Summer SAVY, Session 5 Day 1, “Intro to Coding” (1st-2nd)
We had a great first day! Today, I gave students a brief history of coding by reading Grace Hopper, Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark. Students learned the origin of “debugging.” We talked about how Grace Hopper came up with the idea to code using words instead of 0s and 1s. For this course, we are using block code. Primarily, students will use Sphero robots. During Coding Centers, students will use other devices that utilize block code.
To create a foundation for how block code is written, students wrote “If ____, then ____” statements and practiced them with their table group. For instance, “If I say purple, clap once.” After this activity, students used their coding notebooks to draw a shape on graph paper. Then, they wrote code for each step to draw the shape. If their square had a base three squares wide on the graph paper, they wrote ⬆️⬆️⬆️➡️➡️➡️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬅️⬅️⬅️. After students wrote their code, they hid the shape drawing and gave the code to another student. That student followed the code and then checked to see if their shape matched. Then, we learned how to connect iPads to Sphero, and students drew their shape using the “draw” feature.
After lunch, we learned about the career: software engineer. We watched a video interview with a software engineer at Microsoft. Students worked together to create a class poster describing this career. Each day, we will learn about a new coding career and make a poster. After ORA, I introduced block code on Sphero. We learned about the movement block. I taught students about the three variables on this block: direction (in degrees), speed, and duration (in seconds). Students used Sphero to test each variable. Then, they each used multiple blocks to write code for Sphero to outline their shape from this morning.
Each day, students will use what they’ve learned about block code at coding centers. They will rotate through all the centers by Friday. On that day, they will get to choose which center they’d like to repeat. These are the centers: Botley, Lego Spike Essentials, Sphero Mini, and code.org. Students did well with this small group time today.
Each day, I will share some optional activities and conversation starters for home.
- How did changing a variable change your outcome?
- How many degrees are in a circle?
- What did you do when your code didn’t work the way you hoped it would?
- Have your child write steps of code to “program” another family member to move around your house. One physical step should correspond to one block of code.
We look forward to continuing learning more about coding tomorrow!