ALEX Classroom Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [DLIT] (0) 12 :

6) Recognize ways in which computing devices make certain tasks easier.

Examples: Communication, doctor's visits/medical records, maps and directions.

[DLIT] (1) 16 :

10) Identify an appropriate tool to complete a task when given guidance and support.

Examples: Choosing a word processing tool to write a story, choosing a spreadsheet for a budget.

[DLIT] (2) 20 :

14) Collect, create, and organize data in a digital chart or graph.

[MA2019] (0) 8 :

8. Represent addition and subtraction up to 10 with concrete objects, fingers, pennies, mental images, drawings, claps or other sounds, acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions, or equations.

[MA2019] (0) 10 :

10. Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs of smaller numbers in more than one way, by using concrete objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation.

Example: 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1

[MA2019] (1) 6 :

6. Add and subtract within 20.

a. Demonstrate fluency with addition and subtraction facts with sums or differences to 10 by counting on.

b. Demonstrate fluency with addition and subtraction facts with sums or differences to 10 by making ten.

c. Demonstrate fluency with addition and subtraction facts with sums or differences to 10 by decomposing a number leading to a ten.

Example: 13 - 4 = 13 - 3 - 1 = 10 - 1 = 9

d. Demonstrate fluency with addition and subtraction facts with sums or differences to 10 by using the relationship between addition and subtraction.

Example: Knowing that 8 + 4 = 12, one knows 12 - 8 = 4.

e. Demonstrate fluency with addition and subtraction facts with sums or differences to 10 by creating equivalent but easier or known sums.

Example: adding 6 + 7 by creating the known equivalent 6 + 6 + 1 = 12 + 1 = 13

In this learning experience designed for littles (grades Pre-K through 2nd), Christine Pinto, Kindergarten teacher and co-author of Google Apps for Littles,  uses Google Sheets templates to help her students learn basic addition and give them early exposure to equations. Students can "make five", "make ten", "make twenty", following the colors in the Google Sheets cells.

The kids make their models by using single digit numbers according to the color key to color the cells. First, they fill in the blank cells with a color by typing the number that corresponds to the color. For example, they could fill three boxes with green, two with orange. Then they add their equation to the yellow box to show how it makes 5 (3 (green) plus 2 (orange) equals five). Then they check their answer in the blue box following the example.

Learning Outcomes :

• Students will be able to create equations that equal 5, 10, or 20.

• Students will be able to decompose a number and understand the purpose of the equal sign.

• Students will gain a foundational understanding for multiplication.

• Students will be able to write mathematical expressions.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [DLIT] (2) 8 :

2) Create an algorithm for other learners to follow.

Examples: Unplugged coding activities, illustrate sequence of a process such as baking a cake.

[DLIT] (2) 20 :

14) Collect, create, and organize data in a digital chart or graph.

[DLIT] (2) 21 :

15) Explain how users control the ways digital devices save information in an organized manner.

Examples: Folders, cloud-based, pictures, chronologically, naming files.

Binary is extremely important in the world of computers. The majority of computers today store all sorts of information in binary form. This lesson helps demonstrate how it is possible to take something from real life and translate it into a series of "ons" and "offs".

In this lesson, students will learn how information is represented in a way such that a computer can interpret and store it. When learning binary, students will have the opportunity to write codes and share them with peers as secret messages. This can then be related back to how computers read a program, translate it to binary, use the information in some way, then reply back in a way humans can understand. For example, when we type a sentence into a document then press save, a computer translates the sentence into binary, stores the information, then posts a message indicating the document has been saved.

Students will be able to:
- encode letters into binary.
- decode binary back to letters.
- relate the idea of storing letters on paper to the idea of storing information in a computer.

Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [DLIT] (2) 20 :

14) Collect, create, and organize data in a digital chart or graph.

[DLIT] (2) 24 :

18) Investigate the design process and use digital tools to illustrate potential solutions to a problem, given guidance and support

Examples: Create a presentation, drawing or graphic, audio tool, or video.

In this lesson, students are asked to build a load-bearing structure using common materials. The structure will be tested on its ability to hold a textbook for more than ten seconds. The goal of this activity is to engage students in a difficult challenge to highlight strategies for showing persistence in the face of frustration. Most students will not get this right the first time, but if they continue trying and iterating, you can help them identify techniques to make struggle productive.

While this lesson may not at first seem connected to Computer Science, it plays an essential role in preparing students to tackle some of the more difficult challenges that will come their way when approaching new CS content. This lesson teaches that failure is not the end of a journey, but rather a step towards success. The majority of students should feel frustrated at some point in this lesson, but it's important to emphasize that failure and frustration are common steps that lead to creativity and success.

Students will be able to:
- identify the feeling of frustration when felt or described..
- list strategies for overcoming frustration during a difficult task
- model persistence while working on a difficult task.

Note: You will need to create a free account on code.org before you can view this resource.