Play a fun, collaborative, and hands-on activity to introduce students to “programming”!
This activity supports the development of the following social-emotional skills: relationship skills, self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness.
Before beginning this activity, review the teacher lesson guide below. Use this video to introduce the activity to your students: a collaborative exercise in which they will practice “programming” with each other by using hand gestures to convey a series of steps (or “algorithm”). These steps will guide students to successfully navigate a maze together!
Divide up your class into groups of 2–4 students, and provide each group with a copy of the activity packet below. Before students start the exercise, consider setting expectations for how students should work together in order to achieve their common goal: reaching the end of the maze! For example, students should practice patience with each other (it’s okay to make mistakes!), use kind and respectful language when “debugging” their instructions, and take turns being the “Walking Machine” and “Controller.”
Organize a live virtual exchange with your Empatico partner class, and invite students to try out the activity together! To do this,
Guide students through a post-activity reflection by asking the following questions:
This activity was created in partnership with Code.org.