Programming for Pre-Readers

Beyond the Hour of Code

I am Sam Patterson and this is episode 4 of Beyond the Hour of Code. This episode explores the central ideas in chapter 4 of programming in the primary grades beyond the hour of code: Programming for Prereaders

Developmentally Appropriate of pre-readers and Cognitively Complex

Programming fits well into elementary grades because it is a developmentally appropriate complex cognitive task. When students are solving puzzles in The Foos, they are building skills needed in reading. The sequencing and planning involved in programming support literacy skill development
Beyond the inherent benefits of programming, teachers can design content-rich digital learning activities using free mobile programming platforms. With the tools currently available, literacy is no longer a gatekeeper to programming. Students who are not yet reading can program applications, robots, and even each other using offline programming ideas.

There are many different programming tools and platforms designed specifically for pre-readers. You might already be wondering which tools you should support and what the cost will be. Before you make any decisions about the tools, consider the range of ages and skills the tools can support. Does the tool perform a unique function? Is it easy to deploy and store? Most importantly: does the tool support your class values and goals?

In 1986 it was standard practice to have students programming in school. There was a technology class that had computers, often one for every child. Students would use a simple programming language like Logo or Basic to create a simple picture or shape, often programming the image point by point and then printing it out on a dot matrix printer. The final work looked like a low-resolution monochrome needlepoint.

Although the programming platforms we use have changed significantly, our expectations of technology have not. If we teach programming, it is often to help prepare students for the challenges of the workplace. This goal is too far removed to be genuine or accessible to teachers in the primary grades. If we are going to say anything about the jobs a first grader will be asked to do in her life, it is only that we do not know what shape work will take in her lifetime. The goal of programming in the primary grades is not some abstract, far-off job readiness; the goal is to support learning.

Teaching pre-readers to program is fun. Done correctly, this work is “hard fun.” In class, programming is framed as challenging play, fun that requires effort, focus, and sometimes help. Working with young students can be tricky, especially when the lessons are complex and engaging. What factors can you control when creating a digital learning experience? How long should activities be? How much programming makes sense? All of these considerations and decisions are ones that teachers have to make with their kids in mind.

No one expects teachers to be experts in programming; teachers need to be experts in kids and how they learn.

How Long is a Lesson?

All aspects of the lesson, from the length of the task to the language and platform you use to deliver it, should be tailored to support your students. How long a class can last, at least early in the school year, will be tied directly to how challenging the work of the day is. The lesson that focuses more on group work and social skill building can be very demanding. These lessons might start as brief as twenty minutes. The goal is to switch activities before frustration builds to tears, but we shouldn’t be afraid of either. Sometimes learning can be confusing and disappointing. When students cry, it is often because they are at a total loss for what to do next. Why a student started crying is often not as important in the moment of learning as what they do next. After a brief conversation and refocusing, the student should be able to rejoin the lesson. Hard fun is hard, and sometimes it is not much fun. After focused programming and group work, the class gets to dance together using a video from GoNoodle.

What Does Programming Look Like?

The Design Studio has replaced the Computer Lab, and the tables have all been pushed to the side of the room to allow more space for dancing. Students program without keyboards, and sometimes without screens. The students walk around and chat with each other. They draw the program’s commands on cards and work together to place them in the right order before inputting the program. This is programming in first grade.

Sometimes students gather in groups of four to guide a bumblebee-shaped robot to the tile on the grid with the same number that is displayed on the dice. Other times they stand side by side focused together on solving an app-based challenge. When either one succeeds, four hands go up in celebration.

Programming isn’t solitary or quiet. Students working together each have an active role. Although they regularly switch who is controlling the iPad, what they are doing is more complex than “taking turns.”

When programming is a group activity, the greatest challenge in designing the lesson is making sure there are active roles for all students at all times. In some schools, technology class is limited to 50 minutes per week, so there isn’t time to have students waiting during a lesson.

Although one to one programs are all the rage. Asking students to develop and practice the language and skills of collaboration is better pedagogy than one to one in this context. So much more can be learned when they are working and not waiting.

What Programming Languages are Appropriate for Pre-readers?

There are an ever-growing array of apps, robots, and even board games that support pre-readers in programming and computational thinking.

