Coding Is Elementary
Authored by Jenna Seymour & Jeff Bodmer-Turner
Essex
Elementary and Memorial Elementary have participated in the Hour of Code since
its inception in 2012. The HofC is a week-long event originally created by a
professional computer science organization designed to stimulate interest
in computer coding. The activities involve game-based modules that
teach basic block programming and some text programming in JavaScript. The idea
initially was to devote a single class period to these coding activities so
that students would become interested in coding and ultimately pursue computer
science as a field in college. The website presents all the statistics about
job growth in the field and the lack of qualified American graduates emerging
from our universities.
Each year
we set aside time in the elementary classrooms, usually a math period to
participate in the Hour of Code. Students enthusiastically joined in the
activities. They expressed that it was really cool to get the Zombie to eat the
sunflowers by guiding the Zombie through a maze using repeat commands and
conditional statements (if a path to the left, take it, etc.). Craving more and
more activities, some students continued to pursue coding challenges in the
computer labs as extension lessons or free time activities.
Starting
two years ago, and especially last year, the code.org website began experiencing traffic
problems. Millions, literally millions, of students were attempting
simultaneously to log on to the most engaging activities and site delivery
crawled to a stop. The organizers cut back on saving individual student
progress and still students experienced website delays and crashes. Our
students were frustrated with the activities they previously really enjoyed.
Before the
Hour of Code was even started, MERSD elementary school Technology Integration
Specialists saw the importance of including coding and programming in the
technology curriculum. With the advent of HofC these specialists realized that
a week of coding activities was insufficient to teach anything that would last.
We don’t do an “Hour of Nonfiction Writing” or an “Hour of Biology” and expect
students to pursue careers in Journalism or Pharmacology. In the past we had
some coding in first and second grade built into the Lego Engineering program.
We also had bits of coding in other areas and grade levels of the curriculum.
Together the two elementary technology specialists, Jenna Seymour at MMES and
Jeff Bodmer-Turner at EES, began to piece together a vertically integrated
coding curriculum which starts in first grade and extends through fifth grade.
These pieces are being taught utilizing a simplified engineering design cycle,
tablet based software to write programs, and hardware that includes age
appropriate, hands-on devices (e.g., Blue-Bot programmable floor robots,
Pro-Bots, and Spheros). We also teach using Apps such as Daisy the Dinosaur,
Codable, Scratch, Jr., et al. Our goal is to include coding curriculum in
well-designed units of instruction which go beyond a single week of the Hour of
Code.
As a result
of these experiences and curriculum design decisions, we are building a more
sustainable model for elementary students to learn to think about solutions to
challenges utilizing coding concepts. More work needs to be done in the
transition from block-based programs to language-based code. For now we are
trying to reach as many students in the elementary schools as possible with
activities based on the Massachusetts Instructional Technology Standards and
the ISTE National Technology Standards for Students.
An Hour of
Code is pretty cool. Five years of spiraling curriculum at the elementary
school level is, we believe, a stronger approach.
Thank you
for this opportunity to share with the School Committee our work with students
in this particular area of technology.
Jeff Bodmer-Turner Jenna Seymour
Technology Integration Technology Integration
Essex Elementary Manchester
Memorial Elementary
