# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Computational thinking is an interrelated set of skills and practices for solving complex problems, a way to learn topics in many disciplines, and a necessity for fully participating in a computational world.

Many different terms are used when talking about computing, computer science, computational thinking, and programming. Computing encompasses the skills and practices in both computer science and computational thinking. While computer science is an individual academic discipline, computational thinking is a problem-solving approach that integrates across activities, and programming is the practice of developing a set of instructions that a computer can understand and execute, as well as debugging, organizing, and applying that code to appropriate problem-solving contexts. The skills and practices requiring computational thinking are broader, leveraging concepts and skills from computer science and applying them to other contexts, such as core academic disciplines (e.g. arts, English language arts, math, science, social studies) and everyday problem solving. For educators integrating computational thinking into their classrooms, we believe computational thinking is best understood as a series of interrelated skills and competencies.

In order to integrate computational thinking into K-12 teaching and learning, educators must define what students need to know and be able to do to be successful computational thinkers. Our recommended framework has three concentric circles.

Computational thinking skills, in the outermost circle, are the cognitive processes necessary to engage with computational tools to solve problems. These skills are the foundation to engage in any computational problem solving and should be integrated into early learning opportunities in K-3.

Computational thinking practices, in the middle circle, combine multiple computational skills to solve an applied problem. Students in the older grades (4-12) may use these practices to develop artifacts such as a computer program, data visualization, or computational model.

Inclusive pedagogies, in the innermost circle, are strategies for engaging all learners in computing, connecting applications to students' interests and experiences, and providing opportunities to acknowledge, and combat biases and stereotypes within the computing field.

What does inclusive computational thinking look like in a classroom? In the image below, we provide examples of inclusive computing pedagogies in the classroom. The pedagogies are divided into three categories to emphasize different pedagogical approaches to inclusivity. Designing Accessible Instruction refers to strategies teachers should use to engage all learners in computing. Connecting to Students' Interests, Homes, and Communities refers to drawing on the experiences of students to design learning experiences that are connected with their homes, communities, interests and experiences to highlight the relevance of computing in their lives. Acknowledging and Combating Inequity refers to a teacher supporting students to recognize and take a stand against the oppression of marginalized groups in society broadly and specifically in computing. Together these pedagogical approaches promote a more inclusive computational thinking classroom environment, life-relevant learning, and opportunities to critique and counter inequalities. Educators should attend to each of the three approaches as they plan and teach lessons, especially related to computing.

Micro-credentials for computational thinking

A micro-credential is a digital certificate that verifies an individual's competence in a specific skill or set of skills. To earn a micro-credential, teachers submit evidence of student work from classroom activities, as well as documentation of lesson planning and reflection.

Because the integration of computational thinking is new to most teachers, micro-credentials can be a useful tool for professional learning and/or credentialing pathways. Digital Promise has created micro-credentials for Computational Thinking Practices. These micro-credentials are framed around practices because the degree to which students have built foundational skills cannot be assessed until they are manifested through the applied practices.

Visit Digital Promise's micro-credential platform to find out more and start earning micro-credentials today!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is Computational Thinking? - Digital Promise

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Computational thinking is a skill set for solving complex problems, a way to learn topics in many disciplines, and a necessity for fully participating in a computational world

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela
According to the latest United States Census, one in five residents of Washington D.C., speak a language other than English at home, and one in seven were born outside of the United States. As a teacher in D.C. Public schools, I hear students speaking Spanish, Spanish Creole, Hindu, Mandarin Chinese and French. In fact, the diversity in the nation's capital ranks our region at number 6 out of 100 metro areas.

In this diverse community, it's essential our students are prepared to engage with their peers and their community - and learning new languages is one place to start. While there is a wide array of language learning tools available online, students need critical thinking skills and hands-on practice to sort through the vast universe of a new language.

Ignite My Future in School's online lesson Speak My Language helps students demystify language learning and encourages them to use computational thinking methods to quickly learn the basics and speak their new language confidently. They do so by collecting and analyzing data, finding patterns, and identifying basic words and phrases. Ignite My Future in School, powered by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Discovery Education, is an initiative that combines the best of digital content, lesson plans, career vignettes, and professional learning to help teachers prepare their students for careers of the future. Overall, the initiative offers educators instructional resources and year-round curriculum support to ensure that computational thinking is embedded into core subjects such as math, sciences, arts and social studies.

Through the Speak My Language instructional lesson, students can build a strong foundation for a new language through computational thinking, which helps them learn everything from Spanish vocabulary to solving a complex algebra equation. The same critical thinking skills students need to learn a new language can help them succeed across disciplines. Through the activity, students use Spanish- and French-language learning tools, such as Babbel and Duolingo, which build upon computational skills and make language learning fun. Students search for the phrases that are common in the first lesson of each program online and create flashcards for these phrases. To better learn these new words and phrases, students brainstorm and work together to identify memorization techniques that have been effective for them in the past, including games, flash cards or interactive videos.

The computational thinking approach to learning and activities like Speak My Language go beyond using Google Translate or a dictionary. They encourage students to build a strong foundation for a new language guided by the techniques that work for them and their peers. Most importantly, using computational thinking and learning a new language help my students prepare for their careers. Just as translators and interpreters convert information from one language to another, so do software developers when they translate their creativity and computer programming skills into software that improves lives.

