Instructional Technology Initiative / CSEd Week

Computer Science Education Week

Join LAUSD for Computer Science Education (CSEd) Week, December 9-13, 2024.

This year’s theme is “Make the Invisible Visible” which encourages the next generation of creators to explore, craft, and showcase how coding can bring their favorite things to life.

Sign up to showcase your work expanding Computer Science Education. Plan classroom instruction, school-wide events, and activities promoting computer science for all stakeholders. Please let us know of your efforts by completing this form.

December 2023

Join LAUSD for Computer Science Education (CSEd) Week, December 4-8, 2023.

This year’s theme is "Creativity with AI." Sign up to showcase your work expanding CSEd. Plan classroom instruction, school-wide events, and activities promoting computer science for all stakeholders. Please let us know of your efforts by completing this form.

Participate in this year's Hour of Code for a chance to explore the exciting world of coding and have fun while doing it! The Hour of Code is an incredible program that offers students a free introduction to computer science through engaging activities and videos. This year's celebration will have a special focus on both coding and AI. It's a fantastic opportunity to inspire students and spark their interest in computer science. Learn more at https://hourofcode.com/us

December 2022

December 2021

L.A. Unified celebrates Computer Science Education or CSEd Week from December 6-10, 2021 to facilitate equity, access and opportunity in computer science education for all students. This year’s theme is #CSEverywhere, highlighting the impact that computer science is making across Local Districts, Communities of Schools, and within different subjects, grade levels and disciplines.

	12/6 (1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.)	CSEd Week Kickoff: CS Champions Panel
	12/8 (1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.)	#CS4LAUSD Virtual Computer Science Playground
	12/8 (3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.)	#ChatWithITI
	12/9 (3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.)	#CS4LAUSD Webinar: Cultivating Computational Thinkers with Nearpod
	12/10 (1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.)	CSEd Week Wrap Party
	12/6 - 12/10	CSEd Week Shared Resources and Curated Lessons
	12/6 - 12/10 (Various times)	Practitioner Schools and Verizon Innovative Learning Schools' CSEd Week Showcases

CSEd Week Kickoff: CS Champions Panel

#CS4LAUSD Virtual Computer Science Playground

#ChatWithITI

#CS4LAUSD Webinar: Cultivating Computational Thinkers with Nearpod

CSEd Week Wrap Party

CSEd Week Shared Resources and Curated Lessons

Practitioner Schools and Verizon Innovative Learning Schools' CSEd Week Showcases

December 2020

Instructional Technology Initiative's Computer Science
Education Week Professional Development and Showcase

Wednesday, December 9, 2020
9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

AGENDA

Format

Time

Event

Grounding Activities
1 hour

9:00 a.m. - 9:25 a.m.

Welcome and Inclusion Activity by Sophia Mendoza, Director of Instructional Technology Initiative
Opening Remarks

Alison Yoshimoto-Towery, Chief Academic Officer
Message from Board Member Kelly Gonez
Other VIPs

9:25 a.m. - 9:50 a.m.

Grounding Activities

CSEd Video
The What and Why of Computer Science Education in L.A. Unified
L.A. Unified Participation in CSEd

9:50 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Overview of Exploration Activities

