This chat includes a discussion of topics of interest to K-8 teachers who teach and/or integrate computer science.The Computer Science Teachers Association is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and other computing disciplines. CSTA provides opportunities for K–12 teachers and students to better understand the computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and learn.
#csk8 is a structured chat. Questions are numbered Q1 for Question 1, Q2 for Question 2. Your answers should start with A1 for the answer to Q1, A2 to answer Q2, etc.
Hi, I am Sheena - teaching computer science for many years in California public schools, also work on curriculum, PD, and integration in all content areas #csk8
The first question of tonight’s #csk8 The Integration of Computer Science and Social Studies in K-8 chat is coming up in one minute. Be watching for it!
A1: Students can apply what they are learning in CS to create and design technologies that solve a real-world problem and have an impact. Whenever students can view what they are learning through a cross-curricular lens, it adds relevancy and purpose to the task. #csk8
A1: You give every child some access to computer science, since Social studies is a class that every student takes. It also shows them the relevance for CS and It makes Social Studies more fun! #csk8
A1: I think there are lots of benefits! Adding dimension to history, particularly in terms of adding STEM stories, helps all Ss feel connected. Using CS as a way to differentiate lessons (in terms of product) makes meaning and connections for Ss who excel computationally. #csk8
A1: Posters are Dead! Build an interactive experience which teaches your audience something through active engagement: https://t.co/T4B82RS6Xc#csk8#csinsf
A1: There are lots of advantages of integrating CS into any content area! it teaches problem solving and the application of algorithms or sequential steps can be applied cross-disciplinary! Have students flow chart different events in history for instance! #csk8
A2: Teacher buy-in! Getting them to see that providing them the time to complete project outside of my short times with them can still meet their goals. #csk8
A2: PD - getting Social Studies teachers comfortable with ideas in CS that they can use in their classes - showing them simple projects that work. Also convincing teachers that there is a reason to add this extra work to make their content more accessible. #csk8
A2: One challenge is teachers not feeling confident with integrating CS. I've reached out to teachers and offered to be in the classroom as an extra set of hands. #csk8
Hi, I'm Jessica Bradfisch from Fulton, MO! I am currently student teaching in a 4th-grade class.
A1:Teachers can integrate Computer Science in any subject, but adding it to social studies would have many benefits. Adding a visual to history would be amazing for students.#csk8
A2: One challenge is teachers not feeling confident with integrating CS. I've reached out to teachers and offered to be in the classroom as an extra set of hands. #csk8
A1: I feel like a product of Social Studies and computer games. Spent hours with Carmen San Diego and Oregon Trail/Amazon Trail games. I mastered looking things up in an atlas for those games! #csk8
A2: Curriculum on the part of social studies. I can always find time to integrate social studies into my class (and I have - the kids love it!), but social studies teachers feel really constrained by their curriculum/the need to prep kids for testing. #CSK8
A2: The hard thing for me is interfacing with the teachers ahead of time and coming up with projects that are "meaty" enough to be instructional. We have separate computer class time which would be the time to do work like this. #csk8
Q3: How might we integrate CS and Social Studies for Kindergarten-2nd grade (5-8 year old) students? Please share ideas, resources, lessons, projects, etc. #csk8
For the littles- use beebots or any other robot and a set of printed cards- continents, states, cardinal directions. Program robots to go to state, follow Lewis and Clark, find the continents, etc. #csk8
I try to get teachers to tell me the units they are doing in Social Studies and Science and then come up with projects we can do in the lab to go with them. #csk8
A2: I believe that there could be some difficulties with properly teaching students how to use these programs to their full potential. Breaking down what computer science means and how it works would help with this process! #csk8
Maybe I'm thinking of this the wrong wy. I am thinking of learning to use the rectangle and star pencil tools in @TuxPaintTweets to make a flag for out 1st grade, or making a Venn diagram for foods that are in a certain country's culture/ that they eat. #csk8
Agree - and to make a game that is correct in terms of history/time, geography, there is so much research needed. We have 5th graders do State reports/interactive quiz with a 3D structure - Makey-Makey - Scratch - the Social Studies context makes coding relevant & fun #csk8
I really like Roger Wagner's makerbit to help integrate SS projects with CS- more than a static display. #csk8 OR- Use ozobots or other to explore on a map, etc
A2: #csk8 Agree! be explicit in the value (e.g., why instruction is stronger when you integrate CS into SS). Demo a lesson where content connection is strong (e.g., retell an event leading up 2 American Revolution in Scratch). Share student reflections on the experience.
#csk8 I used to ask for their yearly curriculum overview at the beginning of the year, but the teachers don't type these up anymore. Now I kind fo chase them down every so often, or just play catch-up. =]
A3: In early grades, have students put a sequence of events into chronological order. Students could design their own bitmoji of a historical person, or could program an Ozobot to navigate a map of a city they draw out #csk8
Yes or maps in Scratch with character going around and talking in different languages based on the location - now possible with the Scratch 3 extensions for translate and speech ! #csk8
A1: Students can apply what they are learning in CS to create and design technologies that solve a real-world problem and have an impact. Whenever students can view what they are learning through a cross-curricular lens, it adds relevancy and purpose to the task. #csk8
A3: One of the K-2 CSTA Standards is "Compare how people live and work before and after the implementation or adoption of new computing technology." Use books and retells in ScratchJr or with Bee-Bot and you've touched LA, SS, and CS! #csk8
A3: I keep coming back to the idea of doing a mini hackathon around a certain topic. For example challenge the students to create a coding project that celebrates world cultures or religions. #csk8
A3: Maps of their town - getting the Bee Bot to travel from school to library to home etc. We do a Bee Bot town with cereal box- houses, and put it all together in K , always a fun group model to build together #csk8
A4: The Spanish missions is a topic near & dear to 4th grade in CA. I have had my students create something in Scratch for this. Usually it's a tour but they aren't required to do that. #CSK8https://t.co/n2oLNg1EfE
A4: Similar to what I said for early grades, have them design emojis, bitmojis of historical people, design a city using Minecraft, SIMcity, or Tinkercad, navigating different robots through maps, design the user interface (on paper or for real) of an ipad or android app #csk8
A3: #csk8 Heard a cool idea today (credit @CodeVA): Have students studying colonial america chart rivers and settlements then use strings to connect these "networks"
#csk8 With Cospaces or Unity, students could create a VR exploration of a historical scene or faraway place. Cospaces can be viewed on the computer or Google Cardboard and there's an AR mode that has a cube you can rotate under your phone.
