Day 1
01 Workshop Opener 02 Previously, on 03 Break 04 Model Lesson 05 ML Reflection 06 Group Dynamics 07 Lunch 08 Curriculum Investigation 09 Conclusions and Connections 10 Break 11 Unit Planning 12 Wrap Up 13 Debrief

Session 8: Curriculum Investigation

75 minutes

lesson exploration

Purpose

The purpose of this session is for participants to investigate Unit 4 and reflect on how they will implement the lessons with their students. Although it is not possible to cover all unit content within the time allotted, core concepts are highlighted within this investigation. The overall goal of this session is for participants to reflect on the “Role of the Student” with a specific emphasis on how they, as the teacher, will empower students to play an active role in their learning.

Objectives

  • Participants have been exposed to the essential content knowledge necessary to plan and implement selected lessons in Unit 4
  • Participants develop the skills necessary to continue to build their CS content knowledge outside of the walls of the workshop through resources within Code Studio and the Code.org lesson plans
  • Participants reflect on ways to support students in developing essential computing skills
  • Participants identify ways that they can support students in developing active learning skills

Supplies & Prep

Room Setup:

  • Groups are seated in pods
    • Consider having participants sit in affinity groups (ex: teacher who will be teaching unit 4 and teachers who will not be teaching unit 4; 6th grade teachers, 7th grade teachers, etc.; standards based grading, A/B/C/D grades, mastery; etc.)

Supplies and Prep:

Teacher Materials:

Agenda

Introduction (1 minute)

Investigation Part 1 (20 minutes)

Investigation Part 2 (17 minutes)

Investigation Part 3 (27 minutes)

Wrap Up (10 miniutes)

Facilitation Guide

Introduction (1 minute)

(1 minute) Context Setting

Remarks

In this session, you will have time to investigate lessons within Unit 4. The “Unit 4 Curriculum Investigation - Activity Guide” is intended to guide your investigation. We will stop periodically to discuss the individual lessons as a group. You are encouraged to work with an elbow partner during this time.

Investigation Part 1 (20 minutes)

(15 minutes) Investigate Lesson 4

Remarks

Lesson 4 follows the lesson that was modeled this morning. Up to this point, learners have been focusing on designing with the needs of the user in mind. In this unplugged lesson, learners will engage with a paper prototype in order to test and get feedback on an idea before writing any code.

Facilitator Tip

It is important that participants have a clear understanding of what prototypes and interfaces are, as they will be used throughout Unit 4. As participants work through this investigation, circulate the room and check for understanding by either listening in on conversations or directly asking participants to explain what prototypes and interfaces are and why they are used in software development.

Investigation Goal: Understand how prototypes can be used to quickly test ideas and assumptions

Investigation Task:

  • Read the full lesson plan paying close attention to the vocabulary introduced in this lesson (prototype and user interface)
  • Skim the content in the activity guides to visualize the activity the students will complete in this lesson

(5 minutes) Discussion

Facilitator Tip

The questions in the guide are intended to focus the reflections and discussions of the group around the goals of the workshop. However, they are just a guide. Groups are free to use the discussion time as they need.

After fifteen minutes, the facilitator brings the group’s attention to step 2 of the CSD Unit 4 Curriculum Investigation - Activity Guide. Participants are instructed to discuss the prompts with a partner. After the five minute discussion, participants are encouraged to move on to the next lesson investigation.

Discussion Goal

During the model lesson reflection, participants were introduced to the definitions of iteration and decomposition. The purpose here is for participants to identify these practices in the context of a lesson so that they will be able to reinforce these practices as their students work through the unit.

Prompts:

  • Iteration - Where in the lesson did you see iteration? How can you highlight opportunities for students to engage in the process of continuous improvement in order to modify and enhance creative projects?
  • Decomposition - Where in the lesson did you see decomposition? How can you highlight opportunities for students to break large problems into smaller components in order to begin taking small steps towards the larger goal?

Investigation Part 2 (17 minutes)

(12 minutes) Investigate Lesson 8

Remarks

After completing lesson 4, students continue to explore the role of feedback and testing in the software design process. They complete their own paper prototype for as a part of the chapter 1 project. Lesson 8 is the first lesson in chapter 2. This lesson kicks off the project that students will be working on throughout the rest of the unit. The group norms established during this lesson will set the tone for the remaining lessons within the unit.

Investigation Goal: Consider how you will use the App Design Kickoff - Activity Guide activity guide to support healthy group dynamics in your classroom

Investigation Task:

(5 minutes) Discussion

After fifteen minutes, the facilitator brings the group’s attention to step 2 of the CSD Unit 4 Curriculum Investigation - Activity Guide. Participants are instructed to discuss the prompts with a partner.

