“What can I do to make my plan more efficient?” “How can I change my plan to correct this action?”

These self-reflective questions reverberated throughout the building, as students engaged in computer coding lessons. As part of Computer Science Week, RPRY joined in the national Hour of Code program, in which students across the grades engaged in computer coding activities. The premise of RPRY’s science/STEM curriculum lies in an inquiry-based model in which students engage in the design planning process, frame mistakes as opportunities and persevere. The students consistently displayed grit in the face of challenge.

Coding, like other curricula in the school, is taught in a developmentally appropriate manner. Skills are scaffolded and increased incrementally throughout the school. Beginning in kindergarten, students bridge their sequencing and symbolic representation skills from literacy and language to math and science. Students apply the abstract idea of assigning a symbol to represent an event in a concrete way with kinesthetic, hands-on practice with manipulatives. By seventh and eighth grade, students engage in deep programming activities that may take more than a month to complete. Seventh graders will complete a robotics unit using LEGO Mindstorms, while eighth graders will program using the Esplora processing board, funded by CIJE, the Center for Initiative in Jewish Education.