Washington Primary School has been celebrating Computer Science Week with a long list of fun learning activities.
In preparation for the initiative a collection of stories and activities related to coding and digital citizenship was curated and presented by librarian Rebecca Kraus on a website. “This resource was shared with teachers as well as students and will remain accessible throughout the year,” she said.
Washington School students had fun learning more about computer coding.
Students explored an assortment of coding related skills during the week, which cover some basic concepts, including:
- Sequences: An order of events
- Algorithms: The series of events, or steps, which must be completed in order to complete a task.
- Conditions: The “if/then” sequence or rules a programmer designs so that a computer would understand what to do to complete a certain process.
“Kindergarteners and first graders explored sequences and algorithms while second and third graders explored all three topics,” Ms. Kraus said. “Using what we learned about these concepts in computer science, students were able engage in screen-free paper coding activities based on the classic story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”
After listening to the story, kindergarteners and first graders cut and pasted events from the story into the correct sequence (i.e. Goldilocks eats the porridge before breaking the chair). The youngsters were told that by comparison the story of Goldilocks would not be correct without the right order of events.
Second and third graders were presented with a scenario where Goldilocks wanted to program a robot to take more porridge from the bears. “Putting themselves in the role of Goldilocks, the students set conditions for Goldilocks’ robot, or the ‘Goldi-bot,’ to follow,” Ms. Kraus said. “For example, conditions were set for our pretend robot that if <porridge too cold> then <do not take porridge>. Using a grid, we also drew a program for the Goldi-bot to follow in order to locate the correct porridge without running into the bears. Finally, students drew another grid to help the bears find their stolen porridge.
Presenting the lesson in this format helps students visualize these basic processes in coding without a screen, providing an alternative avenue for students to practice the logical reasoning exercises involved with coding. Once students finished, they were given the opportunity to explore the coding activities provided on the library website.
“We are excited celebrate Computer Science Spirit Week 2020,” Principal Michelle Richards said. “Each day is a theme that we will explore as a building. To highlight the day we wear a certain type of clothing. Computer science is so relevant during this time especially since we are using technology more than ever before. Our students are exposed to the different levels of basic coding. They learn that coding is a set of directions that we enter into a database in order for something to take place with little effort from us. The computer is able to do what we want as long as we enter the code properly.”