Mold the students of today into the problem solvers and critical thinkers of tomorrow. This course provides a snapshot of the Massachusetts Digital Literacy and Computer Science Frameworks Computational Thinking strand and its related standards. It will supply you with a variety of creative ways to weave these standards into your teaching. We will use a – “Learn It”, “Do It”, “Share It”, “Prove It” – format each week to become familiar with the components of each strand. Elements of technology and social media are woven throughout the workshop to aid in integrating key computational thinking concepts into students’ daily lives.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: July 14, 2019
Course Details
| Audience | Grades 3-5, Tech Specialists |
| Level | All |
| Instructor | Rochelle Cooper |
| Dates | July 22, 2019 – August 22, 2019 |
| Earn | 15 PDPs (or option for 1 Credit) |
| Location | 4 Online sessions |
| MassCUE Member Cost | $150 |
| Non-Member Cost | $190 |
| Limit | 20 Participants |
| Prerequisites | None |
| Graduate Credit (Optional) | At the first class, participants may choose to register for 1 graduate credit through Worcester State University for an additional fee of $125. All participants, including those who do not opt for graduate credit, will receive a certificate documenting the number of course hours attended. |
Rochelle Cooper
Rochelle Cooper has been a certified educator for the past 15 years. She began her teaching career as a special education 1:1 aide and spent the next 10 years as a 5th grade classroom teacher at Lynnfield Middle School. Rochelle received her undergraduate degree in English from Holy Cross College and her Master’s Degree in Teaching from Simmons College. She is currently enjoying her position as the Learning Services Assistant for MassCUE – coordinating PD opportunities for educators.
Weekly Outline:
In this four week online workshop, participants will deep dive into the Computational Thinking strand of the MA DLCS frameworks for grades 3-5. Each weekly session will follow a set format:
Learn It: Watch videos and review lesson plans that connect the concepts above to actual students in the classroom.
Do It: Create your own activity in the “Activity Factory” based upon the concepts above that can be used and applied in your educational realm.
Share It: Discuss your experiences for the week in a discussion group with your fellow participants. Reflect personally on your learning.
Prove It: Demonstrate your acquired knowledge for this session and show off what you learned in a weekly “Show and Tell”.
Week 1: Abstraction & Algorithms
Week 2: Data
Week 3: Programming & Development
Week 4: Modeling & Simulation
Project Description: Those educators wishing to receive one credit from WSU will be creating a comprehensive portfolio of lesson plans in the area of computational thinking.
This course supports the following Massachusetts Digital Literacy and Computer Science standards:
Grades 3 – 5: Computational Thinking (CT)
| 3-5.CT.a | Abstraction |
| 3-5.CT.a.1 | Use numbers or letters to represent information in another form (e.g., secret codes, Roman numerals, abbreviations). |
| 3-5.CT.a.2 | Organize information in different ways to make it more useful/relevant (e.g., sorting, tables). |
| 3-5.CT.a.3 | Make a list of sub-problems to consider, while addressing a larger problem. |
| 3-5.CT.b | Algorithms |
| 3-5.CT.b.1 | Define an algorithm as a sequence of instructions that can be processed by a computer. |
| 3-5.CT.b.2 | Recognize that different solutions exist for the same problem (or sub-problem). |
| 3-5.CT.b.3 | Use logical reasoning to predict outcomes of an algorithm. |
| 3-5.CT.b.4 | Individually and collaboratively create an algorithm to solve a problem (e.g., move a character/robot/person through a maze). |
| 3-5.CT.b.5 | Detect and correct logical errors in various algorithms (e.g., written, mapped, live action, or digital). |
| 3-5.CT.c | Data |
| 3-5.CT.c.1 | Describe examples of databases from everyday life (e.g., library catalogs, school records, telephone directories, contact lists). |
| 3-5.CT.c.2 | Collect and manipulate data to answer a question using a variety of computing methods (e.g., sorting, totaling, averaging) and tools (such as a spreadsheet) to collect, organize, graph, and analyze data. |
| 3-5.CT.d | Programming and Development |
| 3-5.CT.d.1 | Individually and collaboratively create, test, and modify a program in a graphical environment (e.g., block-based visual programming language). |
| 3-5.CT.d.2 | Use arithmetic operators, conditionals, and repetition in programs. |
| 3-5.CT.d.3 | Use interactive debugging to detect and correct simple program errors. |
| 3-5.CT.d.4 | Recognize that programs need known starting values (e.g., set initial score to zero in a game). |
| 3-5.CT.e | Modeling and Simulation |
| 3-5.CT.e.1 | Individually and collaboratively create a simple model of a system (e.g., water cycle, solar system) and explain what the model shows and does not show. |
| 3-5.CT.e.2 | Identify the concepts, features, and behaviors illustrated by a simulation (e.g., object motion, weather, ecosystem, predator/prey) and those that were not included. |
| 3-5.CT.e.3 | Individually and collaboratively use data from a simulation to answer a question. |
Sign Up for This Workshop
Computational Thinking for Elementary Educators- Creating Future Problem Solvers – MA DLCS Series July 22, 2019 – August 22, 2019 4 Online sessions
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