Pre-K Early Coding Activities

Recap of Early Coding Opportunities for our preschoolers written by Mrs. Becky Wieldraayer: 

I was reading in TYC magazine (Teaching Young Children/Preschool) about activities to introduce young children to coding.   It suggested having the children play games that incorporate math and literacy.  We played board games like Hi Ho! Cherry-O , Chutes and Ladders .

The article also suggested some books to introduce coding.   We first read Mapping Penny’s World.    The book went along beautifully with our plant unit and our garden dramatic play center.   There were gardening books in the center that included maps of gardens.   Some of the students were so excited to draw maps of their plan for a garden.   Other students wanted to draw maps of their bedrooms.

The second book that we read was Hello Ruby: Adventures in Coding.  This book talks about problem-solving, planning and patterning.  We had fun coding various sequences that included clapping, twirling, stomping and jumping.  The students used a Lego girl (they named her Mella) and using grid paper had to get her from a starting point  to ending point.   They had to do this by giving her commands such as two blocks forward; three blocks to the right, etc.   A favorite activity was hiding a ‘treasure’ in the room and giving commands to Mrs. Davenport to take steps through obstacles in the room until she found the flower.

It was so exciting when Mrs. Yandell came to our room with robots !   The students were well-prepared to understand what they were to do with the robots to have them move.

Full STEAM Ahead: Ozobot Community Helpers (first grade)

STEAM  1st Grade

Lesson Plan

Teacher: Mrs. Yandell

Date: 11/16/2016

Overview & Purpose

In this activity students will learn how to give commands to the Ozobots via Ozocodes, while exploring various community helpers in our community.  

Education Standards

1. SS:N:1.4 The students will describe how the work that people do (police officer, firefighter, soldier, mail carrier, baker, farmer, doctor, and teacher) benefits a neighborhood.
2. Robotics
3. Computer Science
4. 21 Century Collaboration Skills
5. 21 Century Communication Skills

Objectives

1. Give commands to the Ozobot by Ozocodes
2. Become more familiar with the Ozocodes
3. Recognize various community helpers in our community
4. Know how to use the QR code scanners

Materials Needed

1. Blue, Red, Green Stickers
2. Poster board & Black lines
3. Ozobots
4. I pads
5. QR codes

Verification

Steps to check for student understanding

1. Did your group work well together? Did you share ideas and listen to each other?
2. Did you take turns scanning the QR codes?
3. Was your group able to give the Ozobot correct commands from the ozocodes?
4. What community helpers did you observe after scanning the QR codes?
5. How do those community helpers benefit our community?

Activity

Describe activity that will reinforce the lesson

In this activity, students will work in groups of four or five.  Each group will have one Ipad, four QR codes, two Ozobots, a Ozobot command coding chart, and a “Ozobot command board”.

Prior to the activity, the teacher should have the Ozobot “command board” already drawn out and prepared for the students.  ( I suggest laminating if they are going to be used in multiple classes)  On the command board, there should be four places the Ozobot will come to a stop ( command code (greenred)).  At each stop there will be a QR code.  

The activity:

Part 1: Have the students spend time in their groups, and each person will choose two commands off of the ozobot code chart to place on the “command board.”  (We used color stickers for this activity, because we were able to peel them off and reuse the boards)  Encourage the students to use different commands, that way they can observe different behaviors and actions the ozobot will perform.

Part 2:  Students will then place their Ozobot on the “command board” and watch their robot interact with its environment.  They will observe its different behaviors depending on the code.  Each time a robot comes to a stop (at a QR code), students will use the Ipad to scan the QR code and determine what community helper their ozobot encountered.  Students should take turns scanning the QR codes.

This is an exciting way to learn about how community helpers benefit our community!