breaking the code handout from tech expo 2015

Breaking the Code:Getting Elementary Students Started in Programming

Tech Expo 2015

April 17, 2015

Linda Brandon, Manager of Instructional TechnologyChris Ruggiero, Director of Curriculum, Mathematics

Kathleen Costello, Fifth Grade Teacher

Lakeland Central School District

This past September England became the first country in the world to make computer programming compulsory at all levels. From the time they start school at age five to when they complete their first exams at 16, children are learning coding, from understanding simple algorithms to using programming languages to solve computational problems.

According to Code.org, only one in 10 U.S. schools teach children to code, despite forecasts that computer-related employment will rise by 22 per cent by 2020, with the strongest demand for software developers.

Source: code.org

Source: code.org

Lakeland’s Story: 2013-14How the Coding Initiative Took Shape

• Tech Expo 2013, 2014: Two sessions

• Wrestling with the CCSS for Mathematics

• Spring 2014: One club at one elementary school

• Reading up on coding in schools

• “Running parallel”

Lakeland’s Story: 2014-15

• Not exactly aggressive out of the gate

• Fall 2014: plan emerges

• Where do we find the time?

• Where do we find the funding for stipends?

• Staff selection

• Training

• How did we select students?

Our Philosophy of Student Selection

• Presentation to all fifth graders

• Limited size of group…to begin with

• Selection by lottery

• Gender-based “affirmative action”

• Be flexible; students on autism spectrum tend to excel at coding

Curriculum

• Join Scratch (scratch.mit.edu)• Do the tutorials• Join the Education Group and download

Curriculum Guide (http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/)

• Be prepared with a discrete project each week with many permutations for those students who need more challenge

• Have skills build upon each other week by week• Provide activities that are ELA based as well as

math and science based

These are “givens”

• Students will discover on their own

• Teacher does not need to have all of the answers

• Students work well in teams

• Be flexible!

• Allow students to showcase their work (within parameters) by setting up a Scratch Studio

Suggestions

• Set up accounts for students with generic log-ins (no personal information shared)

• Show students scripts and have them predict what will happen

• Provide debugging activities

• Provide vocabulary or word wall

• Get parents involved!

What are the benefits?

• Common Core

• When children go home, what do you want them to do?

• Fun

• Public relations

• Staff morale

Why Coding?

• Students are producers, not consumers of technology

• Teach students to think logically and sequentially• Students begin to understand the technologies

we use every day• Encourage interest in careers in technology• Start young when they are ready to learn these

skills (like foreign language)• It’s a 21st century literacy• It’s fun!

Other Tools to Explore

• Code.org

• Made with Code (by Google)

• Khan Academy

Contact us!

• Linda Brandon lbrandon@lakelandschools.org

• Chris Ruggiero cruggiero@lakelandschools.org

• Kathy Costello kcostello@lakelandschools.org

Join Linda’s Scratch wiki: http://scratchcoding.wikispaces.com/

Send Linda an email if you request membership