I have a long history in teaching Computer Science at secondary level. Most of my resources are related to the Edexcel syllabus, but in CS computing is computing, and it is all much the same!. I like to teach programming in a way that the kids will really 'get' using things relevant in their lives, like Beyonce, and Adidas!
I have a long history in teaching Computer Science at secondary level. Most of my resources are related to the Edexcel syllabus, but in CS computing is computing, and it is all much the same!. I like to teach programming in a way that the kids will really 'get' using things relevant in their lives, like Beyonce, and Adidas!
This year the GCSE students will have 50% of the course examined online. I have created 8 questions which scaffold the learning up to the point of the sample online tests. The cover: If, iteration, len, global, local variables, constants, data types and coercion, lists, turtle, libraries and more. There is a PowerPoint of exercises to give to the learner, and another with teacher solutions after each question. My students found it fun and engaging, and I am confident they won’t flip out now when they see the #comment format of the summer examinations. Tes will not allow me to add py files here, so the slides are screen shots, they can either type in the codes, or you can email me to get the code files and solutions annemariebradshaw@hotmail.com.
This unit of work took around 3 hours, will explanations for lower ability coders. The exercises can also be used for improving code, with a little tweak in the questions given.
I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine did.
Observed as 'outstanding' The PPT resource has learning objectives, outcomes, AfL, tasks, and homework. The concept of what constitutes extremism is done in a number of ways which engage the learner - including analogies with sprouts and pop stars. Once the concept of understanding what extremism is has been achieved, the focus moves on to why it is a bad thing. A very engaging lesson which goes beyond the boring drone of similar lessons on radicalisation.
This is a half term's work on gaining skills for the new 9-1 Edexcel computer science course. Based upon the new Crawdale NEA, it focusses mainly on reading and writing to text files. It includes practice of splitting text files up, and concatenating to create memberID. Sub routines, and practice creating menus with IF statements is also brought in, but more as a practice, than explicitly as lessons. There is a test in week 6, and a mark scheme based on 9-1. Anyone wishing to use Crawdale NEA SAM material would find this a very useful learning tool to begin with. It has been aimed at high ability year 9, or low ability year 10.
This contains a starter where students are asked to ponder what makes an animated card interesting. The scripts are then given for learners to create a fully animated e-card. It includes moving snow, decorations that find their way to the tree, a star coming from the sky and landing on the tree. Baubles that flash, and a merry Christmas sign that lights up. Some features start automatically and others are interactive. This can be used from around age 7 right up to year 11! Everyone loves a Christmas theme! The lesson ends with a bronze, silver gold worksheet which allows differentiation from a cloze key word task, to considering real life uses, and ends with Blooms evaluative task for more able learners. There is also a homework / extended learning task available. Two learning walks have been rated outstanding with this lesson.
An engaging resources which allows the learners to find errors marked with hashtags. The slides include the broken code (fixed code is on the teacher slides, separate and can also be received via email). Even if you choose not to use this for debugging exercises, it is useful for programming ideas for beginners to copy. After each script the learners are encouraged to state initial tests, actual tests, in preparation for GCSE NEA work. My learners raced up the stairs to start on these tasks, very enthusiastically. The topics include maths, strings, lists, tuples, concatenation, for loops, sub routines and appending to lists. The scripts can also be used as base scripts for other ideas. At the end of the half term of work, there is a challenge project, worded like a very watered down GCSE project. Enjoy!
This is part of a pack aimed at GCSE year 11 Edexcel students preparing for paper 2. A lesson teaching trace tables. The lesson begins very much scaffolded until they are able to understand all concepts, then answer two exam paper questions on the topic (from the summer series and the specimen) including the mark scheme answers.
Dingbats are images that make up keywords. I've used this as an end of term whole class game which really engaged the learners in thinking about Computer Science key terms. Great for literacy too. Or they could be used as a starter to hook learners as they enter the room. More suited to year 9 and above, but can be used in KS3 where the learners have been exposed to key terms such as open source, firewall, MP3, magnetic hard drive etc.
I put together this pack aimed mainly at KS3, and as the Esafety Officer at my Academy. The pack includes lessons on hoaxes, keeping personal data safe, live streaming and reputation, gaming addiction, and bullies/ trolls. All have been made with regard to the new KCSIE recommendations. There is a powerpoint for each lesson, chance for discussion, and different tasks each lesson to embed the knowledge. These lessons have been delivered as a half term full unit, and have also been delivered in the PSHEE last year, as the last lesson before a half term, thereby lasting for one year.
This resource will last around three lessons. It ties in error types such as syntax, and logic and relates them to what the learner will find in Python. It covers how to spot errors, what the common pop ups are, variable name errors, and the most common ones- casting errors, and the terrible indents. I have clearly gone through ‘belonging’ with indentation, and how to get a fix. Trace tables get a mention with one exam paper showing a for loop and a print statement outside of the loop. Many learners lost 6 marks for not understanding ‘belonging to the loop’. Well not anymore! There are a bank of Python files to go with this resource, but I cannot upload them here. If you email me annemariebradshaw@hotmail.com I can send those to you to.
This is a fresh way of teaching errors, and also a good way of embedding Python coding skills, meaning that in the assessment they will be able to help themselves debug their own code. There is
48 questions aimed at only the topics given by the exam board in the slimmed down version. These are accompanied by a PPT which includes a brief of each of the new topics. Work is great for revision, individually, or paired work. These will take you right up to paper 1 exam. The questions can be used in conjunction with any of the text books, or even GCSE Bitesize. Make sure learners are only focussed on what will be on the exam, and not the other stuff!
A one hour lesson on understanding how the while loop works with a counter. Students have the opportunity to think about a problem, seeing a WHILE flow diagram, reading some Pseudocode for a while loop, then get the chance to program a 'buggy' while loop, with expected output given. The solutions, and a homework task are also included. This lesson is aimed at either low ability KS4 or high ability KS3, and kept my youngsters engaged with it's problem solving nature.
This resource explains the concept of debugging, and the types of errors that can occur. It has an accompanying worksheet and Scratch files to debug and write about. There are assessment questions at the end. This has been very engaging, and has been observed twice as an outstanding lesson.
Whole lesson explaining how def is used in Python. Creating main procedures, and calling subroutines within them, using Rhianna lyrics. Practical task decomposing cooking a Sunday dinner. Homelearning task included. Ideal for lower ability, or younger children, to teach the basics of subroutines, procedures that don't calculate a value, or use global variables.
This is a game of dingbats, where they have to guess the keyword from the images. I have included the answers! You could either use this as an end of term fun lesson, with teams, or use each dingbat as a starter, plenary, or questioning prompt.
This is part of a set of resources aimed at GCSE year 11 EDEXCEL students, to prepare them for paper 2. This actual one covers the different types of error, and includes an exam question from the summer series to practice.
I have created a resource that all kids will be able to do at home. Basically it is about designing a computer game, splash screens, characters, game play. It is really for KS3, but could do lower ability KS4. It is self explanatory so they can go on Google Classroom or your sharing platform- download, complete and upload. It follows Identify, Analysis, Evaluation, and Testing as a systems life cycle, and also touches on decomposition of tasks. Together we are better!