Last Saturday I spent the morning at the School Choice Fair, and enjoyed the opportunity to share some of the amazing things that go on at Sinclair. A great many of the people who stopped by to talk to us were looking for Kindergarten and Pre-K programs. That got me thinking about what I have done with these grades in the past, and what I have planned for them going forward, so it seemed like a good week to write about the youngest engineers and computer programmers that I teach.
I will begin with Pre-Kindergarten. My schedule last year did not include them, so this is the first year that I have seen them in the lab. I teach each Pre-K class once a week (rather in than in a two week block as with the other grades), so they are not working on a themed unit like other grade levels. Instead, during each class period I guide them through a set of activities in which they have the opportunity to practice their creativity in a variety of ways. It is important to start children early with creating and making things so that it becomes a habit. There is also a great deal of research that children, especially the young, learn best when they are given the opportunity to explore and build, to "construct knowledge".
We start each class with a song or two. The first was "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", which many students knew. Few of them, however, were familiar with the idea of a song that had hand motions. That was perfect because it allowed us as a class to imagine our own. I asked questions to get them thinking like, "What does something look like if it twinkles?" and "How could we show 'up above' with our hands?". After a few good minutes of conversation and practice, we had student generated hand motions for "Twinkle, Twinkle." (I was most impressed a couple weeks into the year when one of the students noticed that "Twinkle" is set to the same tune as "The ABCs".) We have repeated the process of creating hand motions now for "London Bridge" and "This Land is Your Land".
Next, we move on to some kind of hands-on creating. So far, this has included drawing images from the songs we are singing or activities we have talked about. Also, I have had them building with Unifix cubes. We are 5 weeks into the school year now and I am amazed at how much more complex their structures have become with a little encouragement and guidance. The first week, every student built the longest stack of blocks they could. Standing up, it was a tower, on the floor, it was a snake or a train. After a short class discussion about what bridges looked like, they began building some very exciting structures. It has been wonderful to watch them break away from the one dimensional train of blocks. In addition to bridges, they are now building houses, cars, and animals.
Kindergarten, who I see two weeks at a time, by class, began the year learning the basics of computer programming. They use a resource from Code.org designed for early readers in which students solve a series of puzzles using blocks that represent lines of Javascript code. The students create algorithms that navigate characters through sets of mazes or that draw pictures. The goal is to get them thinking logically about the steps needed to accomplish a task. As they progress, the students learn about concepts such as looping and debugging. Another important part of this unit is what is called "pair programming". In this, students work in teams of two with one acting as the "driver" and the other as the "navigator". The driver uses the mouse and keyboard while their navigator watches for mistakes and offers suggestions. A great part of this program is that both students are able to login as a team, so that both are earning credit for the puzzles they solve together.
I started using Code.org with my 3rd graders a couple years ago (when I was still a regular classroom teacher). They are now 5th graders entering their third year of computer science instruction. While it is anecdotal evidence at best, those students seem more skilled in algorithmic thinking than they might otherwise be. I have had subject area teachers tell me that they have seen the students make connections between the computer science skills I have been teaching them and the work they do in their classrooms. All of which is to say, I am excited to see what my current kindergartners and first graders will be capable of by the time they get to 4th and 5th grade. I suppose I am just hoping that I am able to keep up with them.
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