Coding for Kids
Barrington CUSD 220 Empowers K-5 Students Through STEM
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Barrington CUSD 220 Empowers K-5 Students Through STEM
Located in Barrington, Illinois, Barrington CUSD 220 was formed in 1973 and now educates students from pre-kindergarten through high school. Barrington 220 has one high school, two middle school campuses for grades 6-8, eight elementary schools, and one early childhood center. This guest post was written by Elizabeth Nelson, K-5 STEM Teacher for Barrington CUSD 220. You can follow her on Twitter @STEM220.
Why Coding?
Our district mission is to inspire all students to achieve excellence. Through our K-5 STEM program, we empower students to become innovative designers, global collaborators, and digital citizens. Coding is a part of this process in developing future-ready students and leaders. Coding engages students in computational thinking. Students learn how to problem solve. They learn how to communicate. They express creativity. Today is the digital age, and coding is a fundamental skill students will need to be successful in the future.
The Barrington CUSD 220 Difference
District 220 believes in creating innovative programs for students. The K-5 STEM program allows students to demonstrate strong character, solve problems, and collaborate effectively. This program reaches our earliest learners, building foundational skills necessary for success in the future. Students learn engineering practices and skills, engage in the design process, and learn and apply computer science concepts to complete robotic challenges. STEM develops and improves students’ cognitive competencies, ultimately preparing them to solve problems that don’t exist yet in our world.
“Tynker is an awesome coding app! It directly connects with the computer science standards for K-5, as well as our goals for our K-5 STEM program.”
Elizabeth Nelson’s students learning to code with Tynker
Barrington CUSD 220 believes that computer science prepares students for future success because it teaches students how to think. Students learn the thinking skills and strategies necessary to solve problems. They learn computational skills like patterns, algorithms, decomposition, and abstraction. They also learn computational strategies like creating, persevering, debugging, and collaborating. Our K-5 STEM program moves learners from concrete to abstract thinking. We move from unplugged programming to programming robots to visual programming. Computer science builds confidence and teaches students grit while being fun and engaging.
How does Tynker fit in?
Tynker is an awesome coding app! It directly connects with the computer science standards for K-5, as well as our goals for our K-5 STEM program in Barrington 220. In 2nd grade, students learn that to communicate with a computer requires clear, detailed, step-by-step instructions. In 3rd grade, students learn how to program efficiently, decompose a programming problem, and debug a program. In 4th grade, students learn how to program with precision. Tynker provides practice for all of these skills with its visual programming blocks. Tynker’s games, coding projects, and puzzles push students to apply computational thinking, as well as practice soft skills like creativity. Tynker also allows students to move at their own pace, providing both support and challenges when needed.
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