Offline Programming

There are more active offline ways to apply programming in learning contexts for pre-readers. There are many moments in the elementary classroom that can be adjusted to include code.

The great advantage to looking at programming and computational thinking expansively is that, with some work, almost any learning experience can be modified to make significant and appropriate use of programming. The goal is not to use programming for the sake of programming, but to add a layer of cognitive complexity to an existing content area learning activity.

While offline programming offers teachers an open door to bring any content into programming activities, programming apps offer fewer opportunities for direct content integration.

Programming Apps for Pre-readers

There are several programming apps available to support pre-readers learning the basics of computational thinking. While it oversimplifies the market slightly, it can be useful to think about two types of apps: leveled game-style apps and open-studio apps. The leveled apps are designed to help students build their own understanding of computational thinking and programming fundamentals. Both Kodable and The Foos ask students to navigate characters through a challenging environment using arrows and other visual commands. These leveled apps are often designed to keep a single user engaged. Teachers working with these apps have to carefully design the learning experience in order to meet social skills and communication learning goals.

While these leveled apps are designed to support and engage the individual user, support in class implementation yields more effective learning than unsupervised use of the app. Without an adult to answer some of the questions about how the app works, students may misunderstand a concept and experience significant frustration.

Leveled apps do help build literacy skills through sequencing as well as computational thinking skills, but open studio apps, like ScratchJr, equip users with the tools needed to create an animation or a game of their own design. ScratchJr is the best, and possibly only, open studio app for pre-readers, and it is free and available on Android as well as iOS. ScratchJr also supports program-sharing, so a teacher can build interactive programming activities inside of the ScratchJr app and share them directly with students. This type of flexible open studio platform that supports student creation as well as sharing between students and teachers is the immediate future of programming platforms in schools.

Robots for Pre-readers

The most exciting programming we can currently do with pre-readers is programming robots. Through Sphero, Bee-Bots, Thymio, and Dash and Dot from Wonder Workshop, students can program robots to complete challenges long before they have enough language to use Scratch, Tynker or the Tickle app to control robots.

The Bee-Bot is an educational robot by design, originally created for classroom use. There are well-established resources for custom card and mat sets. It is also fairly simple to create custom content for the floor mats with Microsoft Word and a laminator. This is a great starter robot for teachers as well as students.

The other robots available present a greater instructional challenge, as they are truly connected toys we are asking to serve double-duty as instructional tools. These robots can be used very successfully as instructional tools, and the awesome part is that using them looks, sounds, and feels like play.

The Sphero robot, a motorized programmable sphere the size of a baseball, is quick, colorful, and custom-designed to get kids hooked on playful learning. For pre-readers, Sphero offers the Draw and Drive app available on both Android and iOS. In this app, students draw a path on the tablet screen and the robot follows that path in the classroom. Students have to aim the robot, and they discover how to control the direction, speed, and color of the robot. This simple control interface introduces students to the relationship between input and output in a much more understandable way than the remote control style interface called Drive.

When you are designing lessons with Sphero and pre-readers, focus on the playful aspects of the interaction. Use the robots as an occasion to build social skills and practice problem solving. Since this robot is tablet-controlled, students will be most successful in pairs. Any robot lesson begs for all the clear floor space you can manage, and fast robots, like Sphero, need larger targets on the floor. If a target is too small, a student might have the robot on the right path, but momentum will carry the robot past the target too quickly.

The adorable robot duo from Wonder Workshop makes the most of engagement and piles on the personality. Dash is a three-wheeler who can move its head independent of its wheelbase, allowing it to look around. Dot appears just to be Dash’s head unit without the wheels, making Dot immobile.

Lesson design with Dash and Dot places narrative at the center. Students can create short expressive narratives that use the robot to express ideas that reach beyond programming.

The options for programming with pre-readers keep growing and developing. From an educator’s perspective, this is very encouraging, as the tools to bring computational thinking into the classroom become more accessible and reliable. When we ask students to work together to complete cognitively complex programming tasks, we are helping students build the skills that make reading fun and meaningful.

Thanks for learning with me, Sam Patterson and I encourage you to learn more in my book Programming in the Primary Grades, Beyond the Hour of Code. I believe that working together we will shape the future of learning.

Please visit Beyondthehourofcode.com to learn more.

Thanks to Jeff Bradbury for Production and web master support

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