like lava or water.

A Cubetto robot is a cube with two wheels. The students directed the robot across the map grids by placing plastic markers in a control panel. For example, green markers send the robot straight ahead; red markers tell it to turn right. A Bluetooth connection joins the control panel and the robot.

- Messenger photo by Bill Shea
A Cubetto robot wearing a paper costume colored by a Community Christian School student rolls across a sheet of paper Wednesday afternoon under the control of a student. The school’s third and fourth graders taught the first and second graders how to control the little robots using basic coding techniques.

One Wednesday afternoon, the paper grid maps covered the floor of Larrabee’s classroom with clusters of students around each one talking excitedly as they figured how to send Cubetto robots on their travels.

The Cubetto program is one of eight new science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives launched this academic year at Community Christian School. Larrabee said they emerged from a STEM scale-up program started by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Larrabee said teachers were trained on the new programs last summer.