Session 8: Lesson Exploration - Lists Make - U5L4
20 minutes
lesson exploration
Purpose
This lesson helps participants round out their understanding of lists. We also want to take this opportunity to start talking about scoping projects. As we talk later in the day about the Hackathon project and then later in the year about the Create task, we want to build a practice of breaking down projects into smaller steps for students. Eventually, we want students to do this themselves, but teachers also need to have this skill to support students.
Objectives
- Participants have strategies for extending projects for students who are looking for an extra challenge.
- Participants are able to identify potential trouble points in student project ideas (ex: projects that are too expansive) and support students in defining a minimal viable product.
Supplies & Prep
Room Setup:
- None
Facilitator Supplies:
Participant Materials:
- Computers
- Journals
Agenda
Introduce the Task (10 minutes)
Discussion (10 minutes)
Facilitation Guide
Introduce the Task (10 minutes)
(1 minute) Set the Scene
Remarks
💷 Next we are going to take a look at the Make lesson for Lists. Make tasks provide students less structure may provide opportunities for students to be creative. For some students, finishing the Make task will be a sufficient challenge. Whereas other students will want to extend the task.
While it is helpful to support students in taking the task a step further and adding extensions, it can also lead to students taking on a larger project than intended. We are going to think about our role in helping students consider extensions for this task.
(9 minutes) Exploration Task
💷 Do this:
- Read the U5L4 lesson plan.
- Match the lesson plan with the slides.
- Look at the activity guide.
- Open Code Studio and use the app yourself in level 1 - you don’t need to try to create it at this point.
Discussion (10 minutes)
(9 minutes) Introduce the Task
💷 Now that you have seen the project, do this:
(4 minutes) Think of 3 extensions students might want to do:
- Pick one that feels very attainable. This could be something students could quickly add to their project if they had an extra 15 minutes in class.
- Pick one that feels like a stretch. This is for your student who maybe worked ahead and is “done”, but you still want them to learn more.
- Pick one that feels outrageous. This is something that an over-confident student might propose, but you know or imagine that it is too difficult for them to accomplish in the given time or with their current skills.
(2 minutes) Compare with your partner.
Remarks
Sometimes as a new CS teacher it can be difficult to know if a project is too difficult for students. Or sometimes, you might be okay with allowing students to try something that feels unattainable because it can still be a learning experience. One way to manage both of these situations is to have the student scope out their project in small manageable steps. Taking one of your “outrageous” projects, consider what a good “first step” might be in that project that is still attainable. What would a second step be?
(3 minutes) Have 1 - 2 groups share out what they brainstormed.
(1 minute) Wrap Up
Remarks
💷 This skill of taking a bigger project and scaling it back can be helpful later on when students are given more freedom to create ambitious projects. Modeling this “scaling back” process now can support students later when they are working on those projects.
Furthermore, it is important to remember that Make tasks are intended to only take one class period. Frequently remind students of this as well - extensions might be done outside of class if students are eager to do so, but again this should not prevent the class from moving forward with the content.