By combining computational thinking techniques with language learning, students will gain new perspectives and be prepared to better connect with members of our community. For more information on Ignite My Future in School and teaching students computational thinking, please visit ignitemyfutureinschool.org.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Computational Thinking Helps Students Learn Language Basics in D.C. Public Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ignite My Future in School's online lesson Speak My Language helps students demystify language learning and encourages them to use computational thinking methods to quickly learn the basics and speak their new language confidently. They do so by collecting and analyzing data, finding patterns, and identifying basic words and phrases.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create a standalone learning module, lesson, assignment, assessment or activity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As part of live coding the algorithms are written and performed live and with frequent improvisation in the form of programming source texts. Those who are programming live enter into a dialogue with the audience and also with the process that is underway.

In algorithmic composition, composers describe processes whose results can be made audible. By skilfully designing the algorithms, even a few instructions can create highly complex sound structures.

Some examples of classic algorithms are presented above. It is possible to explore Lindenmayer Systems, Markov Chains and Cellular Automata (from left). With Lindenmayer notes are replaced by one or more notes defined by a rule. A Markov Chain reproduces a melody in a mix of rules and randomness. The Cellular Automata changes its status from OFF to ON by the state of the surrounding cells. One famous cellular automata is John Convays "game of life" algorithm which is able to calculate evolutions o populations.

Spin, Bernd Lintermann (algorithmic visuals), Ludger Brümmer (algorithmic composition)

With algorithms many phenomena can be described or generated. Both Image and Music in Spin by Bernd Lintermann (video) and Ludger Brümmer (music) use rule-based systems. While the music uses Lindenmayer systems, the image is based on rule-based object generation. In Lindenmayer systems note sequences are generated from rules, whereby a rule defines how one information is replaced by another. If the rule is: "Replace the note C with C, D, E", each time a C occurs, it is replaced by three additional notes. In the visuals, rules describe the shape properties and branching structure of an architectonic strcuture.

Variations of Aesthetic Patterns

Sono reMorphed, Bernd Lintermann, Torsten Belschner

In "Sono reMorphed" genetic algorithms are used to help the user to create fantastic creatures and music. The sounds created by Torsten Belschner use physical models, simulations of real strings and objects, and are modelled on physical properties of the visual object.

The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

Stories from ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Algorithms have been used for centuries in an intuitive way in the form of rule systems, instructions, game rules, plans and scores in architecture and music. In the visual arts as well as in music, algorithms have long been of great importance as instruments of creation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By converting our sims to HTML5, we make them seamlessly available across platforms and devices. Whether you have laptops, iPads, chromebooks, or BYOD, your favorite PhET sims are always right at your fingertips.Become part of our mission today, and transform the learning experiences of students everywhere!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Teaching London Computing: A RESOURCE HUB from CAS LONDON & CS4FN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
PE and Dance may not seem like they has much to do with computing, but there are some clear links. A dance is just a series of steps to follow. To do the dance you have to follow the steps exactly and do them in the right order. A dance is just an algorithm executed by people that is enjoyable to watch. Choreographing a dance is very similar to writing a program. You also need similar computational thinking skills - attention to every last detail, thinking through the steps ensuring they not only work individually but work together, and evaluation of course is key. Writing down a dance needs notations not far removed from programs and the same constructs are needed - sequencing commands and loops. Dancers build steps into step sequences into whole dances.

Dance can be a fun way to both understand what an algorithm is and to explore different algorithms. Could you choreograph a dance based on an actual algorithm that demonstrated the beauty of the algorithm?

You can also choreograph animations of dances in programming environments like Scratch and Alice. Then choreography and programming really are the same thing.

Need a novel training exercise or a different event for a sports day that really requires thinking on your feet then try algorithmic PE! Read on.

Follow forward, backward, left and right instructions to move around a grid in turn in a tag relay. Variations bring in coordinates and conditionals.

BBC Live Lesson on dance and computing

Watch the BBC's Strictly micro:bit programme [EXTERNAL] where we demonstrated The Bubble Sort Dance activity. The programme shows how the whole show can be linked to computing: the dance, the music, the lights, the costumes.

Activity Sheets and Booklets

Algorithmic PE

Beanbag bubble sort: Try this relay event. Each person must run to a line of buckets, picking any adjacent pair of buckets to check. They look at the numbered beanbags in the buckets and swap them if in the wrong order. They then return and tag the next person. The winner is the team to fully sort the beanbags in the shortest time. You could win by running the fastest, but get the algorithm right and you will have to run a shorter distance - the intelligent way to win.

Beanbag search: A similar idea but this time about searching. Each person in the team is given a different coloured beanbag to find and bring back. You must run to a bin then back, before checking another. First team to collect all the beanbags wins. In a variation, the beanbags are numbered and in order. Search quicker using binary search.

Programmed PE

Danger Mouse Super Movers: The BBC say its just for fun but it looks like a computer science lesson to me...rather than playing a computer game, why not get the computer to play you bbc.co.uk/teach/supermov... with the Danger Mouse Supermovers game.
Get active and learn about following a sequence of instructions. Rather than controlling an avatar following your instructions, in this game you have to follow the sequence of instructions on the screen, jumping, dodging left or right to avoid the obstacles coming at you from the screen. There are lots of other versions available to eg Dr Who supermovers...

