Coding isn't just for college students anymore. With the importance of STEM careers on the rise, Clarkson Community Schools are making sure their students are prepared and ready to code.
The Clarkston Community Schools elementary coding club vision stems from code.org, “Every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science.”
Clarkston Community Schools were inspired by the 2013 video
“What Most Schools Don’t Teach,” so the first coding club was born at Pine Knob Elementary. It started out with a small group of students learning HTML using
codecademy.com, in which the group worked together to create a website for a local business.
From that small group of coders, the program now has more than thirty students participating at the Pine Knob Elementary coding club, ranging from grades three through five. It has expanded from one building to six elementary buildings. Next year, all Clarkson Community Schools' elementaries will have coding clubs and after-school programs at middle schools. Teachers and parents play an instrumental part in these clubs; one teacher and/or media specialist helps out with each of these clubs.
So, how does the program work?
One day a week, students swap their lunch period and recess to participate in this club. The students sign up on the board for “code and tell” similar to traditional “show and tell.” This gives each student the opportunity to show off their latest project and receive valuable feedback from their peers, all while eating lunch. Coding club students then work individually and/or collaboratively on the daily activity.
At the beginning of school year, coding club students work on the 20-hour curriculum provided by
code.org. This helps students learn the basic terminology and process to start thinking like a computer scientist. Then, students move to the
introductory computing curriculum, using Scratch. Scratch curriculum has fun and engaging activities to help students learn to become creators and designers of their own work.
This year, the program needed to elevate the activities due to students’ experience and skill levels. The program received a grant from the Clarkston Foundation to purchase the invention kits, Makey Makeys and Spheros, toys that fuse emerging hardware and software technology. These items help students start thinking and learning how to code a physical device.
On May 20, Clarkston Community Schools held a Coding Club Expo to highlight some of the students’ projects they have been working on throughout the year. This gives the students an opportunity to present their thinking and learning as a computer scientist.
To learn more about what the Clarkston Community Schools Coding Clubs are doing, please visit their
Facebook page.
Start building your own Coding Clubs by using the following resources: