No Fear Coding: Computational Thinking Across the K-5 Curriculum, June/2017

Coding and computational thinking are among the skills that will serve students well in the future. Coding goes beyond websites and software – it’s an essential component in finding solutions to everyday problems. Computational thinking has many applications beyond the computer lab or math class – it teaches reasoning, creativity and expression, and is an innovative way to demonstrate content knowledge and see mathematical processes in action.

No-Fear Coding shows K-5 educators how to bring coding into their curriculum by embedding computational thinking skills into activities for every content area. At the same time, embedding these skills helps students prepare for coding in the middle grades as they build their knowledge.

To help teachers easily and effectively introduce coding, the book features:

Classroom-tested lessons and activities designed for skills progression.
Ready-to-implement coding exercises that can be incorporated across the curriculum.
Alignment to ISTE and Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) standards.
Case studies and explorations of technology tools and resources to teach coding.

About the Author

Heidi Williams is a passionate coding and computational thinking advocate. Her over 25 years of experience in education include serving as language, science and mathematics teacher for grades 6-8, as well as roles as a differentiation specialist, technology integration specialist, instructional coach, gifted and talented coordinator, elementary principal and K-8 director of curriculum. Williams has shared her passion for integrating coding into the curriculum at local, state, regional and national conferences, and many have leveraged her expertise for conference presentations, coding coaching, professional development and K-12 scope and sequence alignment of computer science skills throughout the curriculum.

If you’re interested in supporting K-5 computational thinking, No Fear Coding is an excellent resource with a wide variety of strategies and activities that is also an incredibly approachable read, even for teachers who have no background in coding or computer science. –EdTech Roundup