External Resources

Turn dance moves in to a dance program in Scratch Junior with Code-IT's Scratch Jr Dance activity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
PE and Dance may not seem like they has much to do with computing, but there are some clear links. A dance is just a series of steps to follow. To do the dance you have to follow the steps exactly ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A fun, interactive music experience
Incredibox is a music app that lets you create your own music with the help of a merry crew of beatboxers.Choose your musical style among 9 impressive atmospheres and start to lay down, record and share your mix.

Where making music is child's play!

Part game, part tool, Incredibox is above all an audio and visual experience that has quickly become a hit with people of all ages. More than 80 million players worldwide have already enjoyed it. The right mix of music, graphics, animation and interactivity makes Incredibox ideal for everyone. And because it makes learning fun and entertaining, Incredibox is now being used by schools all over the world.

Create a mix

Drag and drop icons onto the avatars to make them sing and start to compose your own music. Find the right sound combos to unlock animated choruses that will enhance your tune.

Share it

Once your composition sounds great, just save it and you will get a link to your mix. You can easily share it with anybody so they can listen and even vote for it.

Be a legend

If you share your mix a lot and get enough votes from other users, you may go down in Incredibox history by joining the Top 50 chart. Ready to show your stuff?

Ready to lay down
your mix?

';

Sign up for news!

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive news directly in your mailbox.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Incredibox is a music app that lets you create your own music with the help of a merry crew of beatboxers. Choose your musical style among 9 impressive atmospheres and start to lay down, record and share your mix.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Teaching London Computing: A RESOURCE HUB from CAS LONDON & CS4FN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Most people love some kind of music. Some even dream of being rock stars, but the combination of computational thinking skills and an interest in music opens up even more exciting avenues. Audio engineers constantly change the way we both make and listen to music, from the formats we use to listen to music, to creating new forms of computer generated musician. They can also use their skills to use sound in other novel ways, from anti sound that cuts out unwanted noise, to multimodal systems that give the blind new ways to interact with computers. Those with musical ability, computer science and electronic engineering skills together with a creative flair can both make new sounds but also change the way the rest of us make and use sound.

Activity Sheets

Watch this space.

Booklets and Magazines to download

cs4fn subject portals

There are lots of fun articles on the cs4fn website linked to music and audio engineering more generally:

External Resources

Download an app based on Steve Reich's Explore rhythm and help a research experiment.

Learn to program using music and making sounds. Download and get started.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Most people love some kind of music. Some even dream of being rock stars, but the combination of computational thinking skills and an interest in music opens up even more exciting avenues. Audio engineers constantly change the way we both make and listen to music, from the formats we use to listen to music, to...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Teaching London Computing: A RESOURCE HUB from CAS LONDON & CS4FN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Computational Thinking has given biologists a powerful new way to work. Rather than doing experiments on living things they can now build computational models and simulations of the biological systems of interest, from whole hearts to cancer cells. Experiments on the models can help them refine their understanding. Computer Scientists have also drawn from biology new ways of doing computation based on the brain and evolution, for example. New subjects like bioinformatics have emerged where powerful computing techniques are combined with statistics to held decode and understand the DNA of living things.

Activity Sheets

The following activities draw out issues on the links between biology and computing.

The Brain-in-a-bag Activity
Model the way brain works both as a way to illustrate computational modelling as applied to biology and understand how neurones work. Suitable both for computing and biology lessons.

The Sodarace Evolution Activity
Evolve creatures to try and win a race, learning about how computational modelling can help test and understand scientific theories, in this case evolution by natural selection.

Booklets and Magazines to download

cs4fn subject portals

There are lots of fun articles on the cs4fn website linked to biology. See the following portals:

External Resources

Explore evolution and the vast variety of choice creatures have in the way they move around the world with .

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Computational Thinking has given biologists a powerful new way to work. Rather than doing experiments on living things they can now build computational models and simulations of the biological systems of interest, from whole hearts to cancer cells. Experiments on the models can help them refine their understanding.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Teaching London Computing: A RESOURCE HUB from CAS LONDON & CS4FN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teaching London Computing / cs4fn have produced a series of fun activities and booklets based around puzzles that teach computing topics and computational thinking for use in the classroom, suitable for all ages.

Do the puzzles and develop computational thinking skills as well as learn about some core computing topics. Includes puzzles suitable for all ages.

Below are links to pages on a wide variety of puzzles with computing lessons. See the end for booklets on puzzles.

In primary school, if you have a 10 minute calm down session at the end of the day, have a puzzle box with a mixture of different puzzle sheets for the kids to choose from (word searches, pixel puzzles, logic puzzles, ...) and spend their 10 minutes doing - improving their logical thinking skills and so maths and computing (and literacy skills) ten minutes at a time.

Sequencing and Looping Puzzles

Put events from life cycles in to a flow chart structure

Learn about sequences, loops and design stages of coding

Aimed at KS1 pre-coders

Pattern Matching Puzzles

including ...

