The Language of Creativity

Every Monday I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider.

Computer Science Education week is officially here! Running from today through to December 10, this event is an international movement designed to introduce students to the field of computer science, strengthen computational thinking and encourage creativity in the digital space.

Last week I shared out one of my favourite coding resources Code.org which is being utilized across the division in a variety of ways. If the idea of coding is new to you, or you are trying to find ways to hook the interest of your colleagues, the following video from the Code.org YouTube channel has been a favourite of mine for a number of years.

The following include some of my go-to resources for coding with students:

Computer Science Fundamentals (Elementary)

“Computer science fosters creativity and teaches students critical thinking skills to become proactive learners, so elementary school is the ideal time for students to be introduced to CS. Our six Computer Science Fundamentals courses are flexibly designed for teachers new to CS who want to offer accessible and equitable introductory CS courses to their students.”
https://code.org/educate/curriculum/elementary-school

Computer Science fundamentals offers 18-22hour courses for K-5 students (including pre-reader appropriate activities).

Computer Science Fundamentals Express (Middle-High School)

“Computer Science Fundamentals Express is a 30+ hour course designed for 9-18 year old students (with an option for pre-readers). It can be taught once a week in a tech class or an after school club, integrated as a unit in a longer technology class, or used as an intro unit in a computer science class. Students learn to create computer programs that will help them learn to collaborate with others, develop problem-solving skills, and persist through difficult tasks. They will study programming concepts, computational thinking, digital citizenship, and develop interactive games or stories they can share.”
https://code.org/educate/curriculum/express-course

Computer Science Discoveries (Middle-High School)

“Computer Science Discoveries is appropriate for 6 – 10th grade students and can be taught as a semester or year long introductory course (3-5 hours per week of instruction for 9+ weeks). The course takes a wide lens on computer science by covering topics such as programming, physical computing, HTML/CSS, and data. The course inspires students as they build their own websites, apps, games, and physical computing devices. Our curriculum is available at no cost for anyone, anywhere to teach. For more information about our goals and approach to our courses, please see our curriculum values and our professional learning values.”
https://code.org/educate/csd

Curriculum Overview

Unit 1:
Problem Solving and
Computing
Unit 2:
Web Development
Unit 3:
Animations and Games
Students learn the problem-solving process, the input-output-store-process model
of a computer, and how computers help humans solve problems. Students end
the unit by proposing their own app to solve a problem.
Students learn to create websites using HTML and CSS inside Code.org's Web
Lab environment. Throughout the unit, students consider questions of privacy and
ownership on the internet as they develop their own personal websites.
Students learn fundamental programming constructs and practices in the
JavaScript programming language while developing animations and games in
Code.org's Game Lab environment. Students end the unit by designing their own
animations and games.

Unit 4:
The Design Process
Unit 5:
Data and Society
Unit 6:
Physical Computing
Students apply the problem solving process to the problems of others, learning to
empathize with the needs of a user and design solutions to address those needs.
During the second half of the unit, students form teams to prototype an app of
their own design, first on paper and eventually in Code.org's App Lab
environment.
Students explore different systems used to represent information in a computer
and the challenges and tradeoffs posed by using them. In the second half of the
unit, students learn how collections of data are used to solve problems and how
computers help to automate the steps of this process.
Students use Code.org's App Lab environment, in conjunction with the Adafruit
Circuit Playground, to explore the relationship between hardware and software.
Throughout the unit, students develop prototypes that mirror existing innovative
computing platforms, before ultimately designing and prototyping one of their own.

What are your favourite coding resources? Share them in the comments below!