Young Readers' Series: Robot Encounters

Course Description     

Description

Ever since Isaac Asimov created his Three Laws of Robotics, people have pondered the proper relationship between humans and robots. In this theme, students read about robots and other forms of artificial intelligence engineered to serve humans by competing in athletic events, providing security, and running households. But what happens when the robot wants more? When teen rebels want to escape from a school that is training them to become super villains against their will, can the artificially intelligent entity that operates the institute prevent their escape? The stories include humor, suspense, fantasy, mischief, and adventure. Tom Swift- Young Inventor [The Robot Olympics] by Victor Appleton; Eager by Helen Fox; H.I.V.E. by Mark Walden.  

Readability

The easiest method to check readability for your child is the “Five Finger Rule.” Have the child begin reading aloud any page of a book at random and raise your finger each time he or she struggles with a word. If your child reaches the end of the page before you have raised five fingers, your child should be able to read the book independently.

CTYOnline simplifies this informal assessment by linking to pages of almost every book in the Look inside the books section. Please perform this “Five Finger Rule” assessment on the last or next to last book of any course you are considering.

Appropriateness

Parents should be aware that each theme contains books with humor, suspense, mystery, sadness, adventure, and heroism. Overall, while our courses contain advanced grade-level material, we strive to select materials appropriate to the ages of the students. Please look inside the books and read reviews to decide whether these books are appropriate for your child. If you are still uncertain whether your child is ready for a course, please email ctyonline@jhu.edu or call 410-735-6144. 

Look inside Tom Swift - Young Inventor: The Robot Olympics
Look inside Eager
Look inside H.I.V.E.[Higher Institute of Villainous Education]

Read Reviews.

Parents are urged to review for appropriate content.

Reviews of Tom Swift - Young Inventor: The Robot Olympics
Reviews of Eager
Reviews of H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education]

Materials Needed

• Tom Swift- Young Inventor [The Robot Olympics] by Victor Appleton (Aladdin, 2006) ISBN 9781416913610
• Eager by Helen Fox (Yearling, 2006) ISBN 9780553487954
• H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education] by Mark Walden (Simon & Schuster, 2008) ISBN 9781416935728

Detailed Course Information

Course Details

Lesson 1: Tom Swift – Young Inventor #2 [The Robot Olympics]

Begin reading Tom Swift – Young Inventor #2 [The Robot Olympics]
Vote your opinion in the Poll
Take a self-graded Quiz
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 2: Tom Swift – Young Inventor #2 [The Robot Olympics]

Finish reading Tom Swift – Young Inventor #2 [The Robot Olympics]
Vote your opinion in the Poll
Take a self-graded Quiz
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board questions.

Lesson 3: Eager

Begin reading Eager
Vote your opinion in the Poll
Take a self-graded Quiz
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 4: Eager

Continue reading Eager
Vote your opinion in the Poll
Take a self-graded Quiz
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 5: Eager

Finish reading Eager
Vote your opinion in the Poll
Take a self-graded Quiz
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 6: H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education]

Begin reading H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education]
Vote your opinion in the Poll
Take a self-graded Quiz
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 7: H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education]

Continue reading H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education]
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Take a self-graded Quiz
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 8: H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education]

Continue reading H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education]
Vote your opinion in the Poll
Take a self-graded Quiz
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 9: H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education]

Finish reading H.I.V.E. [Higher Institute of Villainous Education]
Vote your opinion in the Poll
Take a self-graded Quiz
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board
Contribute two thoughtful posts to the Summary Discussion Board

Lesson 10: Summary Assignments covering all three books

Vote your opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the Blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum.
Complete the Literary Terms Quest [Quest=More questions than a quiz, but fewer questions than most tests!]

Note: You are provided with a list of “Mind-Expanding Vocabulary Words” from each book that you can use to help better understand the book and increase your knowledge of vocabulary words in general.

OPTIONAL -Not required- Fun and Challenges:

• Prepare for the Literary Terms Quest by playing the online Literary Terms games and puzzles.
• Share your favorite stories and authors with other students in the Recommended Reading Wiki.
• Print out and work on the crossword puzzles that have been provided to help reinforce your knowledge of the "mind-expanding" vocabulary words.
• Use the Vocabulary Words Review Games to help learn the vocabulary words in a fun way.

