Teaching loops and efficiency

If I spin round and round…I start to get a bit “Loopy!”…we are actors as we present information within the classroom. I will have students be detectives as they check their codes for patterns; places where the same pattern is found and can be looped! As they consider code, some students will identify the Loops naturally, while others will write it out and extend, findings the loops secondarily. They will find their own way with Code at their own comfort level. One’s brain must be aligned to the concepts, right/ left, backward/forward on the flat screen…those of us who are dyslexic have more of a challenge till it becomes a natural process. We are all special and get there at our own pace; not a reason to give up, just a reason to try harder! :robot::dog:

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I talk about loops in coding by reminding my students about the steps in a “long division” problem. Even though there are a few steps, you keep doing the same steps, in the same order, a few times to get through the whole problem.

I love the idea of using dance to teach loops. I’d also add music and art. Many students will be able to connect loops to everyday life activities. Loops can be found in just about any subject area too, so it would be great to talk about cycles in science, steps in a math problem etc.

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I like that you can cut down steps using the loop

Loops are kind of like a dance sequence…You can do a series of different maneuvers, then repeat them in order a preset number of times.

Looping can be explained as an action that can is repeated. I believe a simple example of this would be that of an athlete in an excercise routine. For example, an athlete may do 20 jumping jacks before moving on to 20 push ups, etc.

I think I would try to hook the kids by talking about shortcuts - they are always looking for the shortcut - sometimes it is efficient to make your own shortcut :slight_smile: “How can repeated steps be incorporated into a shortcut?”

Well, I struggled with the loops but I am sure my 5th graders will be complete in no time:)

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Love this idea! My kids love to act like robots.

This is a great unplugged idea to teach loops! So simple and a great way to engage students in a fun activity. I teach middle school students and this would go over well in my classroom. Thanks for sharing!

When talking about loops it more about working smarter - not harder. Saying the same thing 5 times vs saying it once and telling that person to do it 5 times. Having students demonstrate that verbally, helps them to get it much faster.

I compare it walking up or down the stairs. An action that is repeated over and over. We’ve also used the Getting Loopy lesson.

I plan use circle or must to do everyday as examples.

Loops are a set of steps that are repeated. An iteration are a series of loops sets.

Loops allow you to work faster by automatically repeating actions to make your code shorter and easier to run.

I really like the dance idea. I was thinking that the "Draw 4 cards in UNO are a very simple repeat where the player must repeat the draw card action 4 times.

Loops are a short cut to repeat the same thing over and over.

I come from a family of musicians, so I think music is one of the best ways to teach kids all about loops. This is a fun topic I think just because ‘loop’ is so fun a word to say anyway, and kids do loops all the time! I think this is another excellent example of something you can explain to students through everyday life. Lots of different instructions can be ‘loopified’.
I’ve seen a few people comment that mathematical functions (like iterated subtraction or addition) can be described to students as loops, and I think that’s a wonderful way to introduce or reiterate (there’s a loopy word) existing concepts with the curriculum here.

Looping is a good way to introduce the classic programmers’ sort of “Virtues of Laziness” - why do something x times if you could just PROGRAM something to happen x times? These sorts of concepts are the foundation of efficient creative thinking.

We discuss how some of the video games they play are very complicated and characters do the same activities over and over again. When coding, would we want to say “move forward” 100 times so the character could take steps through the maze or game? No, we wouldn’t. So programmers use “loops” to code activities that characters repeat over and over to save time when writing code.