CSEd Showcase
Zoom Breakout Links

Exploration and Application Activities
1 hour

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Exploration and Observation of Classroom Instruction TBD: Individual School Name, Description of Classroom Instruction, and Zoom info (same for 30 other schools) LDNE LDNW LDE LDS LDW LDC
LDNE	Coldwater Canyon ES: Various Teachers Ms. Bonilla: Incorporating art, math and computer science., students will use shapes to create and code an interactive Picasso style portrait. Ms. Leshnick: Incorporating art, literacy, social emotional learning and computer science, students will engage in digital storytelling as they animate the story of their name. Ms. Kabchanian: Incorporating math and computer science, students will use their knowledge of multiplication to create and code a math game. Ms. Merida: Incorporating science, digital storytelling and computer science, students will create and code their solution to climate change and their carbon footprint. Ms. Alfaro: Integrating literacy and computer science, students will code to animate their own fables. El Dorado ES: Ms. Ly, 4th Grade ELA Teacher Ms. Ly's class is currently working on their STEAM 'Business' unit. As part of our STEAM 'Business' theme, students are creating a project for their Adopt-a-Dog commercial through Scratch. The goal for this project is to have students create an interactive presentation through digital storytelling. As students are going through this project, students are being 'Creative Communicators' (ISTE Student Standards 6) where "students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals." Students' commercials contain the elements of effective advertising, such as the acting and setting, integrated with computer science concepts: algorithms and programming. Madison MS: Ms. Fisher, 6th Grade Elective/ELA Teacher Students are practicing their block coding skills through an adapted CS First/Scratch Lesson animating waves and adding their own sprites/characters. Sylmar Leadership Academy: Ms. Lugo and Ms Martinez, 4th Grade Teachers Sylmar Leadership Academy invites you to join our Computer Science Scratch Scavenger Hunt using the programming platform Scratch. Students will be able to identify and locate various functions in Scratch including variables, loops, movements, etc. After engaging in the Hunt, students will have an opportunity to code a math problem with movement in Scratch.
LDNW	Canoga Park ES: Ms. Leon, 5th Grade Teacher Ms. Leon’s class will be participating in a virtual breakout room scenario that involves them using their knowledge of code to unlock puzzles. This lesson focuses on perseverance, teamwork, and a basic understanding of code. Columbus MS: Mr. Fiser, 7th Grade Computer Science Discoveries Teacher Students are tasked with screen recording a puzzle coding solution, creating some talking points explaining what is happening using some of the vocabulary from the lesson. Students can share their screens and demo their solution of the Swift puzzle to the class. Northridge MS: Ms. Cornelius, 6th Grade Intro to Computing Teacher Students in Ms. Cornelius’s class will explore the Minecraft: Education Edition application and engage in facilitated dialogue centered around engineering and design. Students vary in level of expertise and all levels will gain new knowledge in the world of Minecraft. Sutter MS: Various Teachers and Grade Levels Chu: Students will be presenting their security project commercial. (10:30AM-10:45am) Roe: Students will program and design their own Google logo. Ss will be the artist and programmer of their own special logo. They might celebrate a real or imagined holiday or even highlight your favorite hobbies and interests, like a sport or activity (10:00-10:10am) Forero: Students will show their coding experience by participating in Hour of Code Minecraft Edition on Code.org (10:00-10:10am) Meikle: create Balanced/ Unbalanced Force Diagrams using Google Docs, inserting images from the Internet, and explaining their work (10:15-11:00am) Apel: Video game coding utilizing the Blockly and JavaScript computer programming languages. Everything will be done in Code.org (10:15-11:00am) Vanalden Avenue ES: Ms. Alfonso, 5th Grade ELA Teacher Students will tell a story that takes place on the high seas through the Scratch and CS First platform. Students will explore beginning coding themes. Among other coding skills, students will explore how to animate an ocean wave. The ocean wave will serve as a problem as the characters/sprites work to find a solution within their story.
LDE	Maywood Center for Enriched Studies (MaCES): Ms. Camarena, Mr. Marquez and Mr. Sarmiento, CS Teachers MaCES invites you to celebrate the growth of their CS program in grades 6th to 12th. We will start by sharing with you our CS journey from its inception to now, displaying student projects, inviting you to visit two of our CS classrooms, and last, but not least, inviting you to join us back at 1-2 pm on Wednesday and/or Friday where our Computer Science Honors Society (CSHS), our Girls Who Code Club, and other MaCES CS students will lead in presenting to the whole student body on CS topics such as: Social Justice in CS, Programming a Chatbot using Python, and a CS Speaker Panel Answering Student Questions. Join us! Roybal-Allard ES: Ms.Vazquez, 4th Grade Teacher Students have been practicing different coding skills in preparation for coding the introduction to their narrative writing in Scratch. By the day of the visit, students will have received some feedback from their teachers and peers and they will be demonstrating new iterations to their project and continue giving feedback to each other. South Gate MS: Ms. Gamboa, 6th Grade Teacher Students will explore Minecraft Education Edition Hour of Code activities.
