Overview
Learning Objectives
Evidence Statements
Product Outcomes
Materials
Preparation
OPTIONAL: Hand out Warmup activity sheet.
Welcome to Bootstrap! In this course, you’ll be learning a new programming language - a way to tell computers exactly what you want them to do. Just like English, Spanish or French, a programming language has its own vocabulary and grammar that you’ll have to learn. Fortunately, the language you’ll be using here has a lot in common with simple math that you already know!
Introduce the teaching staff. Give some background: age, where you’re from, something surprising about yourself, favorite food, etc. Anything to allow kids to connect. Ask kids for their names! Set expectations and rules for the class.
Connect the material that’s to come with things students already know:Talk to them about what makes a language - especially if you have students who speak a second or third language
Programming is very much a language, with its own syntax, semantics, etc
Ask students about their favorite videogames. Be open about the scale of a modern game: they cost millions of dollars, are built by huge teams of programmers and artists, and are developed over years.
Set expectations about what can be accomplished in a single, introductory programming class.