Computational thinking…okay, so that’s a big word! I kinda sorta knew what it meant, but I was so interested to see how this might translate into practical information that I could use at my library. And that’s why I was really glad that I attended this afternoon’s session on computational thinking (CT) for young children—“Making the Connection: Early Literacy and Computational Thinking for Young Children,” led by Claudia Haines of Homer (Alaska) Public Library and Paula Langsam of the D.C. Public Library. It was jam-packed with people, tips, ideas, and lots of hands-on activities. Oh, plus dancing! You really couldn’t ask for more.
During this session, we learned about several important CT skills, including pattern recognition, decomposition, algorithm design, and abstraction. Again, these seem like really big words, but when you get past that, you start to see how these skills can be taught to young children in some easy and exciting ways. Teach decomposition skills by making lunch together, or maybe making a cake like in The Little Red Hen. Teach algorithms by putting together a new dance routine. Add in a loop, and you’ve got yourself a dance party! Ours was awesome, in case you were wondering.
This session got me thinking about lots of other ways that we can incorporate these important skills into our early literacy programming. I’m thinking that I might go to another session on computational thinking tomorrow, too—“Ready to Code to Computational Thinking (CT): A Workshop to Help You Make the Transition.” I feel like I’m just getting started, and I’m excited to learn more tomorrow!