Time Required

This course requires approximately three hours for each of the ten lessons. Students should expect to spend:

• approximately 3 hours per week during the fall, early spring, mid spring, and early summer sessions
• approximately 6 hours per week during the 5 week intensive midsummer session
  
  Note: Students do not have to meet in the classroom at the same time. A student's written work can be posted in the virtual classroom at the student's convenience as long as deadlines are met.
  
  Learn more about the summer sessions.

Sample Assignment

Demo

Robot Encounters Sample Assignment

To give you an idea of the type of assignments involved, the following is the first of ten lessons:

Instructions for Lesson One

All work is due by the following Sunday at midnight. (That's the end of Sunday, not the beginning!) This means that your assigned reading should be started early and completed by Thursday night--at the latest--to allow you enough time to finish all the assignments (Reading, Quiz, Poll, Blog, and Discussion Posts) by Sunday night.

1. Begin reading Tom Swift-Young Inventor #2: The Robot Olympics by Victor Appleton in the following chunks:

Chapters 1 & 2 (pages 1-25);
Chapters 3 & 4 (pages 26-56);
Chapter 5 (pages 57-80)

2. Read the pages above and then take this self-graded Quiz.

Directions: Read the pages listed above for this lesson before taking this self-graded quiz. If you don’t know an answer, refer to your book. To answer the last two questions, count how many questions you answered correctly without

referring to the book. Feel free to click on the links to learn the definitions of literary terms such as “inference,” “simile,” “alliteration,” and “onomatopoeia.”

3. Vote your opinion in the Poll.

4. Post ONE of the following blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum:

a. Read through the description of the Swift family’s home on pages 15-18. Write a 50 - 250 word description of your own “dream” home with your own futuristic inventions. Be sure to let us know what each invention is used for.

b. During the tour of Swift Enterprises, we only see one of the laboratories and the prototypes that are being developed. Using your imagination, write a 50-250 word description of what the children might have seen if they had walked into another of the Swift laboratories.

5. Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board in response to any of the following questions. (Remember! At least one of your two thoughtful posts should be in reply to a discussion post made by another student.)

a. Compare robot thinking to human thinking. “Right now, I knew, the microprocessors in his electronic brain were analyzing the data from its sensors in order to rapidly arrive at a decision” (3). Is this different from what we do as humans? In what way, if any, is it different? In what way is it similar?

b. SwiftBot vs. Tom. In the first chapter, why does Tom’s “inner inventor” secretly wish that SwiftBot was winning the basketball game (5)? Based on what you have read in the first chapter and your own common sense, describe the advantages that SwiftBot has over Tom. What advantages does Tom have over the robot?

c. Robots replacing humanity. Tom and his family are talking about the group TRB (the Road Back) during their lunch, and Tom’s father says, “’They’re afraid that robots are going to replace humanity’"(23-24). Do you think that could really happen? Why or why not? How have robots replaced humans so far in life’s activities?

d. The car of the future. Do you think it would be fun to have a car that can navigate on its own as Tom’s Speedster is described in Chapter 3? What might be some of the risks of a car that navigates on its own? How about a car that seals and locks itself? Does this technology remind you of anything we have now? What do you predict will be the next technological breakthrough in cars that will take place in the next five years?

e. How inventors feel about their robots. Why do you think Tom is upset in Chapter 3 that the reporter asked about SwiftBot’s balance problem in front of the robot? Do you think he was right to be upset? Why or why not? Why is Tom so protective of the robot? Do you think that the other contestants are as protective of their robots? Do you think that the robot’s shape or its design with human features makes a difference as to how its designer might feel about it? Do you think there is any advantage in making a robot that does not resemble a human?

f. The tour of Swift Enterprises. In Chapter 5, Tom leads a group of his fellow contestants in a tour of his father’s headquarters. Which of the inventions described in this chapter appears the most possible or realistic? Which, if any, strikes you as totally unbelievable or improbable? If you were in Tom’s position, would you allow your competitors into your father’s headquarters? What might be some of the risks of letting Andy in particular participate in the tour? Why does Tom suggest that ignoring Andy’s big mouth might just be the best way to handle it? Do you think that will work with Andy? [Remember: You are required to post a thoughtful 3-4 sentence response. Please do not try to answer all parts of this question yourself, so that your classmates also have the opportunity to post their own intelligent responses to parts of this question!]

