Transcript

Text on screen: Computational Thinking in Children’s Everyday Experiences. 

Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.

Text on screen: Part 1: Conditional Logic (If… then) (4–5 years)

On screen: A preschool educator sits on the floor, watching a child create a tower with wooden blocks. The child nearly places a block in a precarious spot near the top of the tower, but decides not to. 

Educator: What do you need? What do you think? Oh, you need two. One for each side. 

On screen: The child turns to grab a matching block. He places both blocks at the top of the tower in a way that ensures the weight is evenly distributed. 

Educator: What would've happened if you'd only put one on there?

Text on screen: What would have happened if…

Vincent: It would’ve fallen down.

Educator: It probably would've fallen down, huh? Wow, Vincent. What else could you add to this creation?

Vincent: A ramp.

Educator: A ramp. Oh, gosh.

Text on screen: Part 2: Pattern Recognition (ABAB) (8–18 months)

On screen: A toddler is shown playing with a small bead maze. She holds it up to an educator who sits on the floor to show her how to play with it.

Educator: Are you moving the beads? Here, let me show you. You can move them up, down. Up, down. Up, down.

Text on screen: Up, down, up, down… 

On screen: The child hums the words as she moves the beads along the maze.

Educator: There's some more. Up, down.

Text on screen: Part 3: Sequencing (First, second, third) (3–5 years)

On screen: An educator stands in the corner of the classroom, pointing to each step on a vertical chart that displays the classroom schedule. 

Educator: So that's what we do at school. We come to school. We do our feelings, Ellie, we wash hands. We have breakfast. Now we're doing ...

On screen: The camera angle changes to show the children sitting on the floor in front of the educator.

Children: Circle time

Educator: And after what do we do?

Children: Activities.

Educator: Activities.

Text on screen: Part 4: Debugging (fixing and finding errors) (second–third grade)

On screen: An educator sits on the classroom floor with two children. The children are building model cars using recycled materials. One child is explaining what went wrong with the model they are working on. They are discussing the wheels and axles. 

Child 1: It fell off with this one.

Educator: Okay.

Child 1: And I tried it again, but I didn't want it to fall off, so I took it off.

Educator: Okay. So what do we want this piece to do? You want it to move, right?

Child 1: Yeah.

Educator: But if we tape it down, is it going to be able to move?

Child 1: No.

Educator: So what's missing? Does this one move? This one moves. What's the difference between here and here?

On screen: The educator points to one of the axels and wheels to show that it is operating correctly.

Child 2: Because it has a straw that gets it.

Child 1: Ohhh…

Image on screen: A close-up of the model car as the child makes the necessary adjustment. 

Text on screen: A special thanks to the children, families, and staff of the Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools’ Lighthouse for Children Child Development Center, Placer Elementary School, Gilroy Learning Center, and Virginia Avenue Elementary, without whos help these videos would not have been possible. 

Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.