Teach With Kodable? Try the New Coding & Robotics Unit Featuring Dash & Dot

Here at Wonder Workshop, we believe that the best way to introduce new computer science concepts to students is through tangible examples. That’s one great benefit of using Dash & Dot. Programming the robots brings coding to life. We also believe in supporting teachers with the tools they need to find success teaching coding and bringing coding to life for all students.

That’s why we’ve partnered with Kodable, the site that provides teachers with easy-to-follow lessons focused on outcomes for students learning to code. Kodable was interested in adding robotics to its curriculum and we were happy to be a part of that project. Kodable’s director of curriculum, Brie Gray, was interested in introducing a unit that would allow kids to explore functional hardware while learning the more abstract concepts that make it all hum. Especially in lower elementary, students start thinking about the world around them. Brie Gray says, “Robotics gives students an opportunity to question how things work and dig deeply into the role individuals can play in creating, controlling, and working with machines.”

Robots work off of the same logic as computers and software. There are core constructs to the code used to control them. In many ways, the lessons in this unit are reinforcing concepts students learn in other units of Kodable. The lesson structure and style follow the same three-part (I do, we do, you do) model found in the rest of Kodable, but now there’s a physical object involved! The lessons still have independent practice on-screen for students, but include guided practice with Wonder Workshop’s Blockly app and, of course, Dash!

The Kodable robotics unit covers hardware and software, sequence, algorithms, loops, events, and functions. This is followed by a four-session (minimum) project focused on design thinking, of which Brie says, “I honestly would love to participate in [it] myself!” The priority is for students to learn while having fun and experience learning in a setting that allows them to ask questions, be wrong sometimes, try new things, and work together.

Robotics naturally lends itself to inquiry-based learning, projects, and design thinking. Design thinking is a method of minimizing the uncertainty and risk of innovation by engaging users through a series of prototypes to learn, test, and creatively refine concepts. Design thinking is a process we use daily at Kodable, and that you most likely follow in your own life as well. The four-part assessment in this unit encourages design thinking in order to foster and encourage creativity and collaboration in the classroom and the real world.

You don’t need experience to get started.

Even if you have zero programming or robot knowledge, you still have all the information and materials needed to teach the lessons. The lessons in Kodable’s robotics unit are scripted, so you can even read right off of them, if needed, or use them as a template for building your own. Dive in and learn along with your students! You’ll be rewarded with hands-on engagement and a lot of learning.

This post was written in collaboration with Kodable.