Pattern matching: spot them, complete them and spot the odd one out

Learn about pattern matching and algorithmic thinking

Puzzles for KS1-precoders upwards to KS5

Spot the Difference Puzzles

Spot the difference: focus on the detail and find all the differences in images and in programs

Practice attention to detail.

Puzzles for KS2 upwards

Word Searches

Solve word search puzzles and learn about computational thinking and search algorithms.

Learn about linear search, algorithmic thinking, computational thinking.

Kriss-Kross Puzzles
Solve these word puzzles as a way to develop logical thinking and pattern matching skills needed to enjoy both computing and maths, while practicing spelling.

Compression Code Puzzles

Solve simple puzzles about words that involve decoding compressed messages.

Learn about compression algorithms, data representation, pattern matching, computational thinking.

The Chocolate Turing Machine

Create "instruction tables" that solve computational problems.

Learn about Turing machines, computation, symbol manipulation, low-level programming, data representation.

The Tour Guide Activity

Devise a tour that gets a tourist from their hotel to all the city sights and back to their hotel.

Learn about algorithms, sequences of instructions, graphs, data representation, computational thinking, requirements.

The Swap Puzzle Activity

Solve a puzzle, coming up with an algorithm that your team can follow faster than anyone else.

Learn about algorithms, computational thinking, testing, efficiency.

Sherlock Syllogisms
You just need very clear thinking to solve these pure logical thinking puzzles. Learn about: logical thinking

Lost Tomb Puzzles

Work out where the lost tombs are without digging

Logical Thinking

Complexity of algorithms: Tantrix Rotation Puzzles
Learn about the complexity of algorithms and the most famous equation in computer science.

Mousemat Maze Puzzles
Learn about properties of algorithms

Watch this space for lots more puzzle-based activities. We have lots more unplugged activities in our activity section.

The cs4fn puzzle portal has more puzzles that have a link to computing and computational thinking, including applets.

The Bebras Competition run by the University of Oxford, involves doing computational thinking puzzles - get all your school entering this international computational thinking challenge. Your students can have a go at past years' challenges - with answer booklets available.

More of our resources, including linked computing 'story' booklets can be found in our resources section. You may also want to look at cs4fn's teacher resources or browse the latest cs4fn magazine.

Other excellent sources of a similar style of activity are the New Zealand based but globally used CS Unplugged site and the Glasgow University CS Inside project.

The original version of this area was created due to support from Google's CS4HS programme with additional support from the Department for Education, Mayor of London and EPSRC through the CHI+MED research project and most recently the Institute of Coding. More recently it has been further developed with support from EPSRC.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Puzzles, Computer Science and Computational Thinking

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teaching London Computing / cs4fn have produced a series of fun activities and booklets based around puzzles that teach computing topics and computational thinking for use in the classroom, suitable for all ages. Do the puzzles and develop computational thinking skills as well as learn about some core computing topics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"All parts should go together without forcing. You must remember that the parts you are reassembling were disassembled by you. Therefore, if you can't get them together again, there must be a reason. By all means, do not use a hammer."

This is your chance to share your best ideas to implement the New York State Education Standards for Computer Science and Digital Fluency. Add in your links, lesson plans, and resources to make your lessons come alive!

Reach out to Laurie Guyon at
Email lguyon@wswhebocesms
Twitter @smilelearning

Hello and Welcome! In this book you will find curated resources, lessons, and ideas for you to integrate the New York State Education Computer Science and Digital Fluency standards into your curriculum. These standards should not add to your load, but rather enhance your lessons. The activities should integrate into what you already do.

Explore the resources for your grade level, but be sure to also explore the resources in other grade levels as they may still apply with slight alterations, or it might spark an idea for something you can use. Not all of the lessons and activities are free and they are marked as paid if a purchase or subscription is needed. As always, check with your school administration and technology department before you sign up or use any tool that collects personally identifiable information (PII). Make sure the tools align with your Edlaw 2D approved list for your district.

If you have ideas you would like to add, please reach out! We want this to be something useful for all!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
9-12 NYSED CS/DF Standards | Find thousands of free educational ebooks for classroom use at read.bookcreator.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Dr. Elizabeth Harmon on mining the Smithsonian Institution collections for stories of women in science

By Google Arts & Culture

words by Dr. Elizabeth Harmon - Digital Curator, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Recovering American Women's History - Google Arts & Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dr. Elizabeth Harmon on mining the Smithsonian Institution collections for stories of women in science

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Resources for Educators Using Data in the Classroom | Oceans of Data

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
EDC’s Oceans of Data Institute (ODI) has compiled a list of data activities, lessons, and resources for the classroom, sorted by grade level:PreK | K-16 | Elementary School | Middle School | Middle and High School | High School | High School and Postsecondary | Postsecondary | Teachers’ Reference.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Brush Ninja is a fun tool that students can use to learn about animation, to illustrate the concepts they have just learnt, or to make their presentations more interesting. Alternatively it can be a fun, free, way for teachers to creatively present ideas to their students.

Science shows that there is a connection between drawing things, and remembering things. Drawing things encourages people to think of topics in multiple ways, which makes them easier to recall later. Animating things takes this a step further. The addition of movement introduces repetition which reinforces the topic being learnt.
See more examples of Brush Ninja being used by teachers →
Benefits of Brush Ninja?

