Activity 3: Learning About Algorithms with Al!
One of the hardest coding vocabulary words for my Kindergarten students to grasp and retain has been Algorithm. I started thinking about ways to make the word more approachable and fun to remember and understand. Algorithm sounds an awful lot like Alligator...and so Al the Algorithm Alligator was born!
I haven't used a puppet in my classroom for quite a few years, but thought this was the perfect lesson to use one for. I found this fun alligator puppet on Amazon. The kids LOVED it!
Next, I thought about what Algorithms Kindergarten students could relate to and easily understand. Their morning wake up routine came to mind, as well as, building a snowman and planting seeds to grow a flower. I had purchased some great clipart from Little Red and knew it would be perfect for this.
I printed pages with the words Step 1 - Step 5 and the pictures. Next, I asked for volunteers to come and hold the pages. I placed the steps in a random order. Al then let us know if he would follow our algorithm. At first, the kids were confused when Al would say "No!" when he reached a step. We looked and worked together to figure out where the bug was in our algorithm.
I decided to have a single way each set of cards was to be "run". I know when solving coding problems there can be multiple ways to solve them, but just to get the kids understand an algorithm being a set of steps or directions, I kept it simple.
It was amazing to see the transfer of knowledge when I pulled up Kodable and we worked together to find the algorithm we needed to help the fuzzballs!
Whether you just print the picture of Al or go all in like me with a puppet, I know he will help your kiddos remember what an Algorithm is!
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