ISTE 4 Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making

ISTE 4 discusses how students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. In the article by Grover they discussed promoting computational thinking skills (CT) in the classroom and in the curriculum. It discussed how CT is "the process of recognising aspects of computation in the world that surrounds us, and applying tools and techniques from Computer Science to understand and reason about both natural and artificial systems and processes”. I wanted to know what I could do in Kindergarten to start developing these skills for my students. During my research I kept coming across four concepts that seem to be the building blocks for CT skills: 

imagine found at https://code.org/curriculum/course3/1/Teacher

Helping students understand these four concepts/vocabulary will help them build their CT skills. Code.org has provided a free lesson plan for doing just that. The lesson plan begins with introducing the four words and than building a working knowledge of what those words mean. This lesson is done %100 with out a computer which makes it accessible for all. What I find extremely helpful with this resource is that the standards are provided for the lesson. For example the ISTE standards that code.org felt were covered with this lesson are 

• 1.a - Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
• 1.c - Use models and simulation to explore complex systems and issues.
• 2.d - Contribute to project teams to solve problems.
• 4.b - Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project.
• 4.d - Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.

This was very helpful for me because it provided a lesson example paired with the standards, it helps me visualize the standards better.

Along with this lesson plan code.org provides a number of resources for students and educators. Code.org provides courses for each grade, for kindergarten I would utilize course A which consists of 12 lesson plans that teach basic CT skills. This course is free and provides an unplugged activity option for each lesson. There are several fun quick videos and game-like activities for students to practice what they learned. I love this resource and I plan to utilize it in my future classroom.

Grover, S., & Pea, R. (2013). Computational thinking in K–12: A review of the state of
the field . Educational Researcher , 42 (1), 38–43