Above: The 4th grade students became programming mentors, helping to guide Kindergarteners through exploring Scratch Jr.

Students at the Kennedy-Longfellow School didn’t just spent one hour coding for the National Hour of Code Week: they spent 31 hours of collective coding! All grade levels, including preschool and Special Start students up through 5th grade, were invited into the school makerspace during the week to participate in hands-on coding activities. Following our model of student-centered learning, we set up various centers, depending on the age range, and let the students free to explore!

Junior K – 2nd graders: programmed a jelly sandwich, sequenced Bee-Bot and KIBO robots, and explored basic programming using an iPad app called The Foos and Scratch Jr.

3rd-5th Graders: programmed LEGO WeDo robots and littleBits using Scratch, created interactive musical instruments with fruit and more using MaKey MaKey, tried their hand at Logo programming, explored LEGO Mindstorm EV3 robotics, and collaborated to “program a friend” to perform a series of tasks.

K-Lo welcomed several special visitors during the week, including Rahul Bhargava (above), a research associate through the MIT Center for Civic Media. Described by a colleague as a “robotics freak”, Rahul shared his passion for coding and civic engagement with the two 5th grade classes.

We were also honored to host Cambridge Mayor David Maher (above), who joined us in the makerspace to help out with Kindergarten and 5th grade activities.