Curriculum Guide Overview (15 minutes)

NOTE: This section is included in the shared slide deck and does not need facilitation as participants engage in asynchronous work for a suggested total time of 30 minutes after lunch and before returning to the virtual workshop.

This asynchronous work is an opportunity to prepare as you plan and envision your CS Fundamentals classroom. Take a look at the CS Fundamentals course structure, lessons, and resources available.

Curriculum Guide Highlights

Turn to the following pages of the Curriculum Guide which highlight information that will support you in planning a context-setting lesson and a skill-building lesson during the synchronous lesson planning session that follows.

Pages 3 - 4: Code.org Values and Philosophy Highlight: When curriculum writers design learning experiences, they draw from a variety of teaching and learning strategies all with the goal of constructing an equitable and engaging learning environment.

Page 6: Course Structure

• Highlights:
  • Digital Citizenship - lessons from Common Sense Media that are included in all courses to teach students about online safety
  • Concept Chunks - big ideas in each course from which lessons are based on each course is designed to stand alone and does not require a student to take a course in sequence students can begin learning CS with any age appropriate course

Page 19: Lesson Types

• Highlights:
• Context-setting Lessons: off the computer to introduce a new concept in a hands-on way
• Skill-building Lessons: on the computer to practice using a new tool or programming concept
• Mini-Projects: only in courses C-F, on the computer to apply what they have learned by creating a more extensive program step-by-step
• Exploratory Lessons: on the computer to introduce essential concepts
• Projects: only in courses C-F found at the end of the course, longer lessons on and off the computers for students to make a single, creative project

Page 20: Lesson Structure

• Components of a Lesson: all lessons include a Warm Up, Main Activity, and Wrap Up
• Types of Levels - different levels within a lessons such as:
  • Online which feature Code.org tools (e.g. Artist, Play Lab, Sprite Lab)
  • Videos which introduce tools or explain new concepts
  • Choice in Course F for additional online levels
  • Extras are optional at the end of each lesson to revisit concepts
  • Each Type of Level has a specific purpose such as:
  • Skill building, practice, exploration, prediction, challenge, free play, and mini-projects

Page 22: Teaching and Learning Strategies

Lesson Planning Process (15 minutes)

Lesson Planning Process Overview

During the lesson planning session, you will collaborate with others to plan lessons to bring back to your classroom after the workshop. First you will collaborate on planning two lessons - a context-setting lesson and a skill-building lesson. Then you will engage in a Think Aloud of how you would implement and teach the lessons in your classrooms. The Think Aloud is an opportunity to share how you envision teaching the planned lessons to your students, get feedback from another group, revise the lessons if necessary, and ultimately determine what will work best for your students and classroom.

Lesson Planning Guide

During the lesson planning session, you will use the Lesson Planning Guide found in Appendix B of the Curriculum Guide [link] during your collaboration. The following questions are meant to highlight key factors to consider, as well as keeping in mind CS teaching practices when planning CS Fundamentals lessons.

• What CS concept does the lesson introduce to students and how?
• What skill does the lesson help students practice and how?
• What classroom routine/procedure is needed for the lesson?
• When will any of the following CS teaching practices be used during the lesson?
  • Lead Learner (Role of the Teacher)
  • Discovery and Inquiry
  • Debugging
  • Pair Programming
  • The Classroom Community (active learning, communication)
    • How will students share their thinking and demonstrate what they learned?
    • How will the lesson be inclusive for students?

Lesson Assignment Table

Read the Lesson Assignment Table [link] and preview the lessons to choose from to plan for during your collaboration in the lesson planning session.

• If the lesson calls for additional materials, make a note to ensure that material is available and ready before teaching the lesson.

Lesson Planning Activities

During the lesson planning session expect to engage as follows:

• Lesson Planning Collaboration: You will collaborate with a partner(s) who teaches the same grade or within the same grade band and use the Lesson Planning Guide in the Curriculum Guide Appendix to plan for two lessons: context-setting Lesson and a skill-building Lesson.
• You will choose lessons to implement and teach with your students.
• If the lesson calls for additional materials, make a note to ensure that material is available and ready before teaching the lesson.

Lesson Think Aloud

After planning time, you will engage in a Think Aloud to talk through you and your collaboration partner’s responses to the Lesson Planning Guide questions and how you and your partner envision implementing and teaching the lessons. During this time, you also engage in giving and receiving peer feedback to support you in revising your lessons to better meet the needs of your students.