Fieldston Lower Kindergarteners elevated their hands-on learning with an introduction to coding dynamics during their inaugural Week of Code, a divisional staple that only broadens as students mature.
“Week of Code is a STEM collaboration between our math faculty and the Technology Department, where students learn problem-solving strategies such as planning, executing, revising, and troubleshooting,” says Fieldston Lower Math Lead Peggy Tsue. “Even at a young age, students can learn these concepts through play and experimentation. Beyond STEM skills, our goal is for our Kindergartners to develop a collaborative work ethic, healthy tolerance for failure, and the optimism to begin again. This year, we also integrated our Kindergarten Week of Code with our geometry unit.”
“A Week of Code”
One of Kindergarten’s culminating Week of Code activities involved experimentation with Bee-Bot programmable robots, encouraging responsive play from the budding engineers. Students were tasked to program the toys to “clean up” an item and bring it back to their home base, all occurring on a gridded mat.
“We wanted the students to come away with skills in sequencing and problem solving,” Tsue says. “The mat was one way we scaffolded the experience while preserving some structure for the tasks. Being able to program the Bee-Bot to navigate a path anywhere on the grid was a tangible accomplishment.”
Gradually advancing to more complex Bee-Bot routes as they worked in pairs, students delighted in directing their robots toward a goal, often consulting with each other when a robot made a wrong turn. “Students especially liked how we designed the progression of difficulty so there was always a challenge waiting for them when they mastered a skill,” Tsue shares. “For example, if you programmed a path for your Bee-Bot, could you program it to travel the same path backwards? If you found a way to move a triangle to its designated place, could you move seven sides to the designated place? What shapes would help you do that?”
Every STEM curriculum at Fieldston Lower includes a Week of Code, and over time, students progress from using physical robots to virtual ones. By the time they reach 4th and 5th Grade, they are capable of creating intricate code in programs like Scratch.
“5th Graders begin using Scratch programming during their own Week of Code, when they design their own animations or games,” says Fieldston Lower Ethics and Technology Lead Kim Deveaux. “This initial exploration allows them to delve into categories that spark their individual interests, such as composing music and sounds, creating digital art, exploring fashion and design, and more. This choice-based project serves to build fundamental coding skills and get them excited about the possibilities of code.”
As the pinnacle of their Fieldston Lower STEM work, 5th Graders’ foundational coding skills culminate in their end-of-year Shark Tank project, which entails applying this knowledge to an early phase of the extensive task. “Working collaboratively in groups, the students take on the role of landscape architects,” Deveaux explains. “They first bring their vision to life by creating 3D models of their garden designs using SketchUp and then integrate their coding knowledge by using Scratch to program an interactive experience.”
A STEM Foundation
By fostering this kind of experiential learning from a young age, Fieldston Lower equips students with an understanding of process-based thinking, enabling them to master patterns so that repeating achievements become second nature. From Kindergarten to 5th Grade, students are challenged to expand their thinking to explore all the possibilities of STEM.
