Use this thread to discuss your questions and comments about how to run the lesson.
For those of you who don’t have legos around, I ran a similar lesson but with images which you can find here. I told students they could not use words like “eyes” or “arms” but only talk about the shapes. They also couldn’t say “It’s a penguin” they had to explain how to draw the image from scratch. The drawers could not ask any clarifying questions and the explainers could not see the other person’s drawing. When they were done, they switched roles and got a new image. Afterwards we did the same re-cap about making sure language was precise.
Also, I did this with the first 10/20 minutes of class then we did stage 2.
Awesome Lesson. We used the entire 50 minute class. I used the $3 spritz mini legos and grouped them into five with different colors. Every student received a set and completed the worksheet individually. I gave students around 15 -20 minutes to complete the design and write the protocol. My students are grouped into four tables of 8 so at time, I had students disconnect their designs, leave the blocks and worksheet, and rotate tables. Students were given around 3 minutes to try and recreate the design given the directions. Students would check in with the creator across the room to verify correct solutions. Then we rotated again. We rotated around three different times and then began the discussion. Students naturally dialogued about the ideas mentioned in the lesson plan. This lesson was very rich, kept students moving and thinking, and transitioned us smoothly into the objectivity of javascript.
My students enjoyed the lego challenge. I then took pictures of their outcomes and we compared it to the picture of the original lego design. We could then compare photos using PowerPoint what other students were able to create. We had prizes for students who could create the best protocols that more than one person could follow
I used odd lego shapes to make naming items in the protocol a little more difficult.
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Hi JMPauley, I think that is an awesome idea to use odd shaped legos. How cool. Using the odd shapes would really challenge their writing. I must do this next time. Thanks for sharing.
Taking the pictures is a great idea and would add an entertaining discussion prompt if we showed them on the screen. I think I might have them take a photo of both the instructions and what they built side-by-side – so they could “defend” their interpretations.
Hello code.org team!
I wasn’t sure where/how to get a hold of you so I figured this would be as good of a place as any. I teach in a large public school outside of Minneapolis and this year was the first year a CS course was offered at my high school - we had 19 students enrolled in it.
I just got my numbers in for next year… we have 98 student enrolled in AP CSP! I am HUGELY thankful for the work your team has done to put in place this curriculum for teachers and for my students. The course could not have been a success without your engaging lessons and intentional roll out of the curriculum. I don’t know if you see your impact every day, but here in MN your work is making a BIG difference! Thanks!
KT
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thanks for the feedback, kaitie! i’m so happy to hear that your class is going well-- we are always in awe of rockstars like you 
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