Brush Ninja is free. Free software keeps costs down. No software licenses, no new hardware. All you need is a web browser, it just works.

No logins are needed. You can open the website and get started straight away.

It's simple to use. My objective has been to make it as easy to use as possible. My 2 and a half year old can (and does) create animations in Brush Ninja. They are mostly scribbles, but he can draw, add new frames, and play back what he has made.

There's no tracking or advertising. There is no need to worry about your privacy, or personal information being sold. You can check out the privacy policy here.

No Messaging There is no way for children to contact or interact with anyone else on the app.

How to use Brush Ninja in Education?

To illustrate concepts & knowledge. Reinforce the things students have learnt by getting them to create a slideshow with key information.

Show their working. Particularly useful for Mathematics, students can display their thought processes and then tidy the animation up to show the final result.

Creative Writing. Present stories, animated comics, or short cartoons.

Animated Ideas. Brush Ninja is a great way to jot down ideas for creative projects.

Presentations. Add some motion to presentations by creating simple animations of the topic being presented.

Educational Games. Like Pictionary/ Charades style guessing games, or Quizes.

Memberships and User Accounts

Brush Ninja has optional user accounts; however in many cases students do not need them. On Brush Ninja user accounts are paid for, and they unlock additional power-user features. The core app is free for everyone and will always be.

User accounts can be useful for teachers. Paid user accounts give teachers access to additional features that can be saved in .brushninja files. These files can then be shared with students.

For example, one of the premium features that paid users have access to is being able to add your own images to an animation file. Teachers could use this feature to add relevant images for the subject being studied to an empty file. This file can then be saved for the students to load on their individual devices. Once the students load the animation they will be able to freely use the images that are saved in the file.

As such, it is suggested that the only people who need membership accounts (in an educational setting), are the teachers. Please note that Brush Ninja membership accounts should not be shared with students, or others. This is because account users will have access to membership information, be able to change the account password, and cancel the account.

Example usage

In art a premium user could create an animation file containing a collection of abstract face parts and then share that file with students. The students could then open the file in the free version of the app and rearrange, and animate, the face parts creating their own Picasso style image.

In science a premium user could create a file containing images of things like a water droplet, and a cloud, the sun, and an image of a lake. This file could be share with students who could be asked to animate the water cycle.

For more information about memberships, what you get and how much they cost, you can visit the sign-up page.

Lesson Plans

To help you get started I have put together a collection of 71 lesson plans to freely use with your students. You can see some examples below - with many more on the lesson plan section of the website.
See all lesson plans →
Useful Tools for Teachers

Padlet. A simple online noticeboard. A great place for students to post their animations. They can be grouped on different boards per topic. Below are some examples of Padlet being used to display students' animations:

Buncee. A presentation app that you can add your Brush Ninja animations to.

Tutorials

These are some interesting tips and tutorials from teachers, on how to Brush Ninja.

Helpful Docs

These are the official Brush Ninja docs explaining some of the common questions I get for using Brush Ninja.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Tips and Resources for teachers to use Brush Ninja in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Please be aware that resources have been published on the website in the form that they were originally supplied. This means that procedures reflect general practice and standards applicable at the time resources were produced and cannot be assumed to be acceptable today. Website users are fully responsible for ensuring that any activity, including practical work, which they carry out is in accordance with current regulations related to health and safety and that an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Please be aware that resources have been published on the website in the form that they were originally supplied. This means that procedures reflect general practice and standards applicable at the time resources were produced and cannot be assumed to be acceptable today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Connect It - ENGINEERING.com | Games & Puzzles

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ENGINEERING.com presents Connect It gear game.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Plotting Plots | Book Lovers Who Like Data

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You might not know it, but I have been working on Plotting Plots for many years (see the origin story here). There were so many iterations of activities and projects, which ultimately led to this. After getting asked by several teachers for resources beyond this website, I decided to put them all down in this post. I will periodically update links over time. Let's get to it!

You can download the latest Reader's Guide, including 20+ pages of step-by-step instructions and activities for Plotting Plots with your students. (It's is still a draft, but you are welcome to use it. Just please share feedback!)

I've written two books that can be helpful for English teachers as they explore computer science in ELA further-and a very helpful article in NCTE's English Education. Check them out here:

BONUS: For English educators, you might find this conceptual essay useful. It's called, "Electrical Evocations: Computer Science, the Teaching of Literature, and the Future of English Education".

Mixed literary analyses introduce students to computational text analysis techniques by exposing them to the ways quantitative data about literature can deepen one's qualitative interpretations. Here are three samples, which I developed for the NYC Department of Education's Computer Science for All program:

1. Plotting Plots [ Original assignment] | Students use word frequency data related to Romeo and Juliet to create an analogue graph of the interplay between "love" and "death".

2. Counting Characters | Students use a web-based text mining application called Voyant Tools to analyze lovers' relationships in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

3. Distant Readings | Students use Voyant Tools again, this time to analyze ALL of Shakespeare's tragedies at once.

All units include a three-week curriculum map that leverages The Folger's Shakespeare Library's Shakespeare Set Free.

