One of the largest road blocks to having K-5 teachers implement computer programming skills is TIME! I have often heard my teachers saying "I just can't add more more thing to the day."
That's why I think that the success of incorporating computer science skills INTO the curriculum is essential! Currently, I am looking at the CCSS and the learning progressions. Using Scratch (www.scratch.mit.edu) - a FREE website, I am working on creating lessons that are aligned to the CCSS in ELA and math.
Please feel free to use the FREE resources and worksheets for the Hour Of code week - December 9th thru December 15th! The worksheets take the Kindergarten student through the process of creating a holiday card through various screen shots.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
On my way to San Antonio to set up the Aris - Augmented Reality Game for the ISTE 2013 conference. Sitting at the Baltimore airport...waiting for the connecting flight :-(
Follow along as I blog about the process involved in setting up one of the first Augmented Reality games for ISTE members to play while at the conference! It will involve learning about computational thinking skills in a "Gamification" format for adults.
Then...it will involve thinking about how educators and incorporate these skills into their teaching.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Throughout the school year, students create PowerPoints, Prezis, Digital Stories, Posters, etc...why not create a video game?
My daughter has a teacher who does an excellent job differentiating for the needs of her students. Thus when Bailey showed an interest in electricity and compacting through the unit, she allowed her to create a video game to help her classmates review for the test.
Needless to say, she earned a 100% on the final unit test and she new the content forward and backward. In the process of creating the game, she really had to "know her stuff!"
Her classmates had a lot of fun reviewing with the game and test scores were higher than normal for the entire class! Many students now want to learn how to create these games.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
I've finally decided to split my blog so that I could focus on providing resources, ideas and materials for those interested in K-8 computer programming. I keep hearing that we are not generating any interest in this topic, however...I am hoping that there are more of you out there that are attempting to incorporate the skills of computational thinking and programming into your core curriculum.
I have just finished creating a template for teachers to use in creating a realistic Family Feud type of game that will allow their students to play on the web. For those of you familiar with Scratch, this should be pretty easy.
For those "newbies," I have created a document that provides you will step-by-step directions on which seven programming blocks you need to change to create your own questions and answers. Click on the game and feel free to download and use in your own classroom!
If you would like the directions, you can find them here:
My goal is to post at least two/three new resources each week. Also...check out the K-8 programming playground at:
Feel free to follow along on my journey! Your STRETCh Instructor - www.stretchinstructor.com