Showing posts with label computer programming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computer programming. Show all posts

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Exposing K5'ers to Computer Programming

Working on creating more projects aligned to CCSS in math! This one is for K.CC.1 and allows students to count along from 1-100!


Click on the 'See inside' button and show the K5'ers what programming looks like.

Once inside you can select the sun ...


Then click on the middle pannel and 'Costumes' and 'Clear.'

Look at the blue highlighted sun above and just above it is an icon of the character to the left of the paint brush. This will allow your class to pick their own character or object to stamp on the page!

You can also change the sound if you want. 

Just select the middle number (highlighted in blue) and click on the 'Sound' scripts and replace the drum with another sound.

The K5'ers will love customizing their counting game and begin their exposure to computer programming and Coding for ALL!




Thursday, May 9, 2013

Scratch 2.0

I'm so excited...


but keep seeing this screen! I've been checking like every 1/2 hour or so! Have a web-based version will be a HUGE benefit to teachers everywhere! No more fighting with the IT guys and downloading the program onto the server!

Stay tuned to the blog as I continually update with more K-8 Coding challenges aligned to the CCSS in math!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Gamification - Jesse Schell video series

So...I am taking the Penn state Coursera course called "Gamification." Below is an outstanding video that was referenced in the class!

This is a must view!!



Feel free to share comments below!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

ISTE 2013 - Augmented Reality Game Post #2


Trying to figure out the waypoints...landmarks!

Got up early this morning to head to the Convention Center. There is a rather large parking structure that cost $11 for the day...right across the street from the center. Just an FYI - we parked at about 8am and the lot was full by 9:30.

Went in search of photos and learning the "lay of the land..." In order to create the Aris game for everyone, I will be dividing the game into QUESTS that teams can participate in.

I thought Henry B. Gonzalez should be a part of one of the QUESTS, as the convention center is named after him. I took a pic and then used iPhoto to make it black and white and "older..." Thought this might bring authenticity to the video clip I am planning on bringing into the game.


Lots of walking around to find the Map points and the images I would need. I then headed back to the convention center to play around with ARIS. Finding the convention center on the map was not too difficult; however, figuring out if I needed a character, plaque, or an object was a bit tricky.


Luckily my husband was a good sport, because I would create some of the programming pieces and then send him out to test and see if it showed up on his ARIS app. We spent a total of six hours gathering our resources and testing and trying the various ARIS programming options.


Headed back to hotel and will pick up again tomorrow!



Friday, March 29, 2013

ISTE 2013 - Augmented Reality Game

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.




Sunday, March 3, 2013

Creating a BASIC digital story-telling project with only 3 programming blocks!

Worked on the first lesson today and finally have it ready for you to use. I will continue adding lessons/worksheets/ rubrics/ instructional videos through the remainder of the year. Please keep checking the Blog, for updates.

Here is the video:



and the worksheets (including a teacher resource page, student worksheet AND rubric) can be found on the following website page:

https://sites.google.com/a/stretchinstructor.com/k-8-programming-playground/lessons/digital-storytelling/grades-K-2



If you decide to try this, please feel free to let us know how it goes by providing a comment to this post.



What Most Schools Don't Teach...

So...how do we take the intimidation of coding (computer programming) out of the equation? "In the next ten years, there will be about 1.4 million jobs in computer science and only 400,000 qualified graduates to fill those jobs."

Please see the following video that stresses the importance of computational thinking and learning how to code (program). If you attended my classroom 2.0 live webinar yesterday, this video is a more detailed version of the one we previewed at the beginning before the session started. It REALLY is a powerful message and includes Bill Gates and a quote from Steve Jobs.



Stay tuned for my first instructional video geared toward my vision of K-8 computational thinking (programming) for all! I will be posting a video for the "newbies" that uses only three of the programming blocks and is easy enough for even the K-2'ers!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Magnetism & Electricity Video Game

Video games can bring engagement through mastery of content. Bailey, a fourth grader who scored above an 80% on her pre-test for an up-coming unit on electricity and magnetism, decided to create a video game review for her classmates to use in preparation for their unit test.

Not only did Bailey increase her computational thinking skills, but she also scored a 100% on the post-test, as she had to know the content forward and backwards in order to create her game. Her classmates also found success in studying for their unit test, but evaluating and providing feedback to Bailey on the game she created.

When all was said and done, over 90% of the students received grades of 90% and above on their unit final. The lowest score was a 73%! Take a look at an up-close and personal interview with Bailey, as she shares her project and insights with you!


Monday, January 28, 2013

Video Game creation for learning!

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. 

Scratch Project

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. 




Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A website that is "GOLDEN!"

Came across a "GOLDEN" website full of resources!


A lot of great resources and has a curriculum that you can download. Please pass this one along!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Welcome to K-8 educational programming!

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. 

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/heidi_STRETCh/3048296
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