Hour of Code Faire
Contributed by
Cindy Medeiros, February 14, 2014
I thought it would be great to include our kids in the Hour of Code project. The school I work in is strictly for special needs kids, some severely delayed, so a lot of them wouldn't be able to participate in the computer tutorials, although some did with assistance and alternative technology. I do teach a programming class to a few of the students, currently using Scratch, but I wanted all of the students to at least have an understanding of how coding works and what makes their electronics work.
So I put together a "Programming Faire" which was held on December 13th (as part of our Fun {but educational} Friday program) which lasted for the 2 hours after lunch, with many activities for the kids to participate in. In addition to the Hour of Code tutorials, we did a lot of "unplugged" activities (some which were from csunplugged.org), as the pictures show. I also have a Makey Makey which was used to demonstrate how we program the banana piano and the Playdough controller using Scratch.
We also used our iPads to play games that walk them through the programming process, like LightBot, Daisy the Dinosaur and Fix the Factory and we created interactive Scratch holiday cards using the IWB. In addition, I had a Lego Mindstorms NxT robot programming demonstration and we had a visit from the Nao Robots, which was probably the most attended activity, thanks to our communications disorders department, after they saw the video I shared with them, because of its asknao program for autistic kids.
All in all it was very well attended and it was great that our kids could participate in a program that was worldwide. I had help running the activities from a few teachers, our library media specialist and a friend and former technology integrator who volunteered her time to come help. I am very grateful for their help. It was a lot of work, but it was fun, and I hope we can do it again next year!
 |
| Binary Mosaics |
 |
| Nxt Robot |
 |
| MakeyMakey Playdough Controller |
 |
| Secret Codes |
Comments
Sue Gray
Member
May 29, 2014
This sounds great fun. I love all the unplugged activity too. I think it's important to get away from the machines sometimes - it helps pupils to understand that they are 'doing' the work and not the computer! Thanks for sharing - and all the great ideas!
Kimberly Howell-Martin
Member
March 28, 2014
This sounds wonderful! I especially like how you had unplugged activities that still allowed your students to code. I am heading over to csunplugged.org right now to begin planning for some coding lessons for kindergarten. Thanks for sharing the great work you are doing!
