Changes

1. I just got back from Turtle Art Day in Kathmandu, Nepal. OLE Nepal helped organize a 2-day workshop with 70+ children from four schools. Many thanks to Martin Dluhos, Basanta Shrestha, Subir Pradhanang, Rabi Karmacharya, Bernie Innocenti, and Adam Holt, all of who contributed to the event.

1. I just got back from Turtle Art Day in Kathmandu, Nepal. OLE Nepal helped organize a 2-day workshop with 70+ children from four schools. Many thanks to Martin Dluhos, Basanta Shrestha, Subir Pradhanang, Rabi Karmacharya, Bernie Innocenti, and Adam Holt, all of who contributed to the event.

It was not a surprise that children in Nepal are like children everywhere else: they take to programming like ducks to water. We began by taking the children in small groups to learn some basics about controlling the turtle: one child plays the role of turtle, one holds the pen (a piece of chalk) and the rest, in a circle, instruct the "turtle" how to draw a square. They need to be very precise with their instructions: if they just say "forward" without saying how far forward, the turtle keeps walking. If they say "right", without saying how far to turn, the turtle keeps spinning after they draw a square, I ask them to draw a triangle then they are ready to start with Turtle Art. I've posted a few of the chalk drawing in the wiki: [[File:Chalk1.jpg|simple ones]] from my session to [[File:Chalk1.jpg|more elaborate]] from those working with another one of the mentors.

It was not a surprise that children in Nepal are like children everywhere else: they take to programming like ducks to water. We began by taking the children in small groups to learn some basics about controlling the turtle: one child plays the role of turtle, one holds the pen (a piece of chalk) and the rest, in a circle, instruct the "turtle" how to draw a square. They need to be very precise with their instructions: if they just say "forward" without saying how far forward, the turtle keeps walking. If they say "right", without saying how far to turn, the turtle keeps spinning after they draw a square, I ask them to draw a triangle then they are ready to start with Turtle Art. I've posted a few of the chalk drawing in the wiki: [[:File:Chalk1.jpg|simple ones]] from my session to [[:File:Chalk1.jpg|more elaborate]] from those working with another one of the mentors.

After working with chalk, we went to the computers. On a laptop connected to a projector, I introduced Turtle Blocks, and again ask for a square. I show them that they can snap together blocks, e.g., forward 100, right 90; showed them the repeat block; and then I show them how to use the start block to run their program with the rabbit or snail (fast or slow). Over time, I introduced the pen and let them explore colors for awhile. Next, I introduce action blocks: make an action for drawing a square and then call that action inside of a repeat block followed by right 45 and you get a pretty cool pattern. This was followed by more open-ended exploration. I introduced a few more ideas, such as using "set color to heading" (the color is determined by the direction the turtle is heading); "set color = color + 1" to increment the color; and "set color = time" to make the color slowly change over time. I also introduced a few other blocks, such as show, speak, and random. Finally, I introduced boxes. For this, I use a physical box: I ask the children to put a number (written on paper) in the box; then I ask them what number is in the box. I ask them to take the number in the box and add 1 to it. Again I ask them what number is in the box. I repeat this until they get used to it; then I show them the same thing using Turtle. The example program I write with them is to go forward by the amount in the box, turn right, and add 10 to the number in the box. I asked them what they think will happen and then show them that it makes a spiral. When they run it with the "snail", they can see the number in the box as the program runs. Another block I explicitly introduced was the "show" block. We programmed an animation with "show image", "wait 1", "show image", "wait 1", ... They recorded dance steps using the Sugar Record activity and used those images in their Turtle projects. As often as possible, we tried to have a child show their work to the entire group. At the end of the second day, we had a table set up for an exhibition; we had to keep adding more tables as more and more children wanted to show off their projects.

After working with chalk, we went to the computers. On a laptop connected to a projector, I introduced Turtle Blocks, and again ask for a square. I show them that they can snap together blocks, e.g., forward 100, right 90; showed them the repeat block; and then I show them how to use the start block to run their program with the rabbit or snail (fast or slow). Over time, I introduced the pen and let them explore colors for awhile. Next, I introduce action blocks: make an action for drawing a square and then call that action inside of a repeat block followed by right 45 and you get a pretty cool pattern. This was followed by more open-ended exploration. I introduced a few more ideas, such as using "set color to heading" (the color is determined by the direction the turtle is heading); "set color = color + 1" to increment the color; and "set color = time" to make the color slowly change over time. I also introduced a few other blocks, such as show, speak, and random. Finally, I introduced boxes. For this, I use a physical box: I ask the children to put a number (written on paper) in the box; then I ask them what number is in the box. I ask them to take the number in the box and add 1 to it. Again I ask them what number is in the box. I repeat this until they get used to it; then I show them the same thing using Turtle. The example program I write with them is to go forward by the amount in the box, turn right, and add 10 to the number in the box. I asked them what they think will happen and then show them that it makes a spiral. When they run it with the "snail", they can see the number in the box as the program runs. Another block I explicitly introduced was the "show" block. We programmed an animation with "show image", "wait 1", "show image", "wait 1", ... They recorded dance steps using the Sugar Record activity and used those images in their Turtle projects. As often as possible, we tried to have a child show their work to the entire group. At the end of the second day, we had a table set up for an exhibition; we had to keep adding more tables as more and more children wanted to show off their projects.