Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Coding: first steps

I have been thinking a lot about how to introduce the fun and productivity of coding to elementary classes where teacher and students are keen, but no one has any background.
I love the ease and power of Scratch, so that is what I am heading towards, but I wanted to have some introductory activities.
In the last few weeks, two have come to mind, one from a Raspberry Pi post, and the other from a teacher in my board.
1.     Live Computer – to show the precision and accuracy that is needed in programming a computer. In this activity, one person stands at a desk or table, hands at their sides.  The rest of the group is watching and giving instructions on how to butter a piece of bread. I was thinking it could be even more fun to have them pouring a glass of water!

2.     “Unplugged” Computer Science - Coding without a computer. Code.org has a variety of activities to teach the precision and patterning involved in programming using pencil and paper.  

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