Appendix B:

Discussion Questions

Reading No Fear Coding: Computational Thinking Across the K–5 Curriculum together with a personal learning community (PLC) can benefit all involved, bringing educators together to reflect on the practice of teaching computational thinking and computer science standards, inspiring curiosity, and empowering students to design and implement authentic inquiry-based learning. Use these chapter questions to guide your reading and discussion.

Introduction

• Keeping Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle in mind, discuss your “Why?” Why have you decided to embark upon this book study? Why is incorporating computer science and computational thinking important to your instruction goals?
• View Prince EA’s video “I Sued the School System” and create a Venn diagram with schools of the past/current in one circle and what a school will look like ten or twenty years from now in the other circle. Let your imaginations soar in this exercise and truly brainstorm. No “put downs” of any ideas. No constraints on finances or schedules—just DREAM!

Chapter 1

• Use the “Five Reasons Why Coding Is Critical for K–5 Students” and jigsaw the content. Have teams focus on brainstorming the ways in which they envision coding might be used in their classroom to support this reasoning.
• On the flip side, acknowledge the roadblocks and brainstorm possible solutions.

Chapter 2

• Look at original ISTE and CSTA computational thinking chart compared to the new, simplified ISTE computational thinking figure. How might this simplified process help support teacher understanding and classroom implementation?
• Similarly, look at the chart comparing inquiry-based learning, project-based learning, and computational thinking compared to the simplified figure. Why do you think the author changed her original linear model to a gear-shaped model?

Chapter 3

• What are your fears when it comes to integrating coding into the curriculum? Create an open and honest dialogue around this. From the many educators the author has trained, the number one fear is that educators don’t feel confident with their own coding skills.
• After reading through various standards correlations, what do you see, think, and/or wonder?

Chapter 4

• Provide half of your readers with figure 4.1 and the other half with figure 4.2. Ask each group what the figures mean. Hopefully this will make for some great conversation and laughter.
• Explore at least one of the “Try It” activities and report back to the group.

Chapter 5

• Why is it important to engage young coders with physical computing devices? What other opportunities do you see within your school population to use these types of devices as an entry point for learning coding skills?
• How might you intentionally support executive functioning skills with the use of these physical devices? Have group members draft up a flyer to send home to parents explaining how these devices will help support children’s executive functioning.

Chapter 6

• How are the prompting questions for coding the same/different than for reading/math?
• Have readers creatively display their understanding of the input, process, output, and feedback loops. Then put readers in groups to create a shared understanding of the concepts.

Chapter 7

• Look at the case studies. Are there any that you can see implementing at your school site/classroom? If so, what would you need (materials, professional development, time) in order to be successful?

Chapter 8

• How does coding help make computational thinking visible?
• Allow time for participants to explore Scratch and create a simple project that makes some of their own thinking visible.

Chapters 9 and 10

• Take time to explore the resources and lesson integration ideas within the chapters. Come back prepared to let the group know which ones you might consider and if you tried any of them.

Chapter 11

• How might you take into account metacognition from chapter 8 and the ideas within assessment from chapter 11?

Chapter 12

• Just as with learning to read and reading to learn, what challenges do you think you may encounter when teaching students coding to learn and learning to code?
• How does play currently fit within your school day? How much time should be allotted each day to the philosophy of learning through play?

Chapters 13 and 14

• Provide a lot of time for teachers to think through what resources they would like to play with. Rather than just giving teachers resources, let them advocate for what they would like and how they will use the resources.
• Have participants craft proposals and develop lesson plans around the materials that a school currently has or ones they would like to purchase.

Challenge

• Explore the possibility of the Global Chess Challenge. How might you secure funding? Could it be an activity for an afterschool chess club?