BardBots is a project in which students are introduced to key concepts in computational thinking via an unlikely combination: Shakespeare and robots. We believe that the distance between the humanities, the arts, and computer science is not as wide as it appears. The project emerged over a series of conversations where we started thinking creatively about computer science education: What does literary study teach us about computational thinking? What does robotics teach us about humanity? Are computational languages really just another kind of human language? The result is BardBots. And there is a 20+ free curriculum guide available.

One of the core tenets of work has been to make explicit the linguistic nature of software, indeed all digital phenomena. When we talk about "digital" anything, we are talking about languages that human beings wrote to communicate with each other and machines. To help teachers explore the linguistic nature of programming, I designed this content-agnostic assignment (originally for a university teacher preparation program) that gives students an opportunity to unpack the parallels between learning a computer language and what they already know about human languages. You can download it here.

In this activity, students can explore authors' word choices via if-then logic from computer science. This activity is still in draft form, so please share your feedback! You can download it here.

The Bardic Bot: What a fascinating intro to computationality using poetic meter (h/t Pam Amendola)

AI for Teachers has this excellent unit for British Literature that explores the nature of artificial intelligence through literature

Google NGram allows you to search up for word frequencies across, well, every book published over the last century and a half. It's limited in terms of detail and depth, but for breadth it's astonishing

Check out The Concord Consortium for a wide array of excellent resource for CT and CS (also h/t Pam Amendola)

I got started exploring literary data with Voyant Tools, a robust and user-friendly dashboard that makes analyzing literature computationally really easy

Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn-all @tomliamlynch-so we can be in touch

If you have other resources, please message me!

Ready to get plotting? Check out the latest posts and newest books to plot!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
An English Teacher's Guide to Plotting Plots | Plotting Plots

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You might not know it, but I have been working on Plotting Plots for many years (see the origin story here). There were so many iterations of activities and projects, which ultimately led to this.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WWII Women Cracking the Code - Google Arts & Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This story by the National Cryptologic Museum explores women code breakers' top-secret work during World War II

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Proponents of expanding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) often point to its potential to stimulate economic growth - increased productivity at lower costs, a higher GDP per capita, and job creation have all been touted as possible benefits. The promise of an economic boost via machine learning is understandably seductive, and private and government actors are now regularly using AI in key areas of economic opportunity, including education, housing, employment, and credit, to name just a few. But as AI adoption is cast as a smart economic investment in the future, it's important to pause and ask: Whose futures and whose wallets are we talking about?

There is ample evidence of the discriminatory harm that AI tools can cause to already marginalized groups. After all, AI is built by humans and deployed in systems and institutions that have been marked by entrenched discrimination - from the criminal legal system, to housing, to the workplace, to our financial systems. Bias is often baked into the outcomes the AI is asked to predict. Likewise, bias is in the data used to train the AI - data that is often discriminatory or unrepresentative for people of color, women, or other marginalized groups - and can rear its head throughout the AI's design, development, implementation, and use. The tech industry's lack of representation of people who understand and can work to address the potential harms of these technologies only exacerbates this problem.

There are numerous examples of the harms that AI can have. AI tools have perpetuated housing discrimination, such as in tenant selection and mortgage qualifications, as well as hiring and financial lending discrimination.

For example, AI systems used to evaluate potential tenants rely on court records and other datasets that have their own built-in biases that reflect systemic racism, sexism, and ableism, and are notoriously full of errors. People are regularly denied housing, despite their ability to pay rent, because tenant screening algorithms deem them ineligible or unworthy.

These algorithms use data such as eviction and criminal histories, which reflect long standing racial disparities in housing and the criminal legal system that are discriminatory towards marginalized communities. People of color seeking loans to purchase homes or refinance have been overcharged by millions thanks to AI tools used by lenders. And many employers now use AI-driven tools to interview and screen job seekers, many of which pose enormous risks for discrimination against people with disabilities and other protected groups. Rather than help eliminate discriminatory practices, AI has worsened them - hampering the economic security of marginalized groups that have long dealt with systemic discrimination.

That's why today, the ACLU, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Upturn, and two dozen partner organizations are calling on the Biden administration to take concrete steps to bring civil rights and equity to the forefront of its AI and technology policies, and to actively work to address the systemic harms of these technologies. Just two weeks ago, many of the same groups also joined together in an in-depth response to a request for information by federal financial agencies on the use of AI, raising many of the same concerns. Many groups have also offered concrete policy recommendations to federal agencies on addressing technology's role in discrimination in the domains of hiring, housing, and financial services.

Thus far, federal agencies that regulate industries using AI have not taken the steps necessary to ensure that AI systems are accountable to the people they impact or that they comply with civil rights laws. Federal legislative and regulatory efforts have not yet methodically undertaken the task of ensuring our civil rights laws protect vulnerable people from the harms exacerbated by today's technologies. In fact, while the Biden administration has made an overarching commitment to center racial equity throughout federal policymaking, the administration's emerging AI and technology priorities have lacked the necessary focus on equity for people of color and others who have been subject to discrimination and bias. The administration to date has overlooked necessary civil rights and civil liberties perspectives as AI and technology policies are being developed, which risks further perpetuating systemic racism and economic inequality.

