Coding in Kindergarten!

What do you get when you combine a good story with some arrows and loose parts in Kindergarten? You get an amazing opportunity for students to refine their retelling skills through coding!

Sheri Webster, Kindergarten teacher at Bastion Elementary, first learned about “unplugged coding” while taking a course through Queen’s University. “Unplugged Coding” is a collection of learning activities that introduce coding and programming through engaging strategies that only use cards, crayons, markers, loose parts, etc. For younger students, teachers can skip the detailed concepts of computer coding and give them a better understanding of basic computer science knowledge and inspire them for future exploration.

The Bastion English Kindergarten class first practiced some whole body movement/coding activities in the gym with a focus on directionality (face forward, go straight, turn your body, etc.) They then progressed to retelling using a coding map and loose parts that connected with stories they had read in class. It was so wonderful to listen to the accurate and creative retellings of popular stories using a coding map.

A special thanks to Kindergarten students Axil Pickering and Oliver White for sharing their detailed retellings of The Easter Egg and Chicken Little! Their attention to detail and ability to use some coding strategies to help retell the key parts of the story was both creative and meaningful.

For more information about “unplugged coding” go to: https://scarfedigitalsandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca/unplugged-coding-integrating-coding-activities-in-your-classroom/#:~:text=Unplugged%20Coding%20is%20a%20collection,%2C%20crayons%2C%20markers%2C%20etc.