Book Creator

PCS Tuesday Tech Talks

by Laura Bradley

Pages 80 and 81 of 139

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My first experience with coding was with my 8th grade English class. Since computer games are another way of telling a story, I realized that coding a computer game could be a way to reinforce the narrative elements my students had been learning. They created games based on stories they had written, but students could also design games to reflect storylines in a book they have read. I wrote this article about the project and included classroom strategies and handouts. Students in history classes could also design and code games to demonstrate their understanding of stories from history.
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Coding projects can offer the best of project-based learning as they teach computer science along with a variety of content area and “real world” work skills. For instance, this article explains how learning to code can build numerous cognitive areas that help students to think and process, such as:

  • Understanding logic
  • Applying algorithms
  • Improved memory skills
  • Complex problem-solving skills
  • Staying focused
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This article includes examples of student coding projects across a range of academic areas:
  • 5th grade Spanish students who programmed computers to produce bilingual, animated photo albums;
  • 7th grade science students who modified the code behind climate models;
  • 6th grade science students who programmed claymation plate tectonics to recreate the 2011 tsunami in Japan, the rise of the Himalayas, and the 1904 San Francisco earthquake;
  • 6th grade science students across an entire city who learned about food webs in forest ecosystems, and then coded those relationships and animated them with uploaded photos of their own flora and fauna paintings;
  • Middle school students who used MIT’s App Inventor to create apps “that will help their school community,” such as games, flash cards and translators.

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If taking on a lengthy coding project seems too daunting, we encourage you to start with the Hour of Code. It can help you see what resources are available to you and your students, and it might also inspire ideas for extending the hour into a small project. 
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Check out more coding resources here on the EdTech Resource Hub.
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-November 28, 2023