Description
CODE – DESIGN – CREATE
Candy CodeCrushers is an engaging and challenging after-school enrichment program by STEAMwhiz- The STEM Learning Lab, with two classes specially designed for 1st- 2nd graders and 3rd to 5th graders. Whether your child is just starting their coding journey or eager to level up their game coding skills, this course is the perfect launchpad. Using the dynamic Scratch and Scratch Jr. programming languages, students will go from designing animations to creating an interactive game, mastering essential concepts like loops, variables, conditional statements, operators, and much more. This program is more than just a course; it’s a launchpad for the next generation of creative thinkers and problem solvers, ready to make the world play their Candy Code games!
The STEAM Team
This lab program is taught by STEAMwhiz’s educational program director Allie Pulecio. She is certified in K-6th education, published STEM education work in a peer-reviewed journal, and has over 20 years of classroom experience and curriculum development. The lab is overseen by STEAMwhiz’s scientist Dr. J who holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences, has worked as a physicist at premier U.S. research institutions, as well as an engineer at fortune 100 companies, and authored over a dozen publications in top-tier journals. Together they are driven by their passion to empower students to develop their analytical and critical thinking, necessary to prepare them for the future. STEAMwhiz Innovation Labs offers year-round STEM programs, MakerLab events, and Sci-Tech Summer Camps.
Explore Up
What is an algorithm vs a program?
Bugs and Debugging
Problem Decomposition
Skill Up
Unscramble the Algorithms
Sequence
Variables
Build Up
Putting it All Together!
Program a “Candy Catcher Game”
Our Method of Success
Eliminate the fear and allow our children the time and space to fail forward and succeed. The STEAMwhiz Method will help students build their confidence in themselves and their abilities through discovery, tests, creation, and analysis. STEAMwhiz kids will be able to embrace the idea that failures lead to opportunities to learn and grow. STEM/STEAM learning experiences offer amazing opportunities to develop powerful GROWTH MINDSET attributes, which are pivotal for success!
Prior Knowledge
Each lab is built upon the other. Students will be given the time necessary to develop new connections resulting in new learning. When instruction is not jumping from one new thing to the next, students can develop goals, take on challenges, learn from mistakes, practice new skills, persevere, and ultimately create a culminating “Show-What-You-Know” PBL unit (project-based learning).
Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning empowers students to seize control over their learning experiences, following their interests and passions as they address a driving question or challenge; through investigation and inquiry; student voice and choice; reflection; revision; and finally, a project to be shared and celebrated. As students work with one another to create projects to share, they become responsible for the assessment of their work. Project-based learning frees students from the anxiety of meeting the expectations of school and/or instructors while allowing them the agency to create using the meaning they’ve developed from their experiences. This is a powerful re-imagination of what is possible!