Discussion Goal

Participants have already explored these prompts in previous sessions. This time, they will look at them again through the lens of implementing their ideas into lessons within the curriculum. The goal is for participants to not only recognize the importance of being proactive with norm setting at the start of a team project, but also to have concrete ideas of how they will do this in their classrooms during Chapter 2 of Unit 4.

Prompts:

  • Collaboration - In what ways can you support students in developing solutions that incorporate multiple contributions?
  • Mediate Disagreements - How will you support students in developing the skills of mediating disagreements to help teammates agree on a common solution?
  • Participation - How will you ensure all members of the group actively contribute to the success of the team?

Investigation Part 3 (27 minutes)

Facilitator Tip

The goal of this overview is for participants to hear a high level overview of App Lab and know where to access resources to deepen their understanding of the tool. The facilitator should avoid frontloading too much information in this introduction. The goal is introduction, not mastery.

(7 minutes) Introduce App Lab

Remarks

After developing, testing, and gathering feedback on a paper prototype, students will move to App Lab to build the next iteration of their apps. Students will experience designing in App Lab for the first time in Lesson 12. It is important to note that learning how to program using App Lab is not the objective of Unit 4. The primary goal of the unit is for students to leave with a basic understanding of other roles within software development, such as product management, marketing, design, and testing, and to use what they have learned as a tool for social impact. As a result, students will be primarily working in Design Mode within App Lab.

Video: Watch the App Lab Design Mode video to introduce App Lab (6:17)

(15 minutes) Investigate Lesson 12

Facilitator Tip

It is not possible to cover all aspects of the course within this PD. Therefore, it is essential that participants develop the skills necessary to expand their knowledge beyond the workshop. Participants will likely have questions regarding the App Lab tool. Try to connect them with resources to answer their questions instead of answering them directly. This will alert participants to resources available to them to support them and their students later.

Investigation Goal: Become familiar with the Design Mode features within App Lab with a specific focus on available resources for future reference

Investigation Task:

  • Complete bubbles 3 - 6
  • Read the information contained in Map Levels 7, 11, and 12 (this information is also contained within the “Help & Tips” tab for students to reference throughout the unit)
  • (if time permits) Complete bubbles 8 - 10

Facilitator Note: The purpose in showing these map levels and the “Help & Tips” tab is to highlight resources available to participants and students. The goal is for participants to recognize that there are resources within the Code Studio platform that will support their learning of course specific content after the workshop. This is a good place to highlight the difference between the way a teacher might interact with a resource and the way we hope a student might interact with the same resource. For a teacher, a map level is a good place to start for a quick refresh of content before delivering a lesson or a quick resource to reference if a student encounters a question and the teacher needs some more content knowledge before being able to develop guiding questions. On the other hand, students should use these resources as reference material when they are stuck. Their primary mode of learning is through exploration. The map levels are not intended for required student reading or notes to be memorized.

(5 minutes) Discussion

After fifteen minutes, the facilitator brings the group’s attention to step 2 of the CSD Unit 4 Curriculum Investigation - Activity Guide. Participants are instructed to discuss the prompts with a partner.

Discussion Goal

In this reflection we return to two themes from workshop 1. This time, we are reframing them around the idea of using reference resources to support the active learning role of the student. It is important for teachers to walk away understanding that even if they lean on the information within map levels as a way to build up their CS content knowledge prior to implementing the lesson, it is important for them to model how to use reference resources for students during the lesson. Ex: Instead of directly answering a question a teacher can say, “What resources do you have available to you that might help you answer that question?"

Prompts:

  • Referencing Resources - What resources are available for students to reference during this lesson? How can these resources be used to support a culture of active learning within your classroom.
  • Role of the Teacher - How can you model the skill of referencing resources for your students? How does this support a culture of active learning within your classroom?

Wrap Up (10 miniutes)

(3 minutes) Unit Reflection

Remarks

At this point, we have done one model lesson and investigated three additional lessons in unit 4. Now, let’s shift to thinking about the unit as a whole as we continue to dig into the idea of supporting students in becoming active learners in our classrooms. Go to the last page of the CSD Unit 4 Curriculum Investigation - Activity Guide. Reflecting on the unit as a whole, answer the “Role of the Student” question.

Prompt: How can you support students in developing active learning skills within this unit?

(7 minutes) Share Out

Facilitator Tip

In small workshops, you may choose to have participants add directly to the padlet. This might become overwhelming in large workshops which is why the suggested implementation is for the facilitator to add to the structure of the padlet and participants interact using comments and “likes”.

  • (5 minutes) After participants have had the opportunity to share on their own, return to the padlet that you have been creating throughout the day. In a quick popcorn style share out, allow participants to share ideas that the facilitator then adds to the padlet.
  • (2 minutes) Participants comment and “like” items on the padlet.