The following course will be an introduction to Scratch, an online programming website designed for students of all ages. "You can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century." (Scratch, 2019) Scratch is more than just a programming platform. Students can create stories, play interactive games, and more with the use of carefully monitored content. As policymakers develop the NYS K-12 Computer Science and Digital Literacy Learning Standards, it's important we begin the process of incorporating the guiding principles and concept areas into our daily teaching. Current concept areas include impacts of computing, computational thinking, networks and systems design, cybersecurity, and digital literacy.
This course will focus on multiple standards, as they will build upon one another and create a cohesive learning experience. Standards may include:
* 4-6.CT.1 Develop a computational model of a system that shows changes in output when there are changes in inputs
*4-6.CT.7 Identify pieces of information that might change as a program or process runs.
*4-6.CT.8 Develop algorithms or programs that use repetition and conditionals for creative expression or to solve a problem.
*4-6.CT.10 Describe the steps taken and choices made to design and develop a solution using an iterative design process.
*4-6.DL.1 Type on a keyboard while demonstrating proper keyboarding technique
The activities within this course will introduce students to Scratch programming as well as begin their thinking in a more computational-based, problem-solving way.
Resources:
Scratch. (2019). Retrieved from About Us: https://scratch.mit.edu/about
http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/curriculum-instruction/computer-science-digital-fluency-standards-k-12.pdf