Greenburgh Students to Ramp Up Learning How to Write Computer Code

GREENBURGH, NY — Students in the Greenburgh Central School District are learning computer coding and will be increasing the amount of time they spend on it.

According to information on the district's website, the students will be participating in Code.org’s global Hour of Code during an entire week, starting Monday. Parents are invited to the activities, which will take place in all schools.

The Hour of Code is a global movement by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org to reach tens of millions of students in more than 180 countries through an introduction to computer science and computer programming, organizers said.

From the website:

In Greenburgh, coding begins in pre-school, where Early Childhood Program students will be introduced to coding by using Code-a-Pillar, a Fisher-Price caterpillar toy that aims to teach kids the basics of coding. The toy teaches kids ages 3 to 8 problem solving and sequencing. By directing the caterpillar to move in a certain pattern, it reinforces skills associated with writing code. The students will work on this activity each day next week from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

At the Lee F. Jackson School, kindergartners and first-graders will learn coding with the help of the popular robots, Dot and Dash, and with Bee Bots. They will also learn coding using the popular coding app Scratch. Students at LFJ will be coding during different periods throughout the week.

At the Highview School, students in grades two and three will also learn coding with Dash and Dot, use Scratch and Tynker, and work with LittleBits. Second-graders will be on a rotation throughout the day, and third-graders will be coding from 11 a.m. to noon.

At the RJ Bailey School, grades four through six will work on rotations throughout the week, coding with Tynker, using OZOBOTS, and programming with the help of Makey Makey boards.

At Woodlands Middle School, seventh- and eighth-graders will learn coding with Tynker and Little Bits throughout the day, and at Woodlands High School, students will dive into Python computer programming, Lego Mindstorms, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino boards.

Photo credit: Greenburgh Central School District.