q4: The only program design elements I have for this connection is a writing algorithmically powerpoint file with blocks that helps the kiddos write directions step by step. This can apply to navigating a map, for example. #csk8
I want to put in a plug for @PlayCraftLearn Minecraft Education Edition also. This is a great platform for creating interactive scenes from any time period or location, and they have coding features and interactive characters. #csk8
Q5: How might we integrate CS and Social Studies for 6th-8th grade (11-14 year old) students? Please share ideas, resources, lessons, projects, etc. #csk8
I love these projects that you do -look forward to seeing the 3.0 version now!
What is interesting that now our students do a Scratch project instead of a written report if the teacher approves - so it is just a matter of individual choice. Not entire class does it #csk8
A4: Have students write step by step instructions for something. In science, its easy with recipe or lab instructions...maybe think of something to do with SS. Maybe steps to creating a bill? #csk8
Or can we think of more physical computing ideas... like with microbit or hummingbird,etc? Kids love to create moving artifacts- just wish I could let them take all the stuff home #csk8
Q5: I helped a few students create apps for their 7th grade Slavery Project using https://t.co/2efiTvNCcq App Lab. Students gave a detailed account of their life. Really simple to program and a fun way to intergrade CS in Social Studies. #csk8
A4: For middle school, if you have older more mature students, consider a hackathon on human rights violations. What could they create that would enable human rights like freedom of the press, freedom to protest etc? #csk8
Make them a nice video. :) #csk8 Love the idea of physical computing with this. We have done interactive posters w/Makey Makey but nothing w/microbit. Hmmm
Yes if there is time, use the microbit and a maker project to create a interactive / live physical model - always the best in terms of integration, cross - content etc. However these need more time to plan/ more class times to do #csk8
A5: Students could create a battle field map in Scratch, similar to a maze. At different points on the map, students could record battle information. Then hook up a Makey Makey and have students program it like a game. #csk8
I used the https://t.co/xs7OG9O3FM 's App lab to make a Recycling quiz in middle school elective, can definitely see that as a fun and cool project for any topic of their choice, and does not take much time/coding skill #csk8
I taught 6th graders to use Tinkercad to create models for a "surplus game" they were building for Mesopotamia unit. 3D printed one/group Fun and easy to integrate #csk8
A3: Students could learn the process and apply it to any activity. Students could use CS with other subjects. The two subjects would coexist with each other. Using CS with math or even ELA. #csk8
Ooh, have them create a survey around a social studies topic or from an historical person's perspective and collect the data and then do something with that. Always looking for something to bring in data ... and usually fail miserably. :) #csk8
We have done some fun Python/ Spreadsheet lessons with data sets including the US Presidents one. However it was in my CS elective class - have not yet had time to 'sell' it to the Social Studies dept! #csk8
A5: Tinkercad has projects like designing totem poles...they could even write a summary about them. As an engineering instructor, there's a lot studnets can do involving designing. Design a set/storyboard from a story or reading #csk8
A6: I recommend a rubric that aligns with your social studies objectives. Add a second category or grade for innovation/creativity. Even in CS classes I rarely grade on how technically advanced a project is, as long as it meets requirements. #csk8
A6: I always develop rubrics that go along with any project, especially if collaborative groups will be used. I have grades that are individual (usually divide into dif jobs and grade each separately) and group based #csk8
Am now working on data specific projects - for a Coding with Data workshop I am teaching later in March. Here is one using the Titanic data - my version, but need to figure out/ what teachers will make/ students can make, or will they just use it?
https://t.co/9a63fe7VPg#csk8
#csk8 Regarding data sets I have had some great discussions with kids about datasets that separate the data by race, ethnicity, or country of origin. These can be sensitive topics but with data you can have a reasoned discussion. 1/2
A6: I too have a rubic and when I talk to classroom teachers who are trying to integrate CS in I tell them to grade the project like they would a poster or report the student would turn in. They don't have to grade the CS. #csk8
2/2 #csk8 I wish I had actual lesson plans around data separated by race/religion/ethnicity/country of origin. Maybe I ought to create them. Could be really valuable & open doors to understanding.
A5: I have two immersive lessons that tie in SS and CS for 6-8. The first involves cryptography and WW2, and the second is about global internet access and censorship. Kids research, experience, and then talk computational ethics. Happy to share lesson plans! #csk8
A5: I have two immersive lessons that tie in SS and CS for 6-8. The first involves cryptography and WW2, and the second is about global internet access and censorship. Kids research, experience, and then talk computational ethics. Happy to share lesson plans! #csk8
Q7: In a general sense, do you consider a variety of apps to be CS, or only those which involve coding? For example, Tinkercad or Excel use involve careful planning and thinking but not coding. GIMP or Tux paint are image apps. Plus... plenty of online games with content. #csk8
CS is more than coding but it is not general edtech. #csk8 CS Standards https://t.co/j6iO09eURd#csk8 Excel can definitely be used to teach CS concepts. Not really GIMP or Tux Paint
