Essex Elementary kindergarten students took their first steps into the world of computer science, and they did it with curiosity, creativity, and a whole lot of perseverance!
Through a carefully designed sequence of tools and activities, students learned the foundations of coding while practicing important lifelong skills such as teamwork, communication, and flexible thinking.
They began their unit with Kodable, an engaging and child-friendly platform that introduces students to the essentials of programming. Kindergarteners practiced giving precise directions and recognizing patterns. Next, they brought coding off the screen and into the classroom with Bee-Bots. Students collaborated in pairs to plan routes to land on a letter or number. They wrapped up the unit with ScratchJr, where students applied everything they had learned to design their own interactive animations. They combined coding blocks to make characters move.