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"If you've ever wished your childhood Lego creations could come to life, your dreams are now closer to reality. Lego has just unveiled a new subbrand called Boost which promises to do just that. The base set contains a combination of sensors, motors and a unique companion app that teaches kids how to code so that they can program their new robot friends. Lego's Mindstorms could let you do this too, but that's a decidedly more advanced system aimed at young adults. Boost, on the other hand, is designed for kids ages seven and up. The Lego Boost base starter set is priced at $160 and will be available later this year."

"For one language arts class project, a middle school teacher in Shelburne, Virginia, Chad Sansing, asks his sixth graders to read Peter Cherches's 1986 poem "Lift Your Right Arm," and then translate it into computer code. The poem occurs in action sequences-for example, "Lift your right arm, she said./I lifted my right arm." Sansing and his class conceive a list of actions, sketch ideas of how to code them, using icons or letters, and then code the poem. In doing so, the students become producers of both a new language and way of seeing poetry. Sansing's students have also translated the poem's code into Scratch, to create animation, and into LEGO Mindstorms EV3, a robot-programming language. This innovative way of engaging students with poetry is just one example of how educators are increasingly integrating transmedia techniques in their teaching and assessments. What is the point of this activity? "To help kids see connections between grammar and code," says Sansing who shares his lessons on his "Classroots" blog."

"My colleague and I walked into a room filled with a dozen fifth-grade girls snacking on pretzels and huddling around a LEGO robot they had named Kitty. Two of them were laughing about the goggles they had made out of robot wheels, while another small group crowded around a laptop to program wheel rotations. The rest attempted to drive Kitty through what looked like an obstacle course. It was our first glimpse into life as mentors for the Girl Scouts of Western Washington's LEGO League, a competition that combines programming LEGO Mindstorms robots, team project planning, and creative problem solving to get kids excited about science and technology."

"Junior Pi Projects: Hacks & makes to inspire your kids NERF Gun Robot: FRED-209: You have 20 seconds to comply with this incredible toy gun toting smart robot Make a MIDI Sound Box: Build your own sound machine in this month's Pi Bakery Control LEGO MindStorms: How to use LEGO robotics kits with Raspberry Pi MonsterBorg, PiJuice and OLED Bonnet reviewed Need more details? View the contents for info on every article."