Organize curriculum around building a one-level mini-game to introduce elementary school students to introductory computer science.

  • Setting up the scope of a game as a one-level minigame is extremely important! Students enjoy making games, but making large or elaborate games is likely beyond the scope of an introductory course.
    • For instance, consider using a one-level game with a dog, a cat, and a mouse to teach them basic CS skills as their first major Scratch game/project.
  • Most students, regardless of their demographic, seem to understand what makes a game. This allows for meaningful conversations at the very beginning of the course and at many grade levels. 
  • So the first day of class will be more about game design than programming.
    • Start things off on the first day by asking the question, “What makes a game a game?” To answer this question, students will typically come up with most of the following answers:
      • a goal.
      • Rules.
      • Instructions.
      • challenges and obstacles.
      • Characters.
      • Controls.
    • Their answers will subsequently serve as great topics to motivate the first and second CS content lessons.
  • It’s important to remind students that there isn’t only one way to make a game. The way you make a game is not necessarily the way your students will make a game.
  • After five minutes of game building in Scratch most students are hooked!

More about this tip

External Source

Interview with Dylan Ryder