Note: You are provided with a list of “Mind-Expanding Vocabulary Words from Tom Swift: The Robot Olympics” that you can use to help better understand the book and increase your knowledge of vocabulary words in general.

OPTIONAL--Not required--Fun and Challenges:

• Share your favorite stories and authors with other students in the Recommended Reading Wiki.
• Print out and work on the crossword puzzles that have been provided to help reinforce your knowledge of the "mind-expanding" vocabulary words.
• Play some literary terms review games
  

System Requirements

• CTYOnline courses require a properly-maintained computer with Internet access and a recent-version web browser (such as Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer) with the Adobe Flash plugin.
• Students are expected to be familiar with standard computer operations (e.g. login, cut & paste, email attachments, etc).
• Spam blockers, parental controls, and other internet filtering software must allow email from JHU (jhu.edu & jhem.jhu.edu), and from the instructor's email address (provided at start of course).
• Since this course uses a web-based classroom for assignments and group discussion, your browser will need to allow cookies, javascript, and popup windows from the classroom web site.

Reviews

"It is refreshing and motivating for my daughter to read the instructor's specific remarks (She is accustomed to receiving "good" as the sole comment on her efforts!)."

"The instructor was extremely attentive and very encouraging. We thoroughly enjoyed working with her this summer.  She was able to direct my son in such a positive way and leave him empowered to dig deeper into his thinking and writing based on what he read. He was always left more inspired to read more and write more after he read her constructive and encouraging words each week. My husband and I were extremely impressed by the caliber of this course (our very first CTYOnline ever!)."

"I really liked how my instructor gave me detailed feedback, which helped me improve further each week. She was very approachable (albeit via email).  I can tell she enjoys teaching and is very kind. I've learned to analyze books in more depth and write thoughtful discussions."

"The instructor’s feedback and instruction have increased my daughter's confidence with regard to her writing skills. My daughter is expressing a strong desire to become an author and wants to continue learning more about writing. She has always excelled in writing at school; however, after taking this course, her middle school teachers have commented on how much more advanced she is than others in her honors courses because of her style of writing."

"The feedback on the writing assignments was incredibly thorough and comprehensive. My son started the course and submitted disorganized work. The instructor's detailed commentary helped him to improve his work dramatically."

"The instructor provides positive feedback, individualized attention and tips that do not overwhelm the children. She motivated my child and gave her the confidence to express herself."

"My instructor's feedback was very helpful - always taking my thinking to a new level. She was thorough and asked good questions. She also was good at sending reminders regarding the work that was due. She made me a better writer and critical thinker. She taught me to ask more questions."

"The instructor’s feedback explained the strong and weak points in my work.  She did this by first mentioning the things she liked, but she wasn't completely fussy, saying my work was amazing just to make me happy. Then, she would point out things I could improve. She does this not by yelling and screaming (you know what I mean), but pointing it out politely, but in a way that I could understand what to do.  She was nice, but also challenges us.  She was also particular not only about the contents of my writing, but about the spelling and grammar.  Even though she challenged us, she also wasn't too hard. People do not learn when things are too easy. When things are too hard, their brains get confused and they don't learn either. My instructor wasn't too hard, but she wasn't too soft.  She really was an outstanding teacher."

"Before I started my young readers’ course, I both disliked writing, and was bad at it. Whenever possible I avoided it. When I started my course with my instructor, I realized a talent for writing I never had before.  As the course went on I realized I was actually getting impatient, waiting for the next lesson so I could write more.  Before I thought of writing as a chore, the way most people think of school (not me!). Now I like to write and do it like it's something fun, which it is. My instructor taught me not only how to write, but also how to like to write."