The bottom line is that the administration and federal agencies must prioritize and address all the ways that AI and technology can exacerbate racial and other inequities and ensure that its policies and enforcement activities lead to more equitable outcomes. Decades of discrimination have left people of color and Black people in particular, women, and other marginalized groups at an economic disadvantage in the U.S. The Biden administration must work to reverse the trends that continue to this day, which must necessarily include an emphasis on how modern digital technologies perpetuate inequity. The economic and racial divide in our country will only deepen if the administration fails to do so.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Artificial Intelligence Can Deepen Racial and Economic Inequities | ACLU

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Biden administration must prioritize and address all the ways that AI and technology can exacerbate racial and other inequities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Flip is where social and emotional learning happens! The leading video discussion platform for millions of PreK to PhD educators, students, and families.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Information for students and teachers about the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
January, 1865. The peace on a regular English train journey from Carnforth to Liverpool is shattered by one man's deranged laughter and erratic antics. Armed with a gun and attacking the windows to get to the other increasingly frightened passengers, he seems out of control. At the next train stop in Lancaster, the man suddenly becomes calm and serenity is returned. But as the train begins to roll again, his aggression returns . The motion of the train becomes the only means to gauge the man's behavior. His mood changes from one stop to the next, twisting and turning with the carriage.

The railway passenger prancing around with a pistol was by no means the strangest case of "railway madness" reported during the Victorian era in Britain. There seemed to be something about the railways that made people-particularly men-suffer mental anguish and unrest.

As the railway grew more popular in the 1850s and 1860s, trains allowed travelers to move about with unprecedented speed and efficiency, cutting the length of travel time drastically. But according to the more fearful Victorians, these technological achievements came at the considerable cost of mental health. As Edwin Fuller Torrey and Judy Miller wrote in The Invisible Plague: The Rise of Mental Illness from 1750 to the Present, trains were believed to " injure the brain." In particular, the jarring motion of the train was alleged to unhinge the mind and either drive sane people mad or trigger violent outbursts from a latent "lunatic." Mixed with the noise of the train car, it could, it was believed, shatter nerves.

In the 1860s and '70s, reports began emerging of bizarre passenger behavior on the railways. When seemingly sedate people boarded trains, they suddenly began behaving in socially unacceptable ways. One Scottish aristocrat was reported to have ditched his clothes aboard a train before "leaning out the window" ranting and raving. After he left the train, he suddenly recovered his composure.

Regarding the specific type of mental condition believed to have been caused by the trains, Professor Amy-Milne Smith, a cultural historian at Wilfrid Laurier University, notes that "railway madmen would have all likely be seen as suffering mania." Medical journals at the time were very concerned about how railway madmen could be detected when their madness might lie latent.

Not all goings-on in the first- and second-class carriages involved eccentric rambling in the nude-vicious attacks with knives and other weapons that could result in death were reported as well. The trains themselves were considered to be ridden with perilous conditions that endangered passengers. Confined carriages were locked for privacy reasons, meaning people were at risk of being trapped in small rooms with "lunatics" who were ready to snap at any minute. The lack of suitable on-board communications meant that if attacked by such a person, you couldn't easily call for help.

The media did its part to whip up a frenzy over railway madness. One 1864 story, starkly titled "A Madman in a Railway Carriage," gleefully related how a burly sailor became incensed, flailing around in an erratic manner first trying to climb out of the window , and then swearing and shouting at the other occupants of the carriage and struggling with everyone . A superhuman strength gripped this aggressor and four people were required to restrain him and he had to be bound to a seat. The conflict was not over yet though. When the sailor was released, he charged viciously at those who had restrained him and accusing them of stealing from him, it took railway officials and finally the police to subdue and arrest the sailor.

The problem of railway madness did not just refer to those driven insane in the process of the journey. Another concern of the time was that the railway provided a swift and convenient getaway for patients who had escaped from the various mental-health institutions throughout Great Britain.

In 1845, Punch magazine published a cartoon showing train tracks leading to an asylum. The logistics of the railways dotted around the countryside meant that a "mental patient" could evade the staff and hop on the next train to freedom. Stories of maniacs and terror on the tracks terrified many and delighted others.

As Professor Anna Despotopoulou at the University of Athens says, "the train in the 19th century offered women an unprecedented opportunity to travel freely" but stories of madmen on the rails "often heightened the anxiety to travel." After going on a particular train ride, female novelist George Eliot stated with tongue firmly in cheek that upon seeing someone who looked wild and brutish, she was reminded of "all the horrible stories of madmen in railways." Elliot seemed to relish the excitement of a possible confrontation and sounded rather disappointed when the figure turned out to be an ordinary clergyman.

Other members of the elite were more frightened than Eliot of the potential for being in a compartment with a maniac. However, there was no easy solution because of the trains' design, which encouraged the form of physical isolation that increased fears of these fabled madmen.

It was nevertheless agreed that something had to be done to protect passengers against railway maniacs. Attacks, according to the Scotsman newspaper, were becoming an everyday occurrence, and railway madness on British trains had become internationally renowned. One "American Traveller" spoke of carrying a loaded revolver on trains in England because of the prospect of encounters with a "madman."

