Re: OT: Teaching Second Graders Programming

Get them to describe everyday tasks. Examples:

Cross the road? Stop at the kerb, look both ways, then cross. You just got killed. You looked, but your actions did not take account of what you saw.

Make a cup of coffee? Fill the kettle (the kettle's already full of air) with water (from the washing up - it'll make you ill) etc.

Do one with the whole class, then divide them into groups each with a different task and get them to "pair programme" it. 3 minutes on the class task, 3 minutes in groups then 4 minutes presenting solutions. This will give them some feel for what real programmers have to look out for.

Regards,

John Davies

Update: I see hominid came up with a very similar idea while I was typing mine.

Update 2: Please let us know what you tried & how it went.

Comment on Re: OT: Teaching Second Graders Programming

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Re^2: OT: Teaching Second Graders Programming by johngg (Canon) on Mar 27, 2014 at 19:44 UTC
That reminds me of someone who habitually instructed their young child before mealtimes to "wash your hands in the downstairs toilet" referring, of course, to the room and the washbasin in it. Imagine their horror after several months of this when they noticed their little darling literally using the water in the toilet bowl to wash their hands! A lovely illustration of "I know what I mean, why don't you?" :-) Cheers, JohnGG	[reply]
Re^3: OT(OT^2, now): Teaching Second Graders Programming by davies (Monsignor) on Mar 27, 2014 at 20:03 UTC
I heard or read a similar story about some schoolgirls who used to put on lipstick & then kiss the mirror in the toilet, leaving it covered with lipstick for the cleaner to remove. After several useless appeals to the girls, a teacher took them down to the toilet so that they could see just how much work it was for the cleaner. The cleaner had to dip the mop in the toilet bowl many, many times to get the lipstick first off the mirror onto the mop and then off the mop. History does not record whether the girls stopped because of the hard work they caused or because of the source of the water for the mop. But they stopped! Regards, John Davies	[reply]