I was told to teach a 7th grade course the day classes started, so I’m behind already. I was thinking of teaching the express course, but I’m wondering if Discoveries would be more interesting. Students are on chrome books and we don’t have adafruit. Also, I really don’t want to teach the engineering challenges in unit 1. This is because we have 0 supplies and I don’t have a set place to teach yet (we are very short on space at my school). I feel bad about this, but it’s the truth.
Is the express course going to engage the 7th graders? Some of them seem more like 5th graders, many of them are very excited to lear coding though, specifically they want to learn to program games. Any insight would be appreciated.
I think both can be used for 7th grade and I have used both for 7th grade myself. It depends on what your goal is, I think.
In Unit 1, there are a lot of the problem solving challenges that don’t need supplies and some of the ones that do use supplies only use minimal ones, ie. paper towers. They could be done anywhere. Also, a lot of teachers don’t get to unit 6, even in a full year curriculum, but there is also a new unit (unit 7) that could be used if you run out of things to do.
Express is more simple and it may be a good starting point. You may find that you finish it and then want more and you could then start with CS Discoveries. There is so much you can do and mix and match may be your answer.
Here’s a good starting point for evaluating CS Discoveries, if you want. If you have time to go through this, you will have a great understanding of the course and how to implement it.