The 1864 by-laws of the Victorian Railways stipulated that "insane persons" should be isolated "in a compartment by themselves." If railway madmen could not be stopped then they might at least be contained. These regulations, of course, ignored those who boarded the train perfectly in control of their faculties and only displayed their erratic behavior once the train was in motion and the doors locked.

Implementing these rules was a problem. Every time an invention was proposed to ensure greater safety, it was rejected on the grounds of protecting personal space. Case in point: "Müller's lights," windows within the train carriages designed to allow observation of other compartments and installed by several companies such as the South Western Railway. These portholes were meant to reduce seclusion inside the coach, but were regarded as an intrusion-and raised fears about Peeping Toms. In other areas there were calls for increased communication on the trains such as cables to signal an emergency but problems of logistics prevented this.

The railways seemed to cause anxiety and concern about madness because of the noise and the unpredictable nature of the railways. There were also beliefs within the medical profession that the vibrations of the railway carriage could have a disastrous effect on people's nerves. And it was impossible to predict who might be the one to be driven mad. As Professor Amy-Milne Smith wrote, "not only might you be attacked by a madman on a railway journey- you might become one." As a result railways became associated with insanity. What might be thought of as more like post-traumatic stress disorder today was viewed as a form of nervous disturbance by Victorians.

Eventually, the outrage over mental-health problems on the railways and the "railway madmen" faded out as inexplicably as it had appeared. The blood-and-guts-loving Victorian media moved onto the next story, though onboard disturbances still happened from time to time. In 1894, one naked individual even launched a full-on assault on the train by disabling the communications and then attacking those onboard, roaming around at will through the train. The whole affair was treated as puzzling, but not frightening-the attacker was battled and jabbed back with the pointy end of an umbrella.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Victorian Belief That a Train Ride Could Cause Instant Insanity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
January, 1865. The peace on a regular English train journey from Carnforth to Liverpool is shattered by one man's deranged laughter and erratic antics. Armed with a gun and attacking the windows to get to the other increasingly frightened passengers, he seems out of control.

# data[].attributes.headline
Systems or Equations Graphing Calculator

# data[].attributes.subject
Systems or Equations Graphing Calculator

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10th 15:2 - Systems of Equations Graphing Calculator (Algebra I)*

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
8th -  Research Lab on Faults (Earth Science)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Teaching London Computing: A RESOURCE HUB from CAS LONDON & CS4FN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The best computer scientists aren't just good at writing code, they are good at writing english too. Any graduate does - being good at communicating is part of the job. Computation can also support literacy by opening up a whole new way of playing with words.

There's a whole new breed of computer scientists that are interested in English in a deep way. They are in the business of understanding how people communicate so that computers can better understand us - so they can make computers communicate in naturally human ways for example.

Other computer scientists are applying computational thinking to the practice of English: trying to invent algorithms that encapsulate what creative writing is all about: creating programs that can write stories, love letters, jokes, tweets...

The overlap between English and Computer Science is where all the creativity is!

Reading List

Here is our reading list of brilliant books to read that go well beyond just computing.

Computational Thinking Tales

Some fairy (and not-so-fairy) tales about computational thinking to read. Encourage your students to write (and send us) their own computational thinking tales.

Computing Jokes

Here are lots of jokes about computing - play with language and learn about computing.

Pseudocode Poems

Pseudocode poems are poems that also work as programs.

Activity Sheets and Booklets

The following activities draw out issues on the links between language, linguistics and computer science.

Magical Book Magic

A booklet describing a magic trick based on an intriguing computational property about words. Turn Macbeth, The Wizard of Oz, The Cat in the Hat (or some other book of your choice) into both reading fun and computational fun.

"I don't think reading a book is ever again going to be quite the same experience."

Write a program to write love letters, christmas greetings or postcards for you
Use a set of cards and templates to create an algorithm that generates love letters, writes post cards or christmas cards. Then write a Python program to do the same. Learn about nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc

Word Search Puzzles
A series of puzzles on computing topics that involve thinking about search algorithms as well as words.

Kriss-Kross Puzzles
Solve these word puzzles as a way to develop logical thinking and pattern matching skills needed to enjoy both computing and maths, while practicing spelling. Use phonic based ones like our snake-snail-day Kriss-Kross as fun practice reading words.

Compressed Code
Puzzles that involve unravelling compressed messages: ones hold the same information with fewer symbols.

Magazines to download

The following magazines include articles that draw on the links between English and computing.

cs4fn magazines to support literacy

Some schools use cs4fn magazines to support literacy, for example including physical copies in literacy boxes or having copies in the openly displayed in the library.

UK schools can order free copies (including class sets) of magazines as they come out via the form on the cs4fn website. The pdfs of back issues of all our magazines can also be downloaded from the website. Thousands of cs4fn articles including all magazine articles (and many more) are also available as individual pages on the cs4fn website. There are several ways to explore cs4fn eg

cs4fn subject portal

There are lots of fun articles on the cs4fn about computer science and lingusitics. See the portals:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The best computer scientists aren't just good at writing code, they are good at writing english too. Any graduate does - being good at communicating is part of the job. Computation can also support literacy by opening up a whole new way of playing with words.