Introduction
In the first unit, students are introduced to computer science through playful, unplugged activities. The goal is for students to combine their creativity with content, to make their learning memorable and personally meaningful. Students persist joyfully as they engage in design, hardware, and big computational thinking topics: sequencing, pattern recognition, decomposition, and algorithms.
Sequence of Lessons
Link to this section
What is a Computer? Red Level: Unit 1, Lesson 1
View the Lesson Plan - [Red] Unit 1, Lesson 1 - What is a Computer?
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, students model their current conception of computers using a variety of self-selected media. They explain why they believe something is a computer.
Agenda
- Warm-up: It's a Computer! Introduce inputs and outputs. (15 minutes)
- Main activity: Students choose an item to reimagine as a computer, the problem the computer solves, the input, and the output. They record their thinking on the Design Sheet. (8 minutes)
- Debrief: Showcase. Celebrate earning the Impacts of Computing badge. (7 minutes)
Materials
Vocabulary
- hardware - the physical parts of a computer
- impacts of computing - understanding the way humans design computers affects culture, social interactions, safety, law, and ethics
- input - ways to enter data into a computer
- output - information produced by a computer
Standards
- CA CSS K-2.CS.2 - Explain the functions of common hardware and software components of computing systems.
- CA CSS K-2.IC.18 - Compare how people lived and worked before and after the adoption of new computing technologies.
That Could Be a Computer! Red Level: Unit 1, Lesson 2
View Lesson Plan - [Red] Unit 1, Lesson 2 - That Could Be a Computer!
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, students reimagine an everyday object as a computer, identify what problem the computer helps to solve, and decide how it receives input, and how it outputs. They earn their first badge: Impacts of Computing!
Agenda
- Warm-up: It's a Computer! Introduce inputs and outputs. (15 minutes)
- Main activity: Students choose an item to reimagine as a computer, the problem the computer solves, the input, and the output. They record their thinking on the Design Sheet. (8 minutes)
- Debrief: Showcase. Celebrate earning the Impacts of Computing badge. (7 minutes)
Materials
Vocabulary
- hardware - the physical parts of a computer
- impacts of computing - understanding the way humans design computers affects culture, social interactions, safety, law, and ethics
- input - ways to enter data into a computer
- output - information produced by a computer
Standards
- CA CSS K-2.CS.2 - Explain the functions of common hardware and software components of computing systems.
- CA CSS K-2.IC.18 - Compare how people lived and worked before and after the adoption of new computing technologies.
Secret Handshake Sequencing Red Level: Unit 1, Lesson 3
View the Lesson Plan - [Red] Unit 1, Lesson 3 - Secret Handshake Sequencing
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, students develop their own secret handshake sequences using three or more moves. They record their sequences with symbols, revise them based on challenge criteria, and socially compare them with their classmates.
Agenda
- Warm-up: Secret Handshakes (10 minutes)
- Main Activity: Create, compare, and revise sequences based on challenge criteria. (15 minutes)
- Debrief: Sequence showcase. Celebrate earning the Sequence badge. (5 minutes)
Materials
Vocabulary
- algorithm: steps to solve a task
- choreography: the art or practice of designing sequences of movements
- sequence: a set of instructions that follow one another in order
Standards
- CA CSS K-2.AP.10 - Model daily processes by creating and following algorithms to complete tasks.
Additional Resources
Thinking with Patterns Red Level: Unit 1, Lesson 4
View the Lesson Plan - [Red] Unit 1, Lesson 4 - Thinking with Patterns
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, students identify visual patterns in everyday school settings and decide how to use them for problem solving. Later, students create and analyze playful patterns of their own to solve simple problems.
Agenda
- Warm-up: Classroom Rug Challenge, Recess Yard Challenge. (10 minutes)
- Main Activity: Three Circles Challenge, Classroom Choice Time Challenge. (15 minutes)
- Debrief: Patterns showcase. Celebrate earning the Pattern badge. (10 minutes)
Materials
- Post-Its
- Pattern Recognition Artifact Sheet (double-sided)
Vocabulary
- repeat: to make, do, or perform again
- pattern: a set of characteristics that are displayed repeatedly
Standards
- CA CSS K-2.NI.6 - create patterns to communicate a message
- CA CSS K-2.DA.9 - identify and describe patterns in data visualizations, such as charts or graphs, to make predictions
Break it Down! Red Level: Unit 1, Lesson 5
View the Lesson Plan - [Red] Unit 1, Lesson 5 - Break it Down!
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, students practice decomposition by breaking a song and a dance into parts. Students creatively express themselves by choreographing their own "Funky Robot" dance, then decomposing it to teach classmates their sequence.
Agenda
- Warm-up: "The Farmer Plants the Seeds" (10 minutes)
- Main Activity: "Funky Robot" (15 minutes)
- Debrief: Celebrate earning the Decomposition badge. (5 minutes)
Materials
Vocabulary
- decomposition: breaking down a problem into smaller pieces.
- modularity: breaking down a large task into smaller steps that you can recombine later to build something more complex. (Definition from Scratch Jr. Coding Cards.)
Standards
- CA CSS K-2.AP.13 - Decompose the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions.
- CA CSS K-2.AP.15 - Give attribution when using the ideas and creations of others while developing programs.
- CA CSS K-2.AP.16 - Debug errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.
- CA CSS K-2.AP.17 - Describe the steps taken and choices made during the iterative process of program development.
Nevertheless, They Persevered Red Level: Unit 1, Lesson 6
View the Lesson Plan - [Red] Unit 1, Lesson 6 - Nevertheless, They Persevered
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, students practice algorithms by following step-by-step origami directions. Later, students choose an origami algorithm to add-on to, to create an original new shape. Students use inspiration from the character Joey, from More-igami, to persevere.
Agenda
- Warm-up: More-igami: what perseverance looks and feels like. (10 minutes)
- Main Activity: Following and adding-on to origami algorithms (15 minutes)
- Debrief: Algorithms showcase. Celebrate earning the Algorithms badge. (10 minutes)
Materials
- origami paper
- multiple print-outs of origami algorithms
- completed origami samples (optional)
- More-Igami by Dori Kleber
Vocabulary
- step - one of multiple actions in a sequence
- sequence - events arranged in a specific order, from beginning to end
- algorithm - a list of steps to finish a task
- origami - the Japanese art of folding paper into shapes
- perseverance - continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition
Standards
- CA CSS K-2.AP.10 - Model daily processes by creating and following algorithms to complete tasks.
- CA CSS K-2.AP.12 - Create programs with sequences of commands and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.
- CA CSS K-2.AP.13 - Decompose the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions.
- CA CSS K-2.AP.15 - Give attribution when using the ideas and creations of others while developing programs.
- CA CSS K-2.AP.16 - Debug errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.
- CA CSS K-2.AP.17 - Describe the steps taken and choices made during the iterative process of program development.
Teacher-Created Resources
- More-Igami Origami - Additional algorithms, organized into Just Right Level, Some Spice, and Spicy categories. Created by Laura Ramirez at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8, SFUSD.
This page was last updated on September 13, 2023