LDS	Carson STEAM Academy: Mr. Sanchez, 5th Grade Teacher Want to learn more about how elementary students can use block-based programming to create interactive Public Service Announcements about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? Then, join us for an interactive CS Week lesson showcase using Kahoot! In our Kahoot session, you will learn about how the SDGs and Scratch can empower students to become Creative Communicators as they collaborate in a gamified fashion to provide peer feedback on their SDG Global Goals Scratch Project! Gompers MS: Ms. Kollatz, 7th & 8th Grade Music Teacher Students are working on creating a digital greeting card. They have chosen a holiday to feature, and are in the process of recording/arranging/composing a song in Soundtrap. Students will be featuring their background settings, music, an animated holiday greeting and 1-2 sprites. During this lesson we are beginning to code the background and add the sprite(s). Lomita STEAM Magnet ES: Ms. Thomson, 2nd Grade Teacher We invite you to come into Ms. Thomson’s second grade class and experience for yourself how learning about looping through a choreographed dance translates to how a computer interprets instructions when they are clear, short, and efficient. Students will be leading and presenting their own dance moves that they have not only written-out in algorithmic form using loops, but watch them as they have recorded themselves following their own dance iteration to their own personal favorite song. At the end, explore along with students how what they have just learned about looping transfers as they give a character instructions to go from point A to point B, using loops, in various puzzles provided by Code.org. Thomas Edison MS: Mr. Smythe, 7th/8th Grade Technology Elective Teacher Students in Mr. Smythe’s class will present the projects they have been working on this semester, which include the following: students created their own website using Weebly; coded their name on Scratch by spelling out their name and coding each letter, adding sounds, and converting YouTube songs to mp3 to add to their presentations. Students will view everyone else’s presentation and provide feedback on a Google form.
LDW	Gardner ES, Ms. Franco and Ms. Minas, Instructional Technology Facilitator and Teacher This will be an introductory lesson on computer science using Code.org’s computer science fundamentals curriculum. John Muir MS: Mr. Soto, 8th Grade Technology Elective Teacher Now that students know how to layer their loops, they can create so many beautiful things. This lesson will take students through a series of exercises to help them create their own portfolio-ready images. In this series, students will practice nesting loops while creating images that they will be excited to share. Beginning with a handful of instructions, students will make their own decisions when it comes to creating designs for repetition. They will then spin those around a variety of ways to end up with a work of art that is truly unique. West Hollywood ES: Mr. Baxendale, 4th Grade Teacher Mr. Baxendale has introduced both 4th grade classes to the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express kits. Students have learned the basics of Makecode and how to design a Magic Wand using loops, conditionals, and variables. Students were encouraged to take this learning and create a unique project incorporating code and design around an issue important to them. Other projects shared will include a Dance Party from code.org and a couple Sustainable Development Goals projects made with Scratch.
LDC	Berendo MS: Mr. Palomares, 8th Grade Teacher Students in Career and Technical Education will engage in their Computer Science Discoveries class. Students will engage in code.org activities with a focus on variables and random numbers. Students will also be creating a network with a university website. Franklin HS: Ms. Ramachandran, Chemistry Teacher (Note: showcase begins at 10:20 a.m. due to recess) There is no doubt that physical measurement, graphical interpretation, and visualization skills have been greatly diminished within the distance learning environment. One solution is to turn the home environment into a laboratory, and the use of the Merge Cube Augmented Reality graphical platform greatly enhances the visualization of abstract processes such as energy transfer and molecular bond formation. The goal of this project is successfully utilizing ISTE Standards 3 (Knowledge Constructor) and 6 (Creative Communicator) by allowing students to use the interactive technology resource of A/R while expressing their understanding of an abstract thermodynamic process. This presentation will showcase the screencasts of the A/R technology used in the student's home laboratory. Garvanza Elementary Technology and Leadership Magnet: Ms. Schirding, 4th Grade Teacher (Note: showcase begins at 10:15 a.m. due to recess) Our CS showcase will open with an unplugged activity to further explore binary numbers. Students will then move into sharing, building and reflecting on their Scratch Jr. projects. San Pascual STEAM Magnet: Ms. Yadegar, 3rd Grade Teacher Mrs.Yadegar’s students have had the honor to be working with Mr. Mohan, an MIT graduate who is now a Software Engineer living in Los Angeles. Mr. Mohan and Ms. Yadegar have been working with students to develop their understanding of coding with loops, and counting measures of music. Students will be showcasing their Dance Party creations with Code.org and reflecting on their process. Students will also be sharing an Arctic Wonderland project designed on Scratch!

Reflection and Closing Activities
30 minutes

11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Feedback and Debrief
CS Call to Action
Closing and Evaluation