CSEdWeek Togetherness Tuesdays

At school, we have Togetherness Tuesdays to encourage more families to spend some unplugged quality time together.  They can play a game, read a book, watch a movie, cook a dish, or bake some cookies.  Another way to celebrate CSEdWeek is to do some sketching and coloring together, and learn about algorithms along the way.

The first one is to help Snowy and Frosty build a friend by following an algorithm.  My five year old son really enjoyed this activity and helped me come up with two more.  In the Slides, you will find Snowy and Frosty need your help to build a home, and create a car to go to the market. Feel free to print and use it with your students.

Editable Resource:
Snowy&Frosty's Winter Algorithm 

Happy Coding!

Celebrating CSEdWeek

CSEdWeek is December 9-15 this year! How are you celebrating? At our school, our principal is adding a fun fact about a pioneer in his morning announcement.  Of course, there are many more heroes in computer science, so this is one small way to raise awareness of the people who've made an impact in our daily lives.

Editable Resource:
CSEdWeek Pioneers

In the computer lab, we are creating binary code bracelets to teach students about the computer science word, binary, which means a way of representing information using two options.

Editable Resource:

Binary Bracelet activity

Happy Coding!

CS First Club Game Design

I've been using Google's CS First's Game Design and created a chart and checklist for students to use as they complete each activity. It's an awesome club that can be used with Scratch.  The best part is it's FREE! Read more about it on my guest post on EducateLLC, "CS First Clubs: A Success Story in the Lab". It will discuss how to get started easily.
The Game Design Process involves three steps.
1. Prototype: What is the goal? What do you plan to create?
2. Playtest: What happens when you run the program? What do you notice?
3. Iterate: Did the program run correctly and efficiently? How can it be improved?

The checklist file below can be downloaded and edit to fit the students' learning objectives.  It is one file that has a checklist for all 8 activities in Game Design.  



Printable and Editable Resource:
CS First Club Game Design Checklists

Coding with Robot Mouse

Robot Mouse is a simple programmable robot to start young students on coding. I have been looking for something tangible and easy to use for students in kindergarten and first grade.  The kit comes with maze boards that can be customized.  Initially, it would be easier to create a 2x3 grid for students to get comfortable before piecing the 3x5 or 4x4 maze together. Students can discuss and plan the algorithm using the coding cards (forward, backward, turn left, and turn right) to determine how the mouse will get to the cheese.  Then they enter the commands directly on the mouse using the different color arrows and then press the center green circle. 

Students have a great time programming and re-configuring the grids, and even putting up "walls" to challenge their mouse to get to his cheese.  Another way to use robot mouse is to create math grids with numbers or words to practice math fluency or sight words while coding! With the number grids, students can roll the dice, place the cheese on the sum, and code the mouse to the cheese.

Printable and editable resources:
Plan your Algorithm
Blank Grid for Robot Mouse
Number Grids for Robot Mouse 
Word Grids for Robot Mouse
Eric Carle Brown Bear Sequence for Robot Mouse