CS in Elementary Schools

Every student deserves the opportunity to learn computer science. Computer science education emphasizes critical thinking, collaboration, communication, computational thinking, problem-solving, and perseverance. It promotes equity, growth, and sustainability. At BCPS, students have the opportunity to learn computer science starting at kindergarten. There are various ways for younger students to participate in computer science and teachers are provided professional development to teach computer science at the elementary level.

Hour of Code - Computer Science Ed Week

Every December, we celebrate Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), an annual call to action to inspire K-12 students to learn computer science, advocate for equity in computer science education, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners to the field. However, at BCPS, we celebrate Computer Science Ed Week the entire month of December! Daily computer science activities for students can be accessed via Canvas, which are updated yearly.

Time4CSforAll

Time4CSforAll is a research-practice partnership awarded to BCPS in partnership with UChicago STEM Education and the University of Florida and funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) CSforAll grant- Collaborative Research: A research-practice partnership focused on creating equitable computer science opportunities for elementary students (Grant No. 2031425). This project will find time in the elementary day to integrate computer science through an interdisciplinary problem-based learning unit for fourth grade students that will eventually be made available nationwide on Code.org, one of the largest providers of K-12 computer science content.

TimeforCS

Universal Design for Learning for Computer Science (CS Inclusion)

UDL4CS (Universal Design for Learning 4 Computer Science) is a team project between the University of Florida, Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and Broward County Public Schools (BCPS). It’s supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Google and brings together researchers and teachers to help students with disabilities take part in computer science (CS) classes from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The goal is to give general education and special education (ESE) teachers the tools and support they need to include all students in CS learning. This work will help more students get access to high-quality computer science education and create a model that other school districts can follow.

https://udl4cs.education.ufl.edu/

Press Release for UDL4CS - Google and University of Florida Partner with BCPS to Scale Up Computer Science for Students with Disabilities.pdf

Block Coding

Block-based coding or block coding is a drag-and-drop coding language. Students build an understanding and foundation in computational thinking through visual-based coding that is easy to learn and understand. There are two main block-based coding that we use:

Code.org curriculum - Code.org is a free curriculum for students in K-12. Code.org’s progression of Computer Science Fundamentals courses blend online and "unplugged" non-computer activities to teach students computational thinking, problem solving, programming concepts and digital citizenship. Students are shown here coding using Code.org's block-based program.
Scratch - BCPS provides workshops for teachers that use Scratch, a free block-based coding with various applications for other subject areas - language arts, social studies, art, music, PE. Music Curriculum Supervisor Joe Luechauer pictured here playing with a cereal box guitar attached to Makey Makey (an invention tool) and using Scratch programming.

Contact Information

Lisa Milenkovic

Curriculum Spvr